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MINUTES OF THE <br />SPECIAL ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, January 6, 2014 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />    Page 10 of 27   <br />(1. #13-3638 and #13-3639 SOURCE LAND CAPITAL, LLC (PAT HILLER) O/B/O GRANT <br /> WENKSTERN (LAKEVIEW GOLF), 405 NORTH ARM DRIVE – COMPREHENSIVE <br /> PLAN AMENDMENT AND SKETCH PLAN REVIEW, Continued) <br /> <br />Thieroff stated if the opposite decision is made based on proper findings; it would similarly be difficult to <br />make a claim, which is why the emphasis is on preserving the Comprehensive Plan. Thieroff stated the <br />risk on the Comprehensive Plan side is not whether litigation would result but it is the risk of opening up <br />the door to turning the Comprehensive Plan into something that is constitutional to something that can be <br />changed without going through all those steps. <br /> <br />Bremer commented it is more opening the door to a slippery slope. <br /> <br />Thieroff stated it would also go to the contribution of the citizens who have participated in the process of <br />creating the Comprehensive Plan and the vision that was adopted. <br /> <br />Kathy Sawicki indicated she is here tonight to offer her personal professional opinion and not the opinion <br />of Coldwell Banker Burnet or another real estate agent. Sawicki stated the opinions tonight are based on <br />her market analysis, which was based on an absorption rate analysis. Sawicki stated she is also a 27-year <br />resident of the City of Orono and live within one mile of Lakeview Golf Course. <br /> <br />Sawicki stated all markets are local and that what is happening in the Wayzata School District is not <br />necessarily indicative of what is happening in the Orono or Westonka School Districts. Sawicki stated <br />when real estate agents talk about absorption rate, that is the speed at which properties are selling within a <br />given market rate. The absorption rate is typically calculated on a one-year look back. That one-year <br />look back is based on the number of sales that occurred on a per month basis for the prior year. Sawicki <br />stated real estate agents also then look at the month’s supply of inventory, which are the active listings <br />available to the market place. Sawicki stated historically a five to seven month inventory is characteristic <br />of a stable market and that when you drop below five months of inventory, you start to see what is <br />considered a seller’s market consisting of increasing prices, multiple offers. Having an inventory of over <br />seven or eight months is considered a buyer’s market. <br /> <br />Sawicki stated when she was asked to analyze this property; her information at the time was that there <br />would be single-family homes built in the $800,000 to $1.2 million price range. Sawicki stated when she <br />looked at what happened in 2013 for nonlakeshore properties, there were eight pending and closed sales <br />in 2013 in that price segment. There are currently eight listings on the market. Half of those are in <br />temporarily not available status, which typically happens during the holidays. Sawicki stated currently <br />there is a 12-month inventory in this market segment in the City of Orono and that she would also point <br />out that of those eight pending and closed sales, all were in the Orono School District and none were in <br />the Westonka School District, which is where Lakeview is located. <br /> <br />Sawicki stated as it relates to single-family lots available in Orono, she looked at one to four acre lots in <br />Orono in the $250,000 to $450,000 price range. There were two pending and closed sales in 2013 in that <br />market segment. Sawicki stated there were five active listings on the MLS but that she would found there <br />were more lots available that were not on the MLS. The McIntyre development, which is located in the <br />City of Orono, Orono School District, just north of Lakeview, there were lots available consisting of .3 <br />acre to 3 acres. Homes in that development have been available for purchase since 2011. One home has <br />been built and sold and a second home is under construction as a spec home but there are no offers on it. <br />Sawicki stated this demonstrates what the demand is for lots similar to these in Orono.