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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br /> Monday,September 17,2018 <br /> 6:30 o'clock p.m. <br /> Additional review by Hennepin County,the MPCA, and the Watershed District will be necessary. <br /> Landgraver asked whether the Village townhomes were two-story. <br /> Thiesse indicated they were two-story. <br /> Barnhart stated he knows they were in a slightly different configuration originally and that the developer <br /> is making some modifications. <br /> Lemke stated to his understanding they have approximately the same number of units. <br /> Landgraver stated to go from one story to four stories will make the apartment building appear high. <br /> Thiesse noted it is also downhill from those. <br /> Erickson stated this particular location strikes him as probably the best location in all of Orono that would <br /> lend itself to higher density and maybe a little extra height,keeping in mind that it will be highly <br /> regulated as far as the wetland and the former landfill. Also within those constraints there is the Highway <br /> 12 bypass on one side and a county road on the other side, which will soon be upgraded beyond what it is <br /> today. For neighbors this site has Baker Park,the Lurton Dog Park, and another parcel of land planned <br /> for multiple use. Erickson stated if it all gets built as dense as possible,the traffic will still probably not <br /> reach the peak levels of Old Highway 12. Erickson indicated her could endorse 20 units per acre, a <br /> building four stories high, and underground parking. <br /> Lemke noted last time two access points were proposed onto Wayzata Boulevard and now there is only <br /> one. <br /> Barnhart stated one of the access points was removed by Hennepin County because there were some <br /> challenges from a sight visibility standpoint. <br /> Landgraver stated this is the one place where four stories might work, and whether it is 19 or 20 units per <br /> acre,this is a good spot for it. <br /> Perry Ryan, Lakewest Development, stated they are unsure of the 10 percent recreational space that was <br /> listed in Staffs report and that they will work with Staff on that. In the narrative some of the rationale <br /> has been listed for higher density. This is a good spot for that since it is sandwiched between two roads <br /> and it is somewhat remote. The other item regarding density was meeting the Metropolitan Council's <br /> goals, which this project will do and provide the City with some buffer. <br /> Overall this is a very unique and interesting site. Mitigating factors for the height is the fact that the <br /> building will sit between six or eight feet lower than both Wayzata Boulevard and Highway 12. Also <br /> being proposed is a berm around the site as well and visually passersby will only see two to two and a <br /> half stories from all sides. The closest part of the building is 450 feet from Wayzata Boulevard,which is <br /> one and a half football fields away and 100 to 200 feet away from Highway 12. <br /> Ryan stated they added a graph to the sketch plan to show the site's environmental density. The site <br /> consists of 35 acres and approximately 18.92 percent of the site will be developed in hard surface such as <br /> roadways,parking and building. The other reason for the four stories is to keep the footprint as small as <br /> Page 15 of 22 <br />