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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes October 10, 2017 Page 6 1 Mr. Jack Cann, Attorney representing the Lowry Grove Resident Association, stated about 60 of 2 the residents at Lowry Grove had homes that couldn’t be moved. Most of those are at the mercy 3 of an extremely hostile apartment rental environment. He asked what the long-term housing 4 solution is on behalf of those residents. Mr. Cann referred to the City’s website “Lowry Grove 5 Redevelopment” and read the principles. Mr. Casey’s recommendation did not include any 6 analysis of affordable housing proposed for the project and the planning principles noted on the 7 website were not addressed. Mr. Cann quoted from City Code and asked why staff did a 180-8 degree pivot when they learned there would be 110 units of deeply affordable housing and invite 9 the previous Lowry Grove residents back into that housing. Mr. Cann the City included in the 10 Comprehensive Plan the plan to redevelop Lowry Grove and get rid of its residents and by 11 requiring a density of 25 units/acre those residents will stay gone. He indicated there are some 12 potential legal consequences that have been conveyed to the City Attorney. 13 14 Mr. Bill Skolnick, Legal Counsel for Brad Hoyt and The Village LLC, stated he knows what the 15 City and surrounding areas are like because he lived in the area. Mr. Hoyt has given him two 16 missions this evening. Mr. Skolnick read a letter Mr. Hoyt had written in full. The second 17 mission was to give a perspective. He feels Mayor Faust’s confidence in Mr. Casey’s opinion is 18 misplaced in this situation as his opinion directly contradicts the facts and the findings. Mr. 19 Skolnick stated facts that were stated or written from the City, noting the City Attorney told one 20 of The Village staff this morning that Council would deny the proposal before even hearing the 21 evidence. He stated that is not the way it is supposed to work. Mr. Skolnick stated the City 22 Attorney had a conversation with Mr. Mergens this morning. Mr. Skolnick asked what happened 23 between Mr. Casey saying the more density the better as long as the City’s infrastructure can 24 handle it and now. Mr. Skolnick stated he hopes Council will consider the revised proposal and 25 the importance of this development to the City. 26 27 Ms. Thomas stated she does not know the reason for the proposed resolution of 25 units/acre. 28 She would have loved to have that as redevelopment of the site benefits the community, 29 residents, and surrounding communities. She noted the proposal of 40 units/acre complies with 30 the 2008 Comprehensive Plan and requested Council approve the Preliminary PUD and 31 Preliminary Plat for 2501 Lowry Avenue and the Comprehensive Plan amendment to change 32 2401 Lowry Avenue land use. 33 34 Ms. Monique Dubos, 2601 Kenzie Terrace, stated there seems to be great progress on the project 35 and closer to the 25 units/acre but that is still a lot of traffic and density. She stated it shouldn’t 36 be up to this development to address all the affordable housing needs in St. Anthony. She 37 addressed the planning goals and said going to the lower density of the range would be more 38 compatible with the neighborhood. Ms. Dubos stated at the last meeting, she had presented a 39 petition with over 800 signatures and added a page containing more signatures. 40 41 Mr. Perry Thorvig, 3112 Townview Avenue, mentioned three points, noting he was in Mr. Casey 42 and Ms. Rothstein’s shoes for many years. He noted when you get the details of a potential 43 project, it’s different than initial general discussions. Mr. Thorvig stated the developers have 44 made some concessions on reducing units but they have not heard a single word that the 45 neighbors said about the use of the alley. He offered an alternative suggestion to eliminate 46 6