1998 Planning Commission Packets

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_ . _ _ ✓ F r 'z- ;j =- '- - --- --� °� " _ ___ - _ ,: _ � . _ . � _ `_ _-- � =i 'I �� City Council ResoIution No. 5104 May I2, 1997 Page 6 � n: � = : _ -_ -: - � � _ - District 1 is intended to become the V'illage Center, or focal point for the community. It is envisioned to be a strong, vital activity center in the heart of the community, where a compiimentaiy, coordinated mixture of uses will create a feeling of identity and enjoyment for residents and visitors. It will provide places to live, work, shop and enjoy leisure-time pursuits. The creation of the V'illage Center will build on existing uses which include the Mounds �ew City Hall a,1d Community Center, two community shopping centers, Mounds Vew Square and Silver View Plaz� the Silver Lake Pointe and Wildwood Manor senior apartmezrt developments, the single famiIy homes and townhomes in Silver Lake Woods, several large aparm�ent developments including Scotland Cneen, Woodlawn Terrace, Timberland Ridge, Greenfield Estates, Lancimark Estates, The Sands, and Mounds Vew Estates, individual re7ail busin�sses and restaurants along Fii�h�,ay 10, and neighborhood businesses like the Tom Thumb market. This district includes some significant natural resources and open space areas. Silver Vew Park, on of the City's largest parks, is within �,aalking distance from many areas of this district. It incIudes an attractive lake with wallcing paths, athletic fields, and picnic and playground facilities. There are three large wetlands, one located southeast of Silver Vew Road and I�'ighway 10, one south of H'ighway 10 between Long Lake Road and County Road H2, and one next to the Mounds Vew Community Cerrter. Two of these are State-protected, and all three are protected by local regulations. They will remain important assets in the environmental quality of this district, and an appropriate setting around each wetland needs to be preserved. The undeveloped land ia this district is often wooded with mature tre�s, and effort needs to be gven to preserving as much of the forested ciiaracter and natural feel of these areas as is possible by how development is designed on these parcels. H'ighway 10 presents a challenge to the cre�on of the V'�llage Center, in that it cuts diagonally across this district and the remainder ofthe community, and is used as a major route to move tra�c through the region. It carries a high volume of traffic during commute times, and the timing of the t�-a�c lights favors the highway rather than local t�-a�c and pedestrians seeldng to cross the highwa at the irnersectians. The V'�lage Center offers the possib�ity of creating a meeting ground between the two halves of the community, which will overcome the division created by the highway. It is the desire ofthe community that H'ighway 10 become a bouievard that is rooted in Mounds Vew, and makes the community visible rather ignoring or being oblivious to the community. Vehicular circuiation should be developed according to a ring road concept to keep major tra�c flow on the periphery of the �llage Center. Access to H'i g hway 10 should be Iimited and concentrated. Relative to genera! use patterns, commercial and medium density residential development should be located in proximity to H'ighway 10, with a decrea.se in intensity of use occurring outward from the highway toward the lower density residential neighborhoods to the south and west. Development should also include provisions for dedication of land to a pedestrian/bicycle traiI system which can tie the various elements of the Center together and provide connection to a community -wide system of trails.