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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 14 - CC Report Wildflower Preliminary Plat and PUD Plan 4-7-15 MAYOR & COUNCIL COMMUNICATION -- page 1 -- DATE: April 7, 2015 REGULAR ITEM # 14 AGENDA ITEM: Wildflower at Lake Elmo - Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plan SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Klatt, Community Development Director THROUGH: Dean Zuleger, City Administrator REVIEWED BY: Planning Commission Nick M. Johnson, City Planner Jack Griffin, City Engineer Greg Malmquist, Fire Chief Stephen Mastey, Landscape Consultant SUGGESTED ORDER OF BUSINESS: - Introduction of Item .....................................Community Development Director - Report/Presentation………………………...Community Development Director - Questions from Council to Staff ............................................. Mayor Facilitates - Call for Motion ............................................................... Mayor & City Council - Discussion ....................................................................... Mayor & City Council - Action on Motion .................................................................... Mayor Facilitates POLICY RECCOMENDER: The Planning Commission and Staff are recommending that the City Council approve a request by Robert Engstrom Companies for a Preliminary Plat and Preliminary Planned Unit Development (PUD) Plans to be located on approximately 117 acres of land within the northern portions of the Village Planning Area. The City’s Subdivision and PUD Ordinance requires that the City Council review and approval a preliminary plat and preliminary development plans before an applicant may proceed with the preparation and recording of a final plat. FISCAL IMPACT: TBD – The City will require that the applicant enter into a developer’s agreement with the City to specify the financial responsibilities for various aspects of the subdivision and related public improvements. The project may include oversizing payments for regional public infrastructure. The financial responsibility for these improvements will be negotiated as part of a development contract for the project. Please note that the developer is not seeking any City contributions for the nature conservancy area, which will be owned and City Council Meeting Regular Agenda Item #14 April 7, 2015 -- page 2 -- maintained by the private homeowner’s association. The project does include an extensive network of trails that will be owned and maintained by the City. SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUESTED: The City Council is being asked to review a request for a Preliminary Plat and Preliminary Planned Unit Development (PUD) Plan for a proposed residential subdivision to be called Wildflower at Lake Elmo. This application follows the City’s review and approval of a PUD Concept Plan for the site, as well as the City’s approval of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to allow the development to move forward as presented. There have been some minor modifications to the plans since the concept approval, but in general, the preliminary plan submission follows the concept plan very closely. The proposed subdivision would be located immediately north of the Brookfield Addition along 39th Street and would extend to the northern limits of the Village area boundary. The preliminary plat includes 145 single-family lots (matching the number depicted on the concept plans) on a total site area of approximately 117 acres, roughly half of which would be preserved as open space in the form of a nature conservancy, storm water ponds, and parklands. The developer is requesting that the development be approved as a Planned Unit Development, which will allow the creation of the “courtyard” homes as described in the attached materials in addition to other exceptions from standard subdivision and zoning requirements. The Planning Commission and Staff and are recommending that the City Council approve the Wildflower at Lake Elmo Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plan with 20 conditions of approval through the following motion: “Move to adopt Resolution No. 2015-24, approving the Wildflower at Lake Elmo Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plan subject to 20 conditions of approval.” LEGISLATIVE HISTORY/PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT: The Planning Commission reviewed the preliminary plat and preliminary PUD plans at its February 23rd and March 9th meetings, conducting the required public hearing on the earlier date. The Staff reports for both of these meetings are attached for review by the City Council, along with most of the supporting information that was distributed along with reports. In the interest of conserving space, some of the documents not directly associated with the plat have been left out of the City Council packet but are still available for viewing as part of the Commission agendas. The Planning Commission reports include information about the application, a summary of the relevant planning and zoning issues, a thorough review of the proposed plat and public improvements, draft findings, and the staff recommendation. It should be noted that the City approved the Wildflower General Concept Plan on June 17, 2014 (Resolution 2014-045). Approval of the concept plan allows the applicant to prepare a preliminary PUD plan and preliminary plat. After conducting a public hearing at its February 23rd meeting, the Commission tabled the application in order to give Staff and the developer time to address several specific question and issues that were raised either by members of the public during the hearing or by individual City Council Meeting Regular Agenda Item #14 April 7, 2015 -- page 3 -- Commissioners during the course of the meeting. The issues are summarized in the March 9th Staff memorandum to the Commission, along with a response to each of the general