No. Yeah. Um Yeah. >> Good evening everyone. This is the March 18th, 2026 Cottage Grove City Council meeting which I'm calling to order. Our first order of business is the pledge of allegiance, so if you please rise. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, will our clerk please do the roll? Council member Klassen? Here. Council member Olson? Here. Council member Theede? Here. Council member Garza? Here. Mayor Bailey? Here. Thank you. Next item on our agenda is open forum. This is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on anything that's not on tonight's agenda. We did have a sign-up sheet out in the entryway, but nobody had signed up. So, in case somebody scooted in here and didn't realize they needed to sign up, is there anybody that wants to speak on open forum? Okay, seeing none, I will go ahead and close open forum and council Move to adopt the agenda. All right, so we have a motion by Council member Klassen. Do I have a second? I'll second. Seconded by Council member Garza. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. All right, we'll move to six which is which is presentations. We do have one this evening and it's called the exceptional service award for Detective Jeffrey Dean. And I believe our county sheriff has graced our presence this evening. Sheriff Starry is here to share some information. So, thank you. And welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Mr. Mayor, council members, good evening. I am Dan Starry, Washington County Sheriff. And I am here this evening to present uh the exceptional service award. It's an honor and privilege to be here and to be able to do this. Um As as you know, we cooperate and partner in a lot of areas and one of the areas that we did last year was the East Metro Human Sex Trafficking Task Force. And on January 29th of this year, I held our record our recognition ceremony and presented our awards at that point. And the detective was not able to join us at the time. I believe he was on vacation. Good choice. Um but I think it's so important to come down and publicly recognize some really good work that occurred. And so, that's why you have me this morning. Or the this It's always morning up north. You're probably used to it at the cabin, right? Oh my goodness. Yes. >> [laughter] >> So, you You have seen a few weeks ago in the news, there was a case out of Mahtomedi that resulted in a Minneapolis man getting 40 getting a 40-year prison sentence. Um, the suspect looked for women and girls in the Twin Cities area uh, offering rides, drugs, or money in exchange for sex, and then bringing them out to Washington County where he then sexually and physically assaulted them. Uh, another individual, uh, who was investigated uh, earlier got 15 years for the the same, uh, offense there. So, uh, some really great work and I just I I got to publicly say thank you to to the council but also thank you to the police department, Chief Coroner, your staff is always amazing and, uh, awesome to work with. So, um, I would like to read the, uh, the award. If you would like to come on up, Jeff. Council, why don't we go down in front? If you will. Sure. So that we can also do proper procedure. So, deputies were dispatched to a juvenile welfare concern and quickly identified several indicators consistent with human trafficking. Recognizing the severity of the situation, deputies immediately contacted the East Metro Human Trafficking Team, Sergeant Erickson, who responded to the scene and initiated a comprehensive investigation in partnership with Detective Reidinger. Throughout the investigation, Sergeant Erickson and Detective Reidinger demonstrated exemplary investigative skill and professionalism. Their ability to develop strong rapport and trust with multiple victim victims was crucial in obtaining accurate disclosures and ensuring the victims were safely recovered and connected with appropriate support services. Their diligent work and close collaboration with the Division Chief County Attorney Haldiman resulted in a successful prosecution of two of the offenders. Both of them were convicted. The second suspect actually pled guilty to the third-degree sexual or criminal sexual conduct. The first suspect, uh, was convicted at trial of two counts of sex trafficking, one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. This case, uh, reflects exceptional teamwork victim-centered policing and dedication to combating human trafficking. The efforts of Sergeant Erickson and Detective Reidinger Attorney Haldiman directly contributed to rescuing the multiple victims and ensuring dangerous offenders were held accountable. Their work exemplifies the highest standards of law enforcement service. And with that, sir, I it is great pride that I present you to you with the Exceptional Service Award. >> [applause] >> Yeah, here we go. Well, come on, Dylan. You can come on over. Will you come up here, too, Sheriff? And you got all the the group behind us here, so thank you all for, uh, showing up today. You know, one of the things I'll say real quick and then I'll hand it over to you if you have any things you want to say. But first of all, is it wife and Yep. Back there? There we go. That's good. I did. That's okay, though. That's all good. So, um, the relationship and the teamwork that we have with the county and our other agencies is phenomenal. And it's situations like this where working together like you were talking about in these different task force and groups like that, it makes a huge huge difference in the success rate of getting some of these criminals off, you know, out of our streets and out of our our communities. So, you know, on behalf of myself and I know the rest of the council and everyone, thank you. Thank you. And thank you, obviously, for, uh, spearheading some of those, uh, different efforts that you've made at the county level. So, thanks for that. I'm going to hand it over to you if you have anything you want to say. And he goes, I do not have a speech for this occasion. >> [laughter] >> He doesn't have a speech. Okay, well, we're good. So, uh, with Do you Do you want anything else? I'll absolutely. If I get in front of the mic, I'll do it. >> [laughter] >> No, I I I'd be remiss not to, uh, recognize Sergeant Erickson in the back row as well. Uh, she's, uh, the one who's uh spearheads uh, the human trafficking, uh, task force for us and especially last year. Danny, thank thank you for what you do. Um, we were just talking last last week and it's the it's amazing that these predators are still out there and they are still preying on our most vulnerable, our kids and our adults that are out there and it occurs every day and it's just amazing the work and it's it takes special people to do this job especially this type of work because, uh, as I heard the other day, sometimes it's really gross. Right? Uh, the conversations that you have to get into in order to get these predators out here. But, um, but thank you, Danny, and thank you, Jeff, for the work that you did. So, appreciate it again. >> [applause] [laughter] >> All right. Uh, so next on our agenda, um, is, uh, approval or comments on the consent agenda. So, is there anything that council wants to pull on consent this evening? No, it's okay. Nothing at all? Move consent. All right, so we have a motion to approve consent by Council Member Olson, seconded by Council Member Theede. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. So, if you are here by chance for anything or watching at home, anything that was on tonight's consent agenda for the City Council meeting, uh, has been approved. We'll move to number eight, which is approved disbursement. 