2006.02.23 PC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Planning Commission Minutes — February 23, 2006 Page 2 Commission with the City of Hugo. Kirk said that in the summer of 2004, the Hugo Planning Commission held a public hearing and residents indicated they were not happy with CPDC and were upset because the pool area had not been constructed. At that Commission meeting, Kirk said Schumann had suggested an open house be held. In October of 2004, CPDC held an open house where residents raised their concerns such as the issue of the pool being downsized. Kirk said residents paid premium lot fees because the builder, David Bernard, told those residents the property would not be developed. Kirk said CPDC disclosed to residents that it would be retail, and it would be many years down the road. After a board meeting in November of 2005, CPDC informed them they were going to change the plan for the third time and develop townhomes sooner than expected. Kirk said it was a heavily used area, and there were traffic safety concerns. An engineering study done by the City indicated that there were no safety concerns, but the study was conducted in February when the property was not highly used. Kirk said he had met with City staff in January and requested modifications to the plan. Kirk explained their objections to the plan included traffic and safety issues. There was not enough parking at the community center during the summer and the sales office property was being used as overflow. There were 664 residential homes in Victor Gardens and were only 12 parking spaces at the community center. There was bump -out parking around the park but there was none at the other parking spaces so it was unclear that they were designated parking areas. The corner was a busy place with school buses stopping there and parents congregating there. The townhomes had small garages and residents ended up parking on the private drives, and guest parking spaces were not used for parking because it was too hard to back up. Kirk said residents had complained to Washington County and CPDC about speeding in the area. Kirk said the original concept plan showed 280 townhomes and the developer was now proposing 469 townhome units (total). He said the proposed townhomes would face the side of their townhome building, and there were no other instances where that occurred in the development. The proposed buildings would also be the only four -unit buildings place side-by-side in the entire neighborhood and would be 3 to 4 bedroom units where you would expect more than one person living there. Kirk said they were originally told it would remain as open space, then retail, and now residential. They were unsure what CPDC would do next. He said the City should reject the plan and ask them to go back to the drawing board and ask what the residents wanted, or put the plan on hold until they had all the information and the full picture. Kirk said that CPDC was unwilling to hear their concerns and the residents wanted the community area they were promised with safe and adequate parking. Schumann stated that they didn't necessarily have a choice to deny the request; there was already an approved plan for commercial. The CDD confirmed that the applicant could ask for approval of a commercial building which would be consistent with the approved PUD. Schumann said he could see their issue with the parking. Dave Hempel, Project Manager of CPDC, thanked Mr. Kirk for all his valuable insight and the residents for all their comments over the years, and said he had tried to address their concerns. They originally planned for 9 townhome units and revised their plans after meeting with City staff and Kirk. He thanked the residents for coming and apologized for Pratt being out of town and unable to make it