concerns. Since the issue summary incorporates comments received from the public, Staff is not including a separate summary of the public hearing comments as part of the Council report. Minutes from the February 23rd Commission meeting have previously been provided to the Council and have been posted on the City’s website. The Commission further reviewed the request at its March 9th meeting and requested modifications to the draft conditions of approval to remove a condition concerning the Minnesota Land Trust (this matter has been resolved), to revise language concerning temporary easements adjacent to Layton Avenue, to require that the developer work with the City to include restrictions on the future use of certain outlots within the development, and to incorporate other minor corrections. The Commission also considered a request from one of the adjacent property owners to eliminate any looped trails over Outlot H, but voted to leave these particular trails as part of the plans. In addition to the general information noted above, the Planning Commission report includes a breakdown of the changes made to the concept plan in response to specific City conditions and a summary of the flexibility being requested as part of the PUD plans. Since the Planning Commission review of the Wildflower at Lake Elmo preliminary plat and plans, the City and developer have met to further discuss some of the issues raised during the meetings and to review the conditions of approval. As a follow-up to this discussion, please note the following: • The developer has agreed to expand the pavement width of the divided, primary east-west street in the development (Wildflower Drive) to meet City engineering standards. This decision was made after a meeting with City Staff, including the City Engineer, Public Works Director, Fire Chief and Community Development Director, all of whom strongly recommended compliance with City standards for this street. Condition # 8 addresses this matter for future plan reviews. • The developer has submitted an exhibit that depicts both the City’s current FEMA flood elevations on the property in addition to the recently updated flood elevations as approved by the Valley Branch Watershed District. This exhibit is not included with the attachments to this report, but will be used by Staff to verify compliance with applicable flood regulations. All of the Commission’s revisions to the findings of fact and the conditions of approval are incorporated into the attached Resolution No. 2015-24 for review by the City Council. After discussing the Wildflower at Lake Elmo Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plan, the Planning Commission recommended approval subject to 20 conditions of approval. The motion to approve the PUD passed unanimously with a vote of 6 to 0. City Council Meeting Regular Agenda Item #14 April 7, 2015 -- page 4 -- STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS: Strengths • The Planning Commission and Staff have found the Preliminary PUD plans to be consistent with the General Concept Plan for the development. • Approval of the Wildflower PUD Concept Plan allows the applicants to move forward with the preparation of a PUD Final Plan and Final Plat application. • The City Council has previously determined that the proposed Concept Plan is consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan. • The proposed planned development offers unique design that incorporates courtyard homes with shared open space and with a plan that includes rear alley access to garages. Weaknesses • The project includes several conditions of approval that will need to be met by the applicant. Opportunities • The PUD will add users to the City’s public water and sanitary sewer system (with connection fees). • The project includes the construction of Layton Avenue to 39th Street, which will be accessed by both the Wildflower and Village Preserve developments. • The project will help preserve large areas of open space that the developer intends to use for native habitat and ecological restoration. Threats • Several elements of the development plans required the cooperation of the adjacent land owner, Gonyea Homes. The City understands that Gonyea does consent to this work, but no formal agreement has been provided to the City on this matter. RECOMMENDATION: Based upon the above background information, Staff report and Planning Commission recommendation, it is recommended that the City Council approve the Wildflower at Lake Elmo Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plans with the 20 conditions of approval as documented in the resolution of approval by taking the following action / with the following motion: “Move to adopt Resolution No. 2015-24, approving the Wildflower at Lake Elmo Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plan subject to 20 conditions of approval.” ATTACHMENTS: 1. Resolution No. 2015-24 2. Planning Commission Staff Report – 3/9/15 3. Planning Commission Staff Report – 2/23/15 4. Application Forms 5. Development Contact Information City Council Meeting Regular Agenda Item #14 April 7, 2015 -- page 5 -- 6. Location Map 7. Legal Description 8. Wildflower at Lake Elmo Overview 9. Wildflower Lot Profile 10. Written Statements for PUD Application 11. City Engineer Review – 2/18/15 12. Fire Department Review – 2/13/15 13. Fire Department Street Naming Comments 14. Landscape Architect Review – 2/4/15 15. MnDOT Review Comments – 3/2/15 16. Valley Branch Watershed District Permit Review – 12/2/14 17. Email Correspondence from Developer Dated 2/26/15 18. Memorandum from Developer’s Engineer Dated 2/26/15 19. Letter from Mary Jean Dupuis – 3/4/15 20. Letters from Robert Engstrom Companies: a. Richard Smith b. Mary Jean Dupuis 21. Preliminary Plat and Preliminary PUD Plans: a. Existing Conditions b. Preliminary Plat and Site Plans c. Construction Plans (Available Online) d. Landscape Plans (Available Online) e. Tree Inventory (Not included with packet)