8A is to pay the bills. Move to pay the bills. Uh, we have a motion by Council Member Garza. I'll second. Seconded by Council Member Theede. Any further discussion on the bills? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. Uh, we have no public hearings this evening, no bid awards this evening, but we do have three items on our regular agenda. I believe that these were already, uh, the public hearings for them were done at the, That's correct. the planning commission. Uh, so the first one is the Rivera Trails Minor Subdivision Zoning Amendment, Planned Unit Development, and Preliminary Plat. And Sam Peratt, our senior planner, uh, is going to lead us through this and I know there's engineer questions. I guess uh I'll say illustrious city administrator, Jennifer Levitt, will take us through that. So, and welcome, Sam. Thank you. Uh, uh, good evening, Mayor, members of the council. Twin Cities Land Development has applied for a minor subdivision zoning amendment, preliminary This would be located, um, north of 77th Street, south of 70th Street, and east of Keats Avenue and is proposed to have 575 total units with a mixture of single-family and attached townhome lots. The property is currently five existing parcels owned by members of the Tank family and the Bryer family. 148.72 of these acres would be included in the proposed plat with the remaining acreage staying with members of the Tank family to be used, uh, as a agricultural and residential properties. On February 3rd, 2026, the applicant held a neighborhood meeting at City Hall with 10 residents in attendance. Uh, the residents had concerns related to, uh, the safety of pedestrians, particularly schoolchildren, crossing Keats Avenue from the new development, the traffic impacts at the intersections of 77th Street and Indian Boulevard, the overall school capacity in the school district itself, and the proposed density of the townhomes, uh, along Keats Avenue. Staff and the applicant were available to answer questions and staff did go over the city's communications regularly with the school district, including regular meetings and a monthly development update, including ongoing and proposed development projects in the city. >> [snorts] >> The East Ravine Master Plan was adopted in 2006 to plan and guide development of the East Ravine area. The plan describes land use designations, major road alignments, parks and open space locations, and utility extensions needed for future development in this area. The Rivera Trails is in what was proposed as neighborhood two as the area was divided into two neighborhoods. The area This area of neighborhood two was planned for medium to low-density residential development using townhouses with rear garage orientations and single-family units on narrower lots. The Rivera Trails development is incorporating urban townhomes with the rear-facing garage orientation and narrower single-family lots on a portion of the development that would be 40 ft wide. As part of that master plan, an AUAR was also developed to understand the cumulative impacts of development on the area when project specifics were not officially known at the time. Mitigation measures were determined at the time for future developers to implement during the development process. The AUAR was last updated in 2025 and the proposed development complies with the mitigation measures outlined in that 2025 update. The applicant has requested to rezone the properties from agricultural to R4 transitional residential where single-family dwellings and attached townhomes are both permitted uses. The area is guided low, medium, and high-density residential as well as parks and open space in the 2040 comprehensive plan. The townhomes are proposed to be clustered in the medium-density area particularly around Keats north of Indian Boulevard as guided in the comprehensive plan. The 40-ft wide single-family lots are located in the area guided high-density and low-density residential. And the 65-ft wide single-family lots would be south of Indian Boulevard in the area guided low-density residential. The medium-density residential area is proposed for the townhouses which is as guided in the comprehensive plan. And the comprehensive plan uses land use maps with imperfect boundaries to guide development and ensure the buffering of development types while ensuring density can be met with the varying types necessary in the market. So, the medium-density area with the townhomes will buffer those single-family homes south of Indian Boulevard from future mixed-use development that is proposed to the north. And those 40-ft wide single-family lots will buffer future single-family development along with Ravine Parkway and a regional stormwater pond from future single-family development as we continue east for future development. The net density here is 4 and 1/2 units per acre which falls between low and medium-density residential in the comprehensive plan when we're averaging density across the entire development. The Met Council has informed staff that density cannot be averaged in the development and that the density must meet the guidance for each individual sector of the comprehensive plan as proposed. The city is working with the Met Council on density calculations in the area guided high-density residential where the 40-ft single-family lots are proposed. In 2024, Maxfield Research and Consulting performed a housing needs analysis showing recommendations on the amounts and types of housing needed in Cottage Grove. It's anticipated that by 2030, there will be a need for 1,300 single-family units with an additional 1,100 units needed by 2035. By 2030, there's also anticipated demand for over 590 owned multi-family or the townhome units. And by 2035, an additional 630 owned townhome units are anticipated to be needed. The proposed Rivera Trails development would contribute 269 single-family units to this and 306 owned multi-family or townhome units. A preliminary plat was prepared by the applicant showing 575 total units. Higher-density products including the townhomes and 40-ft wide lots are located north of Indian Boulevard in the areas guided medium- and high-density residential. As mentioned, these areas function as a buffer for the single-family lots south of Indian Boulevard to future mixed-use and higher-density development to the north that is planned in the comprehensive plan. The 40-ft wide lots east of the townhomes and along Ravine Parkway are guided high-density and low-density residential as mentioned and provide a buffer to the townhomes from future low-density development to the northeast and east as I mentioned. This property included various existing easements and infrastructure the development had to be planned around including the Northern Natural Gas Pipeline that runs through the middle of the development. The Watershed District's stormwater easement on the east side of the development. The Met Council's sewer pipe and easement on the west side along Keats Avenue. And the requirement from Washington County that the Keats Avenue right-of-way be widened to a a total of 180 ft. There is no additional room on the west side of Keats to acquire the additional right-of-way as due to existing development patterns. So, this development and future development on the east side of Keats will need to give that additional right-of-way width to get to 180 ft. The applicant has also requested a minor subdivision request to split 3.7 acres from an existing 39-acre parcel and 24.06 acres from a 79-acre parcel both of these north of 80th Street. A minor subdivision is allowed when splitting one parcel into two parcels. The new parcels must comply with minimum lot size and zoning