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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br /> August 26, 2003 <br /> • Page 7 <br /> accustomed to a certain level of noise. Mr. Lindberg agreed some noise had to be expected <br /> 2 because the setting was urban. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 Councilmember Faust stated he did not want the sound issue to be minimized, as the problem <br /> 5 could be very irritating and needed to be addressed. Mr. Lindberg replied the team was not <br /> 6 trying to skirt the issue; however, they did not have a solution ready for presentation. <br /> 7 <br /> 8 Len Pratt, Pratt-Ordway, discussed planned areas of buffering, explaining some of the buffering <br /> 9 caused challenges to visibility and "sense-of-presence" issues. He added the team was doing <br /> 10 what it could to meet the challenges; however, he noted there would always be some"edges." <br /> 11 <br /> 12 Mr. Pratt indicated the team had heard Council's questions and had been taking notes. He felt <br /> 13 this was a good time for the development team to be listening to the Planning Commission and <br /> 14 the City Council. <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Mr. Pratt introduced Gary Vogel, BKB Group in Minneapolis, and Mark Morehouse, Dominion <br /> 17 Group, to address the housing portion of the project. <br /> 18 <br /> 19 Mr. Vogel presented Council with the site plan as it related to the housing component and <br /> 20 discussed the following information: layout to develop a sequence creating the urban <br /> 21 townhomes was in progress; descriptions of the urban townhomes and flats; the parking and <br /> 22 traffic movement; layout for the rental building; green area and access to the retail area; parking <br /> provided underneath the buildings,which explained the limited parking on the surface; reasons <br /> 9 for pedestrian friendliness; 20%of the homes would be considered affordable housing. <br /> 25 <br /> 26 Mr. Pratt presented proposed elevations of the flats, indicating market conditions would produce <br /> 27 the final product. <br /> 28 <br /> 29 Mr. Pratt stated the team had heard "loud and clear"that there was a deep demand in the City for <br /> 30 individual walkout living, which would be repeated on the floors above. He added they would <br /> 31 learn from the first clients, as this was something new. <br /> 32 <br /> 33 Mr. Vogel explained design work was being done to make the units complimentary to each other <br /> 34 and to the retail component. He added time would be needed for the full level of detail to be <br /> 35 developed. <br /> 36 <br /> 37 Mr. Vogel displayed a site drawing of the side-by-side townhomes and photographic examples of <br /> 38 the side-by-side townhomes. <br /> 39 <br /> 40 Mayor Hodson noted the City had been told, in the past, the affordable component was not <br /> 41 workable, yet it was said there would be a 15% to 20% affordable component. Mr. Morehouse <br /> 42 responded the affordability of the project would be closer to 15% and the team was committed to <br /> 43 meeting Met Council guidelines. He added conversations had taken place with the City's staff <br /> 44 and fiscal consultants, who indicated there were other funds available to help provide housing. <br /> 0 Discussion followed regarding formulas to determine affordable housing. <br /> 47 <br />