04-12-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 8, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 12 of 24 26. LA21-000014 – MARK RAUSCH AND AZIZ SADDIQUI O/B/O UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS AND DAVID WEEKLY HOMES, NW CORNER OF WILLOW AND WAYZATA BLVD., COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT, ZONE CHANGE, PRELIMINARY PLAT, AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN APPROVAL – RESOLUTION NO. 7177 – Continued Barnhart said off of Willow the setback is quite a bit greater as there is a wetland and vegetation there. The buildings on Kelley have their front there but there is also an elevation change; they do meet the 30- foot setback. Walsh said part of what they must remember is the back will be facing Highway 12, so it is not like people are walking their dog down the street. Originally what was nice about this is that they obviously zoned this way too dense and the Applicants came in, took the advice the Council gave the previous developer, brought it down to 37 units, and he appreciates their flexibility. Now it is just the fine-tuning. Along the Highway if they have the backs and some arborvitaes to brunt that a bit; the same with Willow, the only thing across from there is Harvest Moon and Otten Brothers with trucks coming in and out all the time. Crosby said they could add some type of fencing. Barnhart noted the Applicant proposes an ornamental style fence along Willow, Wayzata, and the west side, but that won’t be intended to screen. Crosby stated they will see the recreation area in the middle where it is safer for families and kids. Johnson said the Applicant made a lot of changes since the Planning Commission and that is not one of the changes they made and there is probably a reason. Walsh noted the Applicant is here and invited them up to talk. Aziz Saddiqui with David Weekley Homes, 12000 White Water Drive, Minnetonka, thanked the Council for all the feedback from the previous year. There were three big points they took away from Council and Planning Commission: setbacks, the unit count, and to find a place for the open space area play structure inside the community - originally it was along Kelley Parkway and Planning Commission felt it was not safe there. This particular plan and the way it navigates the streets, the way the homes are designed, and the walkway system has a safe access to a majority of the units to walk to the park from the front door rather than crossing the road and going into it. They tried to flip this one building and presented that option to the Planning Commission and Commissioner Libby who is present tonight supported that. Mr. Saddiqui’s team feels with the flow of the streets this works better, when they flipped the units facing Wayzata and Willow, the first question that came up was if someone is living there would they want to wake up every morning and look at Wayzata Boulevard or Willow Drive. From that perspective, they looked at what they could do to make it work, and they thought of flipping it so they have a parallel street next to Willow and Wayzata which gives the setbacks they need and the street system. Then they asked what else can they do to secure it a little bit more, so they brought in the ornamental fence and the arborvitaes. Some concerns the Planning Commission had is the survival of the arborvitae and the Applicant is open to the idea if the City wants to recommend a certain plant. David Weekley Homes’ landscape architect feels the kind of plantings they are proposing will serve well and sustain as the distance is quite far from the snow and salt and it would work out well. As they all know, it is 100% HOA maintained for all the utilities, streets, streetlights, parks, etcetera. The way they have finalized it –