code requirements. Therefore, it is proposed this land will be immediately combined with the Rivera Trails plat to meet minimum lot size standards. The remaining acreage meets all zoning code requirements and will continue to be owned by members of the Tank family and used for agricultural and residential purposes. The applicant also requested a planned unit development or PUD with the development. The PUD is proposed to reduce lot widths to 40 ft in some areas of the development, reduce side yard setbacks on these 40-ft lots to 5 ft, reduce the landscape buffer requirements for the urban townhomes along Keats Avenue, and implement some private streets into the development. PUDs allow for flexibility in development that the underlying zoning districts would not normally allow. And in exchange for the flexibility, the developer is installing a paved pedestrian path in the gas line easement. And incorporating an aesthetically pleasing buffer behind those urban townhomes along Keats Avenue. And dedicating the 80 ft of right-of-way required for Ravine Parkway on the east side of the development. The proposed development would have two accesses off of Keats Avenue, one at Indian Boulevard and one at 77th Street. Turn lanes will be added on Keats to incorporate vehicles turning into the development. With the existing schools on Indian Boulevard, it traffic is heavier in the area during the drop-off and pick-up times for the schools. However, additional traffic control is not necessary at this time due to those limited hours of traffic increase. The county has assembled a technical advisory committee or TAC to study the Keats corridor from Highway 61 up to Bailey Road in Woodbury. The committee's work will include studying intersections, traffic impacts of future development to this Keats corridor. The TAC is aware of the Rivera Trails development and this is a major study point in their study currently. The intersections will continue to be monitored by the county as development continues to study whether warrants are met to install future traffic control mechanisms. As mentioned, a segment of Ravine Parkway will be constructed within this development on the east side. This segment will be a more functional section of the road without as many meat landscaped medians as current segments of Ravine Parkway. Eventually, Ravine Parkway will extend north and south to 70th Street and 80th Street as development continues in both directions. The urban townhome area along Keats Avenue will include private streets. Private streets are only allowed per city code via a planned unit development. So, this is also another part of that PUD request. The streets would be 26 ft wide and would be marked no parking. Guest parking would be incorporated in various parking areas around the urban townhomes. And those would be connected to the townhouses via a private sidewalk system. >> [clears throat and cough] >> Trail connections within the development include a segment of the Central Greenway Regional Trail in Keats in the Keats right-of-way. 8-ft wide paved trails on the both sides of Indian and Ravine Parkway and an internal sidewalk system. Also, the paved trail will run from 77th Street all the way up to a proposed park in Outlot L on the north side of the development in that gas pipeline as I mentioned earlier. The county's Technical Advisory Committee is also reviewing pedestrian crossing options and necessities of Keats Avenue and the county will continue to study the area as I mentioned for future traffic control mechanisms. 10% of developable area must be dedicated for Parkland in new developments. This is 12.94 acres in Rivera Trails. Uh as I mentioned Outlot L on the north side will be dedicated as a future neighborhood park and this park is also proposed to have a future water tower in it. Um the Outlot L is only incorporating a portion of this park as the rest of it will be dedicated when the land to the north develops. Outlots G, H, J, K, and S will also be dedicated to the city and that paved pedestrian trail will be constructed in the gas easement. When we subtract the park dedication for Outlot L and that trail in the gas easement, this leaves approximately 8.9 acres to be dedicated with the development. Land to the north of 80th Street is owned by the Tank family as previously discussed and is guided in the East Ravine Master Plan and the Comprehensive Plan as a future community park with ballfields, soccer fields, a building with restrooms, natural trails, all west of Vandenburg Lake. To meet the park dedication requirements here, it is proposed that the landowners would dedicate that 8.9 acres of the future community park and for the Rivera Trails development to meet park dedication. The park will not be constructed until the additional land for the is acquired as future development occurs and as funding is available. Uh if the acreage is not dedicated, the developer would have to pay cash in lieu of park dedication. The applicant submitted tree mitigation and landscaping plans that comply with city code. No tree mitigation is neces- or tree mitigation is necessary, however, their proposed plantings are meeting that threshold and their landscaping plan does meet all of city code requirements. Uh the developer will be required to rough grade and remove all trees from Outlot L, that future park, uh in preparation for adding those park amenities. Part of the PUD request, as mentioned, was to reduce the required buffer behind the urban townhomes along Keats Avenue. Um a vegetative buffer or fence or berm is required for dwellings along um higher travel higher traveled roads, so Keats and Ravine Parkway. Uh the the developer has proposed to incorporate the vegetative buffer along Ravine Parkway as well as for the single family lots south of Indian Boulevard, uh a vegetative buffer and wrought iron black fence will be incorporated that will be maintained by the HOA meeting the vegetative um cover requirements there buffer. Um the urban townhomes, as I mentioned, will have their front doors facing Keats Avenue. Therefore, as part of the PUD request, the applicant has proposed to install a black wrought iron fence that would delineate the area of private townhome from the right-of-way and incorporate a few vegetative plantings >> [clears throat] >> on the private property. Uh in that buffer, vegetation and fence would be maintained by the HOA as well. On the screen are a couple examples of the proposed townhome units, the urban and suburban style, and then there's also an image of an existing development in Maple Grove planned by the developer of the urban townhomes, so where we have the rear garages. This slide is showing the proposed single family dwellings on the 40 and 65-ft lots. The developer has proposed to develop in three phases as shown on the screen with green being phase one, blue phase two, and pink phase three. And with that, the uh recommendations are on the screen before you and staff is available for questions as well as the applicant. Okay. So, I guess I'll start. Thank you, uh Sam. So, we'll start down here then. Uh Council Member Clausen, you had something you wanted to add? Uh thank you, Mayor. Could you remind me, I know this has been going on for quite some time, this planning. Um Ravine Parkway in this section, is it going to be partially constructed? Is there going to be a road there or is that going to be done in the future? Tell me about Ravine Parkway again and how it's going to be built out. Sure. Um Council Member Clausen, Mayor. Um so, this segment of Ravine Parkway will be constructed by the developer. Um we haven't exactly nailed down which one of those phases that I talked about it