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EDC Minutes November 17, 2017 Page 3 of 6 was supposed to have some units of traditional retail, however the developers are having a hard time getting those retailers interested due to the lack of access off of Mounds View Boulevard. Beeman informed the EDC that a predevelopment agreement has been provided to the City Attorney for review. A predevelopment agreement is a document that allows the developer to have legal access to the site in order to do soil borings and other due diligence like negotiating the land price, etc. for one year. This ensures the developers that the City won’t sell the land to another developer during the period of the agreement. Commissioner Muckala mentioned that she had attended the public open house for INH Properties and had also toured a competing gun range and talked to the owners to learn more about this type of project. Muckala found that the sound was similar to taping fingers on a desk and when she walked across the street to the residential side she was not able to hear any ambient noise. Commissioner Freichels asked about the issue surrounding Ramsey County denying access to the development from Mounds View Boulevard. Beeman responded by informing the Commission that Mounds View Boulevard is a County road and therefore they control the access from that road. The County is essentially denying access all along Mounds View Boulevard for any access that is less than 660 feet from the main intersection. This is the County’s policy and although there are instances where the County has not followed this policy, the County is choosing to adhere to their policy for Mounds View Boulevard. Beeman informed the Commission that the result of having no access from Mounds View Boulevard is that it is causing difficulty for the current developers to attract any traditional retail. The same issue will exist for the entire Mounds View Boulevard corridor. This means that it will be very difficult to attract retail all along the corridor and forces the developers and the City to focus on more residential developments and destination type developments. The Council liked the idea of an all market rate project with destination retail in a mixed-use product partly because a mixed-use development has been the vision for the site and partly because INH Properties is not asking for any public subsidies. Although, they have indicated that they may ask for a Housing TIF. The senior living developer was asking for a Housing TIF, a land write-down, a waiver of City fees, and other types of public subsidies. The Council felt that this developer, although a good developer, was asking for too many subsidies. The third developer was a mixed-use development and would also be asking for public subsidies. This is why INH Properties is a more attractive fit. Commissioner Freichels asked if there were other options for access to the site. Beeman said the developers are looking at the possibility of access from County Road H2 and also from Edgewood Drive. The access issue is still being considered by INH Properties and their architect.