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TAMARACK LAND Dl.?VPLOPNIF,NT April 4, 2022 Honorable Mayor Charles Cadenhead Honorable Council Member Katrina Beckstrom Honorable Council Member Dale Dorschner Honorable Council Member Jeff Holtz Honorable Council Member Lisa McGinn City of Lake Elmo 3800 Laverne Ave North Lake Elmo, MN 55042 RE: Public Comment- Moratorium- Water System Low Pressure Zone Dear Mayor Cadenhead and Members of the City Council: On behalf of Tamarack Land, LLC (d/b/a Tamarack Land Development) I write today to provide commentary on the proposed Ordinance No. 2022-03, which would establish a moratorium on platted development with the water system low pressure zone. We ask that you either do not adopt the moratorium or amend it prior to adoption. Tamarack Land Development has a purchase agreement for a 57 acre parcel at the NW quadrant of Lake Elmo Blvd and Hudson Road adjacent to the Water Tower 3 location. The property is owned by the Peltier Family Trust. Our development team has been working with the city staff (past and present), city engineer and the Valley Branch Watershed since May 2021 regarding a residential development on the property. The proposed development on the property consists of approximately 415 residential units and is consistent with Lake Elmo's 2040 comprehensive plan. Our project sits within one of the three MU-C zoning districts. Our proposed development surrounds 9 acres of existing commercial use. Tamarack Land Development has incurred significant cost and effort as part of its due diligence and predevelopment work as it prepares this site for development. As we have been actively engaged in the planning of this property with the City, it has come as a surprise that the City is contemplating a development moratorium. As recently as February 11, we had a zoom meeting with the City Administrator, City Planner, and City Engineer regarding our latest concept plan that includes an apartment component to the development in order to meet the minimum residential density unit requirements. Since then the development team has had multiple email and voice conversations with staff regarding our pending development application. All along, we were aware of the water tower construction and implications of when we could "turn on the water". We were led to believe that once the water tower came online, the low pressure issues would be resolved. Lake Elmo's approval process for developments is rather lengthy. Significant input and review by city staff and its commissions ensures value is added to the community, and we respect that. However, the added delay a moratorium would add could put all of our development work to date at risk if we are not able to continue on with the application process. We request that the City, at a minimum, amend the proposed ordinance to allow us to continue the application process, gather more inputs from the City, address any concerns and prepare our development plans such that we can maintain the project schedule which allowed for some home construction to start in the fall of 2023. This date is consistent with the contract 712 Vista Blvd #303, Waconia NIN 55387