HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Business Item Residential Estate THE CITY OF PLANNING COMMISSION
LAKE ELMO �� DATE: 11/14/16
AGENDA ITEM: 5C—DISCUSSION ITEM
ITEM: Residential Districts—Allowed Density
SUBMITTED BY: Stephen Wensman, Planning Director
REVIEWED BY: Emily Becker, City Planner.
Kristina Handt, City Administrator.
BACKGROUND:
During a recent City Council meeting, after the approval of the Open Space Preservation ordinance
amendment, there was discussion regarding the subdivision of property in the rural zoning districts in
to smaller lots than what is currently allowed. The discussion referenced other discussions in the past
regarding this same matter.
The subdivision of property into 2.5 acre lots is limited to the Residential Estates zoning district, and
such zoning is limited in the City to a small area. Furthermore,the Comprehensive Plan guides only a
small new area as residential estate. The City Council is requesting that the Planning Commission
discuss the expansion of 2.5 acre or similar sized lot development in the rural districts.
PLANNING ZONING ISSUES:
Current Minimum Lot Size Standards
The table below outlines the minimum lot area(in acres) required for properties within Rural
Districts.
RT A RR RS RE
20 40 10 1.5 2.5
Open Space Preservation Developments
The recently approved Open Space Preservation ordinance requires a minimum land area of a
nominal contiguous 20 contiguous acres for an open space planned unit development. The land
must also be located in the Rural Residential, Agricultural or Residential Estate zoning districts.
Any property that is in these zoning districts but does not or cannot meet the 20 acre-minimum
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requirement through combining with adjacent parcels cannot further develop as an OP
development. Subdivision of these parcels would be limited to the lot sizes specified in the table
above. Such parcels are outlined in the attached map.
The current limitation on rural estate development in favor of OP development is consistent with the
current comprehensive plan policy and vision statements:
"Encourage the majority of the new households created in areas north of 10ffi Street north and
outside the Village Area to be efficiently developed in a rural context in the form of Open
Space Development cluster neighborhoods."
"Lake Elmo's land use plan is guided by its core vision of creating and maintaining a
rural community within the Metropolitan region."
"The remainder of the community north of 10th Street and surrounding the Old Village
will continue Lake Elmo's long tradition of providing rural living opportunities within
the Metropolitan area."
The new(OP) Open Space Preservation Ordinance allows cluster development on properties 20
acres or greater. Previous Planning Staff had conducted an analysis to determine the potential
number of housing units that could be developed in the Agriculture and Rural Residential zoning
districts under the OP Ordinance when the minimum acreage was 40 acres. The total acreage
zoned identified(less 15% assumed unbuildable) was multiplied by(.45)to determine the
number of households. The number of households possible under the old ordinance was 524.
Staff did a similar exercise identifying lots between 20 and 40 acres in size have determined that
the new ordinance would allow an additional 494 households to be developed under the OP
Ordinance, or a total of 1,018 households.
Old OP Ordinance-Min 40 Acres Required
Total
Acreage -
assuming
15% # of
Zoning #of Total #of unbuildable Households
District Parcels Acreage Households area (realistic)
A 8 586.28 263.826 498.338 224.2521
RR 13 783.24 352.458 665.754 299.5893
524.00
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New OP Ordinance-Min 20 Acres Required
Total
Acreage -
assuming
15% # of
Zoning # of Total #of unbuildable Households
District Parcels Acreage Households area (realistic)
A 20 941.57 423.7065 800.3345 360.150525
RR 45 1721.24 774.558 1463.054 658.3743
1018.00
Possible Increase in# of households by allowing Min 20 Acres for OP Development
(1018-524=494)
494
The remaining rural properties, 20 acres or less in size, are unable to develop into OP
developments. These properties are currently limited to 1 unit per 10 acres under Rural
Residential zoning, or 1 unit per 40 under Agriculture zoning. If the City were to allow rural
properties, 5-20 acres in size, to develop into 2.5 acre lots, as could be done under Residential
Estates zoning, the city might see an additional 418 households.
Potential Increase in
Number of Lots Under 2.5
Zoning # of Lots 5-20 Acre Minimum Standard
District acres for lots 5-20 acres
A 29 81
RR 136 337
418 (new households)*
*(new lots-parent lots subtracted)
Total rural growth under with the new OP ordinance and if the city were to allow 2.5 acre
minimum lots elsewhere in the rural districts would be approximately 1,436 households, which
would result in potentially 556 more unsewered households and 1,329 more unsewered
population than forecasted for 2040.
(Met Council Forecasted Unsewered Households=3,679)
(2014 MC Est.Unsewered Households=2, 865—66 sewered lots=2,799 rural households)
(Future rural households with OP and 2.5 acre zoning=2,799+1,436(new rural households)=4,235 households)
4,235—3,679=556*(MC Forecasted Unsewered Pop. 8792/MC Forecasted Unsewered HH of 3679=2.39) 1,329
2015 System Statement.
MN State Statute requires cities to have comprehensive plans that are in conformity with
metropolitan system plans. The Metropolitan Council approves such plans and has issued a
system statement which provides:
• forecasted population, households, and employment through the year 2040;
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• guidance on appropriate densities to ensure that regional services and costly regional
infrastructure can be provided as efficiently as possible.
• affordable housing need allocation;
The 2015 System Statement for Lake Elmo was issued by the Met Council in 2015 with forecasts
for the next comprehensive plan update:
2010 (actual) 2014 (est.) 2020 2030 2040
Population 8,061 8,594 10,500 14,100 18,200
Households 2,776 2,865 3,800 5,300 7,100
Employment 1,941 2,366 2,900 3,350 3,800
The Metropolitan Council has also determined the regional need for low and moderate income
housing for the decade of 2021-2030. Lake Elmo's share of the region's need for low and
moderate income housing is 508 new units affordable to households earning 80% of area median
income (AMI) or below. Of these new units, the need is for 27 affordable households earning at
or below 30% of AMI, 179 affordable to households earning 3 1%to 50% of AMI, and 302
affordable to households earning 5 1%to 80% of AMI. These forecasts are for new units which
translates to a Met Council requirement to have land area guided for Medium Density and High
Density Residential in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
Affordable Housing Need Allocation for Lake Elmo
At or below 30% AMI 27
31 to 50% AMI 179
51 to 80% AMI 302
Total Units 508
As part of forecasted growth, a percentage of it is required to be sewered growth:
Forecast Year Forecast Component Population Households Employment
2010 MCES Sewered 0 0 623
2010 Unsewered 8,061 2,776 1,318
2020 MCES Sewered 2,912 1,059 2,338
2020 Unsewered 7,588 2,741 562
2030 MCES Sewered 6,160 2,240 2,788
2030 Unsewered 7,940 3,060 562
2040 MCES Sewered 9,408 3,421 3,238
2040 Unsewered 8,792 3,679 562
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff is recommending Planning Commission discuss allowing smaller lots in the Rural Districts.
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ATTACHMENTS:
• Map of properties zoned Agricultural, Rural Residential, and Residential Estate under 20
acres.
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