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Mounds View City Council December 12, 2022 Regular Meeting Page 7 beautiful trees. She indicated she lived in a small, quaint neighborhood that has already had two very large apartment complexes built adjacent to it. She believed it was too big of a burden to ask this neighborhood to have a third apartment complex. She suggested a multi-housing/mixed use development be considered at Mounds View Square with commercial or retail space ground level and apartments above. She requested the City not burden her neighborhood with yet another high rise building. She indicated the five story apartment building would be an eyesore that would destroy the value of her property. Rebecca Scholl, 2467 Hillview Road, stated she has not spoken on this issue before, but she has been listening to her neighbors. She indicated she was in favor of development, but she was not in favor of the proposed apartments. She agreed the developer was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole with this project. She noted this was the wrong project for this property, especially considering the number of deviations the developer was requesting in order to make this site work. She suggested the City hang onto this property in order to see what other type of development could occur. She suggested townhomes or a mixed-use project be considered for this property. Cynthia Camarillo, 5299 Greenfield Avenue, noted she has been a resident of Mounds View for the past 33 years. She explained she was concerned with the fact this project has two phases and noted there would be additional traffic implications once Phase 2 was completed. She understood that the Skyline Motel property would have apartments, which would generate additional traffic in this area of Mounds View. She indicated the City had recently lost two police officers to retirement and the department was having a hard time recruiting, which was a concern for the entire community. She reported she was concerned with how dense the proposed development was, noting the developer was hoping to put 270 units on five acres. She appreciated the passion that was being shared by her neighbors, noting no other neighborhood in Mounds View would want this apartment complex in their backyard. Doug Donley, 5210 O’Connell Drive, thanked the Council for hearing the concerns being raised by the neighbors. He suggested this property be kept R-1 and that it be subdivided into six one- half acre parcels, which would allow for six additional houses. He anticipated the wildlife and greenspace would be better preserved and the neighbors would no longer be overly burdened. He suggested the City partner with Habitat for Humanity for these six homes and noted he would help build these new homes. He explained if the Council were to rezone this property, the floodgates would be opened and this site would be pushed towards a highly dense apartment complex. Mark Dieter, 5219 Jeffery Drive, stated he sympathizes with the Council when addressing these types of issues. He indicated he would like to find a way for the community to work together but believed this project doesn’t seem like it was a natural fit. He requested the Council consider what the best parts of Mounds View were. He believed the best parts were the police department, the people and the schools. He noted he was a teacher in the Mounds View School District and discussed how things were changing in the community, especially the schools. He anticipated the likelihood of this change will continue with every apartment building the City approves, which impacted every student within the district. He believed there had to be a better place for the proposed development that would be closer to a City park and mass transit. Brian Amundsen, 3048 Woodale Drive, discussed the things he thinks about when he thinks about