Minutes - 2008/04/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council Apri114, 2008 Regular Meeting Page 6 i Planner Heller indicated that she received further information since this Staff report was completed. She then said that the Applicant has not paid outstanding fees, and is present to discuss this matter with the Council. Ron Lillestrand of Integra Homes agreed that there has been a delay with this project, and part of that is due to the delays in approval early on, and then the real estate market has taken a downturn that he has not seen in 35 years. Mr. Lillestrand said that there is too much unsold inventory on the market and they have been waiting for the market to turn around, and the experts in the field have said that they think that the market should turn around by the end of 2008. Mr. Lillestrand requested an extension on this for as long as Council would allow. He then said that he would like an extension for six months and then come back before Council again. Mr. Lillestrand said that there is someone who is interested in incorporating this property into an assisted living project, but that makes him nervous and he is not sure whether the project would be approved by the City. Mayor Marty noted that in December of 2006, the property owner was given six months and now we are in April of 2008. He then said that there was a roundtable discussion with Council, EDC, • and a number of developers trying to talk about developing along the County Highway 10 corridor, and one thing that was a consensus was three, four, or five years ago townhomes were the big market, but now it is apartments and no developer will build townhomes. Mayor Marty indicated that residents were much more agreeable to an assisted living facility rather than owner occupied townhomes in their backyards. Since then, he has talked with Ms. Johnson, and Mr. Ericson, and the assisted living needs to acquire more property. Mayor Marty said that Mr. Lillestrand gave two requests to Council. The first is an unlimited extension, and the second was to work with the assisted living developer on the property. Mr. Lillestrand said that he would like to have the option of coming back in six months, but would be happy to sell this property to a developer, if he can get everything lined up within six months. Mayor Marty said that this is almost a year past the deadline and Council is being asked to consider another extension. Council Member Stigney said that if an extension was granted, the fees would be paid. Mr. Lillestrand said that he will be paying the fees anyway. Council Member Flaherty asked if the townhomes may not actually go in there.