will be constructed in. Um however, but that segment will be constructed as part of this development. Okay, thank you. Okay. Uh Council Member Thiede. >> [clears throat] >> I got a couple things and I've I've uh you know, voiced my opinion here uh before. We we actually had, I think it was two different workshops for this area and and I think we kind of sent them back to the drawing board both times. Um and I I guess seeing this and I I saw it again for the first time uh at the Planning Commission meeting in February that I that I sat in um and made some comments and so forth, but uh >> [clears throat] >> I'm I'm I'm really not very pleased with the fact that uh you know, it's at at 4.5 you know, and I I you know, it's I I definitely believe it should be more like the the average four per acre in terms of homes. Uh we keep giving different concessions. We give concessions on the uh the width that we keep challenging public safety with the reducing the side yards and everything in terms of if they have to get the equipment and things like that around some of these buildings the this the the uh the row houses are you know, and so forth. I guess they got paths or accessibility maybe on paths on both sides, although the one side is either the 8-ft aisle along Keats or the 2-ft or the 4-ft uh the potentially get down that uh um you know, I I just I I guess I I think that it's can be still be improved. I I think we're maybe trying to to shove too many many homes in in always trying to shove too many homes into some of these places and and we continue to to uh give concessions for those and and so you know, if if we to get to that four per acre uh you know, it probably reduce the number of homes by maybe about 50 from the 575 down to to possibly like about 525. I It's not exact math, I'm sure, but uh you know, depending on if if they would shift the the 40-ft wide lots or and they became 45 or or or whatever and and uh you know, right now it's uh and I know how the things were laid out, but right now we've got uh north of Indian Boulevard you know, across Keats, we've got single family homes that are in larger lots that are probably 60 65 maybe even more size lots. And that goes over to the uh to the townhomes now that or the the row houses and then down across from the middle school, it's it's actually putting the the larger lots instead of, you know, maybe having some of the smaller lots right up along Keats and and uh >> [clears throat] >> so, I I guess I I you know, I I I'm still not satisfied with uh uh with approving uh feel that I can approve that uh the PUD and and uh the layout as it exists, but uh so, okay. Uh Council, any other questions for staff? Uh Council Member Olson. Thank you. I have [clears throat] a few here, so feel free to hand off to a friend if you need to. Um uh obviously I got to see this at the Planning Commission as well and it looks like there's been a couple of tweaks since then, so I appreciate the effort on the part of staff to address some of the Planning Commission concerns. Uh the first thing I want to talk about is the private streets. We do have um certain areas of the city where that currently exists and I wondered if uh you or a friend of yours might be able to just take a moment to explain the difference so that people watching at home understand what a private street is versus what a public street is because there is uh an impact there and I see you looking at Jennifer, which is good cuz she knows. Um there's a difference there in terms of the services that they receive. So, Jennifer, do you maybe have a Reader's Digest version? Yes, and I think Sam will probably just go to that image so you can see the actual private streets um that are proposed. And and you're right, it's important, Mayor and Council, that we point out uh that the level of service on those uh private streets that are highlighted in blue on the screen don't receive the same level of service. I know you're probably thinking after this last weekend about our outstanding plow service. I'm sure that is what's coming to top of mind for you. >> Absolutely. Um those that are in blue um on the screen will be actually privately plowed and maintained, so they will not receive our services. Um just as a reminder, we don't do uh pavement preservation, meaning we don't do anything like mill and overlay, we don't reconstruct, we don't seal coat, we don't pothole fill, nothing uh happens from the city services related uh to those streets. So, all of those costs are borne by the HOA and the residents in those units. And so, there is a very distinct difference. And when we look at our developer agreement, we'll have additional uh clauses and provisions to ensure that maintenance is done um cuz I think that's probably one of the things that uh you're probably concerned about. And so, the city attorney is very aware of those concerns. We'll ensure that the verbiage is strong to ensure uh that that is addressed properly. Thank you. And and you're absolutely right. You read my mind. And one of the things that always stands out to me is when we do have a big snow event like we just had, invariably public works will get a call from somebody who lives in an area where there's a private roadway. And they'll say, "Hey, how come my street's not plowed yet? What's going on?" And um in many cases, we've even even had our streets foreman go to people's homes and speak to them about, you know, there's a difference between where you live and where other people live. So, thank you for handling that. The other thing I wanted to ask about is the Met Council's density calculations. You mentioned uh Sam that the Met Council is now asking that we don't average it, but that we actually look at each specific section of the development. Um can you go to the one where you have the pretty colors on it? Thank you. Appreciate it. Oh, you you went past it. Yeah. So, for each section here, we're going to have to uh get some sort of a understanding between the Met Council and the city and the developer as it relates to um you know, these density calculations. Am Am I saying that correctly? Uh so, Council member Olson Olson Mayor Bailey. Um the area at issue is that 40-ft wide lots um where it's currently designated high-density residential in the comprehensive plan. Um however, and so, the Met Council is saying we should have put a high-density residential product in that I'll eloquently call it a a blob. And so, that is what we are working with the Met Council on is, as I mentioned, those lines are not created by property lines or 90° angles. They are meant to guide development um to areas so that developers can work with those densities um with the market how it is. It's not meant to plan development for future developers. When I hear you say, "We're working with the Met Council," >> [clears throat] >> what that infers to me, and I could be completely off base, hence the reason for my question. Um what it infers to me is we don't have approval yet to do this from the Met Council. Am I right or wrong? Uh so, Council member Olson the Met Council has the purview over the sewer connection permit to get into their Met Council sewer interceptor. Um our council representative has has said that the sewer connection permit will not be approved until we do a comprehensive plan amendment. Um it is proposed to bring that through the planning commission here in March and to the council in April. Okay. So, if that comp plan amendment were not approved for whatever reason, that [clears throat] puts this at risk. Correct? Mayor members of the council, I think, you know, one of the challenges that we're having with Met Council is that they have decided in early