10-12-2020 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 12,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. that without introducing density elsewhere. He pointed out that the Comprehensive Plan really looked at density throughout the community and tried to maintain it in certain areas and this is one of those areas. Johnson said they could take the backside of the land, donate it to the City for the pond, reduce the acres they have and increase their units per acre. After a short discussion on density, Seals and Crosby noted they do not want to add more density anywhere else. Mayor Walsh noted there are some proposals in front of the Council talking about re-zoning the office space land to small apartments or whatever, and right now it is zero, but it would be more than 3 units/acre most likely, so if they add that in, it might make up for bringing this project down to 6 units/acres. However, he stated that is not in front of the Council right now. Barnhart said he doesn't put a lot of stock in that until they come forward with an application, noting they get "ideas" all the time. Mayor Walsh noted they are currently at 9.5 units/acre and they need to get to 10 units/acre. Johnson asked if the Applicant would like to come up and speak. Aziz Saddiqui, 12900 White Water Drive, Minnetonka, noted he is responsible for the acquisition development for David Weekley for the Midwest and the Western part of the County and thanked the Council for their time. He said when the company came here, they were told it was zoned for 20+units. He said they adjusted the numbers to meet some of the setback requirements and when they presented the package in front of the Planning Commission, they liked the product, idea and concept; however it created the issue of the setbacks. David Weekley said that is fine, they can address the setbacks but it would significantly affect the units, so from 43 units, they are down to the 35 units they are discussing today. Mr. Saddiqui noted they are meeting most of the setbacks that as a guideline they were told to meet. He stated there is room to add 2 units, to the Council's point, and it may require very small variances to the North along Kelley Road, but he believes they could achieve those 2 units they are discussing today. This project is doable only if they have bare minimum of 35 units; if the company has to go any lower, they would probably walk away from the project, as this is their bottom line number for the economics to work. He said 37 units definitely helps, but if the City decides to go 6 units/acre it is something that the company cannot do. Mayor Walsh stated they are not concerned about needing to develop property; the concern is trying to meet the numbers that make sense from a density standpoint and if it works to the company's benefit, that is great, but if it stays empty land, that is okay too. Johnson asked the price range for the units. Mr. Saddiqui answered it will be $360,000 to low $400,000's. Page 13 of 24