#16 - Highpointe Crossing Preliminary Plat and OP PUD

Home Browse Search

Highpointe Crossing - 2298 Inwood Ave N – Lake Elmo – Preliminary Plat Narrative June 7, 2024 Page 16 16 needed to make this project possible while keeping the development footprint small staying true to the intent of the OP-PUD. • Landscaping/Theming/Amenities o Overall Landscaping – As shown in our landscaping plans we will have a nicely landscaped entry feature, including a monument along with white fencing. The fencing feature continues in select locations throughout the neighborhood to accentuate the rural character of the neighborhood’s open spaces. o Monument – We are planning on installing a very nice monument at the Inwood entrance. We are asking for the flexibility to have the structure of the monument be 10’ high and to locate it 20’ from the county ROW and adjacent to the City ROW. This will help the monument be seen and create a prominent sense of entry coming into the neighborhood. o Site Restoration – Since a majority of the site is farmland, the primary amenity we are creating is the restoration of the open space back to native vegetation. Included in our submittal is a restoration plan completed by Minnesota Native Landscapes for the open spaces within the property. This plan includes… ▪ Upland and Wet prairies ▪ Native drifts designed for pollinators in both dry and wet areas o Street Trees – 130 street trees are shown on the plans. That is, in general, one street tree for every 50’ of roadway frontage except for the area within the powerline easement where trees are not allowed. While we understand that the OP code calls for street trees every 30’ we believe this is not practical with the layout we are proposing and adds additional cost that does not add to the rural character of the neighborhood and takes away from other ways to add amenity value to the neighborhood. o Open Space Trees – Over 320 open space landscaping trees are shown on the plans. The number of trees was determined by multiplying 5 trees times the number of lots. We are requesting flexibility here. The OP code would require 10 trees per lot. In large part we believe that planting over 300 trees will be more than sufficient in conjunction with the other requirements and goals of the OP code that we are meeting. This is over four times the number of trees currently on the property. This total number of trees is basically the same number of trees that would have been required with a more typical OP-PUD plan. o Mailboxes – The cluster mailboxes will also be designed to fit within the theme of the property yet be durable. o Trails – We are also including over 5,968’ of grass trails through and around the restoration areas on the site as a substitute to the 3,550’ of paved trail that would