February of this year to uh chart a different path um when it comes to their interpretation of our comp plan. >> completely new rules. That's why That's why I asked. >> I I saw where you were going, and I know if we go back one more slide to get to the actual land use map. What is very frustrating, Council, to be honest with you, is that the Met Council, you know, we do a 10-year plan, right? And we make these um land use decisions, and you can see they're not extremely precise. You can see that we even show stormwater basin on this parcel. But the Met Council is essentially wanting us to dial in almost to an exactness of this rendering of how we perceive land use to be going. And so, it is unfortunate that they have chose to pivot in this direction. And I can tell you that every city in Washington County is in opposition to this in their policy direction. We've been in conversation with cities across the metro because we believe this is very wrong. This is not the way it has been interpreted for over 20 years. We've always been allowed to average our densities. And to your point, we had a meeting with our Met Council rep uh to try to resolve this without having to do a comp plan amendment because we believe their policy direction um is causing things to be overly cumbersome, costly, and inefficient for government to do its job. Can I just Please. Absolutely. Yeah. And yes, obviously I've had my conversations with uh Mr. Jenkins and and them, too. Only I'm going to ask this question because uh listening to uh Council member Thiede about the density. So, I'm assuming because it's the 40-ft lot or the the the lower density or medium, whatever, that's supposed to be in the high. So, what they want us to do is they want us to increase the density. Mayor members of the council, yes, where you see the brown, that is the high density, and they want us to indeed ensure that we put high density. But you can also see that they had We had originally anticipated a large regional storm basin. So, how do you account for that in the calculation? And you can see that we had a single-family uh density just below that. But when we actually look at the product and you look at actual detailed road layouts, it just doesn't work, right? Cuz these were, for lack of a better term, blobs on a map, right? And we calculated it. But now when we're actually dealing with a plat and we look at real grades and road alignments and lot layouts, now we can make that sophisticated determination. We shouldn't be held accountable to that exact rendering for a 10-year plan on land use. Well, the only reason I bring it up and then I'll kick it back to Council member Olson was it's it it just for the council and the public to be aware. I mean, the Met Council is driving higher and higher densities. And so, the reality is they want us to continue or force us to continue to push lot sizes lower and or increase them on of density or apartments or whatever on the properties around Cottage Grove. So, the only reason I want to bring that up is I know Council member Thiede was concerned about the density. And the reality, if we were to even come close to what the original blob was, we'd be increasing the density even higher because they would be we'd be {quote} forced to add additional density to this development, at least to the north, if you will. And Mayor members of the council, I know you guys have been very concerned about affordability and ensuring that our products in Cottage Grove stay affordable. And we continue to fight even at the legislative level for affordability, but it is unfortunate that the Met Council is pushing us in a direction that actually moves us out of affordability and starts to actually increase the cost to do development, adding lengthy time for our developers to be able to move on a plat and actually enter into construction. So, these things all come with a price tag by their delay and their cumbersome uh overreach in this uh for this type of activity. Okay. Council member Wilson. Okay. So, I'm going to start with this. This is the first time in my entire city council career that I've heard the word blob three times in that short of time frame. And I don't know if that's a new legal term. Corey will have to help me with that, but I'll roll with it. Okay. So, uh back to my question about the density. And thank you, Jennifer, for the clarity and Mayor for chiming in. My primary concern here is we're being asked to approve something, and then we may have to go back on our word based on what the Met Council says. Or Or am I reading the situation incorrectly? Mayor members members of the council, we do have a meeting with the Metropolitan Council next week to try to resolve this without actually having to do a formal comp plan amendment. We feel strongly that this is an inappropriate use and request of that uh to us. Um they've recently uh indicated that another plat, Mississippi Dunes third edition, um they don't believe one of our lines were drawn perfectly in line um with an open space. And so, they will not provide us a sewer extension permit for phase three. So, at this point, we have alluded to the Met Council that what they're requesting is not appropriate and is going to be cumbersome and hard for cities to move forward with development. And so, we are not alone in this fight. And so, it's something that we will need to be taking up. But at this point, Council member Olson, to answer your question, we feel strongly in the plat that's been put before us to be able to move forward to take action. And it would take essentially, I'll say, almost legal action for us to move in a different direction uh with the Met Council. Okay. And to get to the bottom line here, my question uh as it relates to all of this is are we all comfortable that uh um you know, going through this process this evening is the appropriate timeline or do we need to push it for the next meeting to see what the Met Council says. I I'm good either way. I'm I'm asking for you know, some guidance. Mayor members of the council, you always hear me say we only have two seasons in Minnesota uh winter and construction. And so this developer um has a preliminary plat and grading plan uh that we feel is in conformance. And so we would like them to continue on with their uh development of the final plat. Okay. Um and then you would see the developer agreement in a few months. I'm sure the developer is waiting for this snow to melt and would like to mass site grade and we would like to give them that opportunity to not delay or cause any additional cost burdens to them. So at this point we would encourage you to move forward with the preliminary plat. And then we'll deal with the Met Council afterwards. Fair point. Last question, sorry that one got really long. Um you mentioned uh there's some conversation right now about pedestrian crossings and all these sorts of things. Um for several years now we've been talking to the county about a roundabout at 80th and Keats. And I'm just curious if this um subdivision would push that conversation uh a little further a little faster. Do do we have any any sense of that in terms of what the county might be thinking? Well mayor members of the council, the uh roundabout will be constructed this season at 80th and Keats and so that will be under construction. Um based upon the county's review um at this point we're anticipating that there would be a traffic signal installed at Indian. That's what I meant to say. Thank you. Um Indian. Thanks, David. They've also wanted us to review uh an underground uh underpass as well. There are some topography challenges with this where it would actually locate and be more maybe most effective to actually move pedestrians and so we're still exploring that with them. Okay. Um but I think we'll see more information and more detail uh in regards to the traffic control design and layout uh in this segment. And that was one of the concerns expressed uh at the planning commission and we did receive a letter from a resident who lives across Keats who mentioned the same thing. So that helps a lot. I appreciate the clarity there. And uh I am now finally done with all my questions. Thank you. All right, sounds good. Yes, uh Council member Garza. Thank you, mayor. Um going back to the question about um or excuse me, not the question, but knowing that Met Council has created these new constraints a couple of months ago, are we looking at other cities to try to synergize with them to see if if we take out an approach with other cities to say, "Hey, we're all trying to develop and we're working on these same things. We have different developers, but they're all trying to make it to the same goal." Is there any synergy for that or is have we looked at that to say to try to you know, bring a few different cities together to try to get some type of movement? Mayor members of the council, at this point we've been in contact with the communities all in Washington County and we are all on the same page. We've also been in touch with some communities on the western side of the metro and we believe that we could have a strong presence um in regards to that. For example, Woodbury will be joining us uh next week uh for that meeting. Um and others have volunteered to come as well. So um I think we are all on the same page and we're all looking at this through the same lens. And I was specifically thinking to north metro like Maple Grove and all of those areas on that side of town that are having the same type of development that these constraints would probably be a big deal as for them as well. So thank you. Thank you. All right, any other council any other comments for staff? Okay. Is the developers here? Would you would you like to come up and say anything and just state your name and address for the record, please. Mayor and council members, I'm Ben Schmidt, Twin Cities Land Development, 3 Eastview Lane, North Oaks, Minnesota. Um yeah, I don't really have a lot to add. You've uh staffed a phenomenal job of laying everything out. I think uh just a couple things I might add um is I agree with uh Council member Feeney-Weed started this process, boy, got to be close to 18 months ago or something like that. And I think throughout the process we have moved in a direction with staff's help that's better, you know what I mean? We found uh even as late as uh just after the planning commission meeting a few things that made sense and we were able to make those changes. So we're we're happy with the plan that we've got in place. We think it makes good sense. And certainly um you know, I recognize the idea of of density and and you know, is it too high? Is it too low? And we've got some competing arguments at times, right? I mean, a Met Council mandate for higher density and maybe a desire of of neighbors to have lower density. And I feel like we struck a good uh middle ground here where we're still being respectful of what the city has in their comp plan, but also being respectful of what this neighborhood might look like and what was in the AEUR and the your East Riverine Parkway or East Riverine um master plan. So we're very happy with what it looks like and we're excited to go forward. We recognize that we've got to get this Met Council thing ironed out. So we understand that we're not going to go start working tomorrow. Uh we know that's a step that has to be made, but yes, by uh as city administrator said, by getting this approved tonight, if that were to happen, it just allows us to kind of keep the ball moving um so that way when we are uh the weather's fit to grade, we'll hopefully be in a better position that regard. That's really all I had to add. Happy to stand for any questions that you might have. Any questions? You have a question? Council member Feeney-Weed. So what would be the consequences to you from a business standpoint uh say have 40 less of the 40-ft wides? It's it's significant. Um one of the things that's been challenging or had was challenging on the site, continues to be challenging is we've got kind of four things that put us in a box and that is um we've got the Met Council easement on the west side, we've got the storm sewer on the um east side, we've got a gas pipeline through the middle and then we've got this additional um the right-of-way for Riverine Parkway, which is not insignificant, and then the additional right-of-way for um Keats to be expanded someday. And so it really has I mean, I will tell you I thought we were going to have more units than this when we first put this together. Um and so it's meaningful. It um we've got a project that is economically viable and provides enough economics to allow us to pay for um the portion of Riverine Parkway that's within our development. But 40 lots would be would have a significant impact on the economics of it and how we can make it work. It it would. Okay. Any other questions? All right, thank you. Appreciate it. >> If by chance, I mean, there isn't a public hearing, but was there anybody that wanted to speak on this item at all? Public wise? Okay. Mayor, I'll move to adopt resolution 2026-046 approving a minor subdivision of 3.77 acres and 24.06 acres from two existing parcels at 10052 80th Street and 10478 80th Street. >> All right, so I have a motion by Council member Olson. Do I have a second? I will second. Second by Council member Clauson. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. Who would like to do number two? Uh mayor, I'll move uh to adopt ordinance number 1108 approving the zoning amendment to change the zoning of one excuse me, 148.72 acres of land generally located east of Keats Avenue uh County State Highway 19 and north of 77th Street and south of 70th Street from AG2 agricultural to R4 transitional residential. All right, so we have a motion by Council member Clauson. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Council member Garza. Any discussion on this? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Motion carries and number three? Mayor, I'd like to adopt resolution 2026-045 approving a preliminary plat and planned unit development for a subdivision to be called Rivera Trails, which will consist of 269 single family units and 306 town home units. All right, so we have a motion by Council member Garza. Do I have a second? I'll second the motion. Second by Council member Olson. Finally, any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Nay. Motion carries uh four to one. All right. Thank you. Good luck and we'll obviously be updating you. I'm sure you'll know just when we do on the whole Met Council thing. Awesome. All right, now we'll move to the second item on the under our regular agenda, which is the Talcott Glenn rezoning and preliminary plat. And Max Erickson, our planner, uh is here for this one and again as backup is our city administrator, Jennifer Levitt. So Max, welcome. Good evening, mayor and members of council. Lennar has applied for approval for a [clears throat] zoning amendment and preliminary plat for a development to be called Talcott Glenn. Uh this request includes a single parcel, which is 69 and 1/2 acres. The parcel is currently zoned AG2. The applicant is proposing to rezone the parcel to R4 transitional residential and plat 177 single family lots. This addition will also require the extension of 95th Street westward. Oops. The parcel is located west of 95th Street South and Mississippi Dunes Boulevard South. Uh it is just south of the Marathon gas property and north of Bailey's nursery. Um BNSF owned railroad line runs along the western property line. There's also a pipeline easement which intersects perpendicular in this area. The parcel is currently utilized as a crop field with windrow trees running through the center of the property. There is a steep wooded slope which exists on the eastern portion of the property. A dedicated right-of-way for 90 the 95th Street between Mississippi Dunes Estates and Summer's Landing subdivision exists to the east in anticipation for the expansion or extension of 95th Street westward to this property. An existing trail system runs parallel to this property on the east and currently ends at Strawberry Fields Park. The applicant is proposing to rezone the parcel to R4 with a density of 2.95 units per acre. This is in accordance with the 2040 comp plan. The proposed plat consists of 177 single family lots which intends to meet the zoning district standards of the R4 zoning district. This proposal will create a mix of 50-ft and 65-ft lots which is consistent with the R4 zoning district. There are five outlots which have been proposed to incorporate the storm water requirements of the site. This has been reviewed by the city and a plan review memo has been issued to the applicant. A final storm water plan will be submitted with the applicant application of a final plat. Primary access to the development will require an expansion of the 95th Street South westward. The extension of 95th Street has been planned by the city for quite some time. The first segment of 95th Street was constructed during the development of Mississippi Dunes Estates which was approved in 2003. This segment went from Hadley Avenue to Mississippi Dunes Boulevard as it is today. The extension of 95th Street has been depicted in the city's comprehensive plan since then even being depicted in the 2030 comp plan which was written in 2011. As development for Rivers Edge as the development of Rivers Edge was anticipated in St. Paul Park at the time, Cottage Grove conducted a scoping study in 2009 for the remainder of 95th Streets South. Three options were considered for connecting 95th Street across the BNSF Railroad to St. Paul Park as a four-lane road section. It was concluded that the extension of 95th Street at the time would not be constructed until development occurred within the parcel in which we speak about tonight. Out of the study, option three was considered the most optimal for the existing site for slope and space utilization optimization. During the development of Summer's Landing fifth edition to the east, this alignment was used for the current alignment of the dedicated right-of-way as it exists today. During the initial development of Summer's Landing, improvements were made to the current extent of Hadley Avenue and 95th Street South. These improvements included the addition of the roundabout on Hadley Avenue and 95th Street. The applicant proposes to construct 95th Street in accordance with feasible grade westward. This proposal includes a 3800 square foot segment of the extension within the Bailey's property. It is required that the developer obtain this segment and then deed it to the city as right-of-way. As there is no plan for a new railroad crossing for the development in St. Paul Park, 95th Street will be reduced to a 36-ft road width within the development. As 95th Street has been anticipated to expand westward, the existing portion has been designed to handle the additional traffic. An emergency access will be constructed here. Per fire code this emergency access will connect 95th Street to 85th Street through the Marathon gas property to the north. This will be considered an interim access for emergency purposes only as there is no anticipation of any development to the northern property at this time. This access will be gated at the northern property line to prevent through traffic. Lennar is currently working with Marathon gas for final alignment of this emergency access road. Additional road stubs to the northwest and the southern property line of the proposed development will provide future access should either property to the north or south develop. There will be an interconnected sidewalk system throughout the development which will connect to the existing trail which crosses the 95th Street right-of-way on the east. This is the segment here. A connection will be added from the proposed sidewalk near the proposed emergency access. Yeah, so this section. Which is currently ending at Strawberry Fields Park. This will provide an additional connection from this community to the existing trail. Topography of this area provides additional challenges and a final design will be coordinated between the developer and the city for the final plat. This trail will contribute to two park park dedication values. 10% of the property will require park dedication. There will be no physical park dedication besides the trail connection and the remainder will be required via cash in lieu of physical. As the existing trail runs through 95th Street right-of-way um a mid-block crossing will occur. Staff have So here's the this is where I'm referring to. Staff have investigated eliminating this proposed crossing which would reroute pedestrian bike traffic to the intersections of 95th Street and Mississippi Dunes Boulevard to the east or to the first intersection within the proposed development. While this is preferred, it is believed that people may not go out of their way to cross an intersection and may continue to cross the mid-block as an informal crossing. For safety concerns, it has been determined that appropriate sightlines will be provided along with proper signage and pavement markings to provide a safer alternative than an informal crossing in this area. Lennar is proposing to meet city code with all lot trees. Although the city does not allow for trees in outlots, additional plantings will be placed along viable outlot frontages to maintain citywide curb appeal. Boulevard trees will be planted along the 95th Street extension to the development. These plantings will blend with current boulevard trees on the existing 95th Street. >> [snorts] >> A final landscape plan will be provided for the final plat. Lennar has submitted a tree mitigation plan for the development. Proposed tree removals will require significant inches removed to be mitigated. As grading is still being finalized the current tree mitigation value may change. Any amount of mitigation that is not covered by the proposed plantings will be paid in cash in lieu of the required plantings. >> [snorts] >> A neighborhood meeting was hosted by the developer on February 10th, 2026. Primary concerns were regarding the removal of trees within the 95th Street extension. An existing stand of trees in this right-of-way are a remnant windrow crop for the cropland which once existed prior to Summer's Landing in Mississippi Dunes Estates. As part of the 95th Street master plan for the extension Summer's Landing fifth was required to provide a buffer for the future road extension. The developer chose to establish an HOA outlot with approved tree plantings to provide screening and a buffer to 95th Street which met buffer code requirements during development. During the construction of the Mississippi Dunes Estates, screening was not provided for lots 5 through 12 depicted here in the blue. Along the unbuilt segment of 95th Street as it was anticipated that construction would require the removal of screening when this segment of 95th Street be constructed. A temporary construction easement exists over the north segment of these lots for purposes of constructing 95th Street. These lots have also been designed with an additional depth of 25 ft to provide a distance buffer to the future future road segment of the 95th Street extension. The city will work with the developer and the landowners of the affected lots in Mississippi Dunes to establish screening for 95th Street within with a private within a private property. Some concerns were raised for increased traffic on 95th Street. The current extent of 95th Street and Hadley have been designed to handle traffic additional traffic loads from the west. And then an additional concern was raised regarding eagle activity in the area, and staff will work with the Minnesota DNR um to ensure uh the scope of the eagle act- activity in the area. The applicant has proposed a phasing plan which consisting of four phases. First phase will establish the emergency access in the north um and then development of the steep slope and access to the west of the property. On the right hand side of the screen are sample housing products which will be offered to to the development. And with that, I leave the recommendation before you, and we have a member of of the applicants here for any questions. >> Okay, thank you. Um, any council any questions for staff on this one? I just have a quick question. >> yep, uh Council member Garza. It's just related to the pedestrian crossing. Um looking on there, is there going to be an island? Uh Mayor and members of the council, there's going to be no divided island in this area. Um, we will have the advanced warning signs of the pedestrian crossing, the actual signage denoting where the crossing is, um and we would have it striped, but we wouldn't have a refuge island. The actual width of the road would not warrant a refuge island. You know, for example, we talked about 95th Street with that mill and overlay project, we wanted that refuge island because you were looking at nearly four lanes or two lanes for them to cross, take refuge, and have two lanes to cross. In this case, uh the difference is the narrower road, uh so you wouldn't have a safety issue. And plus then with this, the sight lines both directions, east and west, would have good visibility as well. Because that area doesn't get larger until we get going towards like Van Meter and stuff, is that Uh Mayor and members of the council, yes. Uh 95th Street doesn't actually turn into that four-lane section until Mississippi Boulevard as we approach Hadley Avenue. Okay. And you'll recall we had anticipated uh St. Paul Parks uh development uh connecting with us at that time uh nearly 17 years ago um anticipating uh that we were going to have a lot more traffic using 95th Street. Um now we know it'll just be our subdivision and then potentially some future connection to Gidney Meadows in St. Paul Park. Thank you. Thank you. Sounds good. All right. So, we'll seeing no other questions. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, Council member Klassen. Um could you go back to the uh tree mitigation slide, yep, right. That one, yeah. So, you're going to take it looks like you're going to take out a lot of trees on the east side of the property because of the slope there. Am I seeing that right? Uh Council member Klassen, that is correct. >> Um what is the backyard or is that hill going to Is there going to be a wall there or is this going to be just uh vegetation or what do you What do you uh that large grade there, what do you think that's going to be? I didn't haven't gone down there and looked at it. But is that just going to be a slope hill um Mayor and members of the council, um in those rear yards, the one thing is we can go to probably the storm water pond. One would probably show the Oh, there we go, the grading. >> one, yeah. Yeah, there's a large storm water basin uh that would be used there. And then to your point about the actual uh tree removal, you know, the thing that I've been challenging staff is, you know, on Oakwood Park, remember the hillside behind what was the old Ruby Tuesdays? I said we do not want to repeat of that, so I think Council member Klassen, you're probably envisioning that issue. Um I'm still reliving that myself, and so uh because of that, we're really working on a detailed restoration plan of that slope um because we know that that could be problematic, but uh the residents would have uh storm water pond and a swale in their backyard, and then that steeper grade, but we still need to work through that restoration plan. Thank you. All right, so then the only other question I have, and it it was brought up briefly during this, and I've had a few, and I know we've had some communication with some of the neighbors on that other side um that has a narrower uh visual or narrower lot line, if you will, to where the 95th Street's going to be. And you made a comment that we're going to offer them the opportunity for them to add additional trees. Is that correct? So, Mayor and members of the council, the property that are highlighted in blue, uh those are the ones that have an actual temporary construction easement on them. So, we anticipated nearly 15 years ago that we were going to probably have to use part of their rear lots to be able to grade and construct 95th Street with what we anticipated was going to be a higher grade elevation, potentially with a bridge. And because of that, we didn't want them to plant anything there because we knew we were going to have to take it out. And so, now that we know the grade of 95th Street, we'll be able to construct it, um we want to provide the necessary um screening that they weren't given or provided the opportunity many years ago. So, we want to work with each of those individual property owners to figure out what works best for their property uh to be able to provide the screening. And so, that'll be an ongoing activity staff will have with them. Do you Just so I can ask this question, do you see that as being um specifically trees, privacy fence, both? What are you thinking? Mayor and members of the council, I'm going to be very clear, trees. Um if they If they would like a fence, we are not opposed to it. Uh we can work with them in regards to our grading activity to ensure that it wouldn't be disrupted, but at this point, uh we would be just offering trees, but they are not prohibited from a fence. >> Okay. Sounds good, thank you. All right. Uh is the developer here? If you'd like to speak. Good evening. Steve Troskey with Lennar, 16355 North 36th Avenue, Plymouth, Minnesota. Uh Max did a a great job explaining this community. We're happy to be back in Cottage Grove. We find it's a it's a good market as uh your agenda shows tonight. So, I don't really have anything to add other than happy to stand for questions. Oh, uh on the one slide with the neighbors, there's an HOA outlot to the north of 95th. Uh Lennar has committed to working with that homeowners association to build a privacy fence, so those discussions are ongoing. And that's Thank you for bringing that up cuz that was kind of the reason as I think that is the original homeowner that had reached out to me and said, by the way, that you guys were working with them on a privacy fence. So, okay. Thank you. All right. Any other questions for I guess the only other thing, and I did forget to ask this for the previous one cuz I forgot to. What's your price points going to be for your homes? Do you have a range right now? I really put you on the spot, didn't I? >> [laughter] >> Well, you know, as we all know, the market continues to evolve every single day, it seems like, so 450 to 700 is a pretty big range, and I think that's a safