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Item No: 6A Meeting Date: July 20, 2005 Type of Business: Commission Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Planning Commission From: Jim Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Review Proposed Sale of Land to Medtronic for Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan Introduction: On June 27, 2005, the Mounds View City Council and Economic Development Authority (EDA) authorized an agreement with Medtronic Inc. to redevelop the Bridges of Mounds View golf course. The approved project would entail a phased development process with the first phase encompassing approximately 820,000 square feet of office space and related ancillary uses. On July 11, 2005, the City Council adopted Ordinance 760, an ordinance approving the transfer of land from the City of Mounds View to the Mounds View EDA and then subsequently to Medtronic. Also on July 11, 2005, the City Council approved the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Amendment for the Bridges site, redesignating the area from Passive Open Space (OSP) and Outdoor Sport and Recreation (SRO) to Office (OFC.) The transfer of land to Medtronic, per Minnesota Statues 462.356, needs to be reviewed by the Planning Commission to ensure consistency with the city’s Comprehensive Plan. Discussion: Originally planned for Council consideration on May 23, 2005, the Comprehensive Plan amendment approved on July 11 changes the future land use designation to Office, which is consistent with the present zoning of the site (Industrial.) The Planning Commission recommended the Office designation on February 2, 2005 with the adoption of Resolution 783-05. Subsequent to the Planning Commission’s recommendation, the amendment was forwarded to the Metropolitan Council, which approved the amendment on April 27, 2005. Now that the amendment has been adopted by the City Council, the Planning Commission needs to review the proposed transfer of land to Medtronic to assess consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. (Review prior to Council adoption of the amendment would have resulted in an “inconsistent” finding.) This statutory required review is not intended to solicit opinion on the terms of the sale, the terms of the redevelopment or the redevelopment process, only to assess the consistency with the comprehensive plan. The proposed reuse of the site, as articulated in the contract for private development, contemplates a first-phase development of 820,000 square feet of corporate office space. A corporate office campus as planned would be consistent with the anticipated future land use for this site. The proposed development will be designed to be context-sensitive with respect to the natural amenities on the site, will minimize any impact to wetlands and will provide for mitigation on site, will improve the flow and characteristics of the existing judicial ditch that traverses the site. Via extensive studies which included a wetland delineation, property survey and Alternative Areawide Urban review (AUAR), the impacts of a corporate office campus on the site have been assessed and a transportation impact plan prepared to address current and anticipated transportation infrastructure deficiencies.