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Referring to the Victoria property he said, "We saw its proximity to the downtown as more of an urban lifestyle, which is a strong positive. Its smaller lot concept would be an appropriate segue in the neighborhood. We're thinking of a lifestyle, smaller lots for people who don't want to spend time shoveling snow but, instead, going to ball games, dance class, and other activities. It gives people that opportunity with 50-foot lots and an urban look but still have space for people's items. It's not crushing things into a small spot. We're also doing this in Apple Valley for this type of lifestyle." "We're currently at 3.36 units per acre," he said. "We felt this concept provided the best cohesion for the neighborhood. Our homes would be from $350,000 to $425,000, with 2,700 to 4,100 square feet on two levels." Stated Mayor Tom O'Connor, "The sense here is that we couldn't get Metropolitan Council approval for that density. How do we achieve a higher density? Are we between a rock and a hard place? I'd like to find a way to have our cake and eat it, too." Councilmember Joe Pavelko referred to the 7.5-foot sideyard setbacks. "I'm not a fan of that," he said. Most sideyard setbacks in Victoria are 10 or more. In responding to the request for higher density, including perhaps townhomes or apartments, Mr. Hill stated, "The pushback is that Victoria doesn't have the market for that right now ... We could put one of our townhome products in here to bump the density up ... We'd be putting our premiers in there, which might get us up to 100 units. But we'd want to stay with the lifestyle concept and urban concept, with small single family lots. We'll have a fairly high quality product." Said Councilmember Lani Basa, "I'd like to see what you could come back with, staying closer to density that was set for that property." Agreed Councilmember Tom Strigel, "I'd like to see you move toward a higher density." Replied Mr. Hill, "Construction costs in the industry are moving up substantially. We couldn't get the velocity we need this far out from the inner ring, for high density lower cost homes." Holly Kreft was asked to contact the Met Council to get their input on lower density for Harvest Glen. Also, the developer will try to come up with a plan to increase the density."
KOCHIA AND 78TH STREET TO BE RECONSTRUCTED ASSESSMENT PER HOME IS $11,100 Council held a public hearing on May 27th and voted 5-0 to order the improvement and preparation of plans and specs for street and drainage improvements on 78th Street and Kochia Lane. Council also voted 5-0 to award the engineering work to Bolton and Menk, low bidder at $87,102. Total project cost is estimated to be $1,507,000. City Engineer Cara Geheren introduced the project once again, this time at the formal public hearing. "The project is to reconstruct 78th Street from Hwy 5 to just west of Madelyn Creek, and Kochia Lane from Hwy 5 down to 78th Street. We're not recommending to do the rest of Kochia because extensive easements are necessary." "We get calls all the time for getting the road upgraded," said Cara. "Kochia is gravel. Pavement on 78th is past its useful life. We're proposing 28-foot wide streets and a 8 1/2-foot wide trail along one side. It's required to build a stormwater pond. The trail is 100% paid for by the city. We can use state aid funds to help build the streets. Unit assessments are estimated to be $11,100." She said the adjacent Lano-Burau property will be assessed for 13 units, while the adjacent School District property will be assessed for 7 units. "It would be my recommendation to defer assessments on the Lano-Burau property if development doesn't occur there," said Cara, recognizing that 13 times $11,100 is a big number. K. Hovnian Homes has proposed building a 77-home "Harvest Glen" neighborhood on the Lano-Burau property, but on May 12th city councilmembers asked the developer to modify the plan. Cara said that the streets (78th and Kochia) were originally planned for 2014 construction. "But I need more time to work through the stormwater issue," she said. Construction will be in the summer of 2015 if the City can secure the land needed for a stormwater pond. "We received four proposals from four engineering firms," said Cara, who identified them as Bolton & Menk, Stantec, TKDA, and WSB & Associates. "My recommendation is to award the contract to Bolton and Menk who had the low bid." Councilmember Tom Strigel asked about the 3/5 or 4/5 vote that might be needed to order the improvement. Replied Cara, "If there had been a petition for street improvements, it only takes a 3/5 vote. But this is a council inititated project, so it requires a 4/5 vote." Councilmember Strigel asked if people can expect changes in speed or volume of traffic. Replied Cara, "Not until the other leg of Kochia goes through to the Catholic high school. Traffic will increase as properties are developed. People may be driving slower today because of the poor conditions of the roads. Building a 28-foot road helps keep speed down. I don't see a traffic light at the intersection of 78th and Bavaria Road."
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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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June 2014 |
