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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClarification letter February 28, 2017 John & Linda Freivalds 2585 Old Beach Road Orono, MN 55391 RE: Proposed Freshwater Apartments John and Linda, Thanks for the letter regarding our Freshwater Apartment project. We are very excited about bringing a new housing choice to the Navarre Area and pleased to be part of the renovation and revitalization in this area. A lot has changed since 1972, especially the desire of residents who are becoming empty nesters and want to move to housing near Navarre. We will be good neighbors and we hope that the care and attention in our design will alleviate many of the issues you had listed. First, it is undecided on what the use will be. We are considering market rate Apartments as well as Condominium and Senior Housing. We are requesting 50 units in order to make this an attractive building to meet the needs of our tenants. We are proposing 51 below ground parking and 49 surface parking. The surface parking will be on the west side of the building shielding all headlights from neighboring properties. We are sharing a drive with the Freshwater Office Building to reduce turns onto CR 19 and to keep access away from the residential homes. We have met with the Watershed on the proposed plan. There is a 75-foot wetland buffer that we are adhering too. The watershed will require that we place signs along the buffer area to make sure people are aware of its protection. In addition, as part of the project we may include additional buffering along the wetland on the Freshwater Office building site to improve water quality that was not required back in 1972. With the existing natural vegetation barrier and required wetland buffer protection residents will be well aware that they need to avoid the area between your lot and the building. We will look into placing a fence in the area you described but have concerns on compromising the natural amenities this site provides. We are proposing vegetation along County Rd 19 adjacent the parking lot. A small berm may be included to match the existing berms along 19. Our building placement was designed to minimize views from the neighbors. We had looked at site lines from the neighboring homes and designed the building and parking with the least impact. The building height is 3-stores (31 feet) along County Rd 19. From the west, the building will be 54 feet at its highest point next to the Freshwater building. The west building height is derived from the topography of the lot, sloping down to the wetland. To minimize grading and tree removal we are using the existing slope and building the underground parking into the topography. By doing this the back wall of the underground parking will be exposed creating the 410 11th Avenue South, Hopkins, MN 55343 952/928-7800 Fax 952/928-2279 Item 12 added height. The back wall will be constructed of brick and have year-round vegetative screening so it will not be visible from the neighborhood. No added residential floors are created by using the slope. The height of the building matches the height of the Freshwater building and creates a nice transition from north to south. We are proposing a market rate building and will provide the architecture and landscaping needed to sell the units. The architectural drawings that we submitted represents what we want but the specific type of materials will be determined through the city process. We will be happy to meet with you to discuss our project. Please reach out to me at 612-363- 3321 to set up a time. Sincerely Alex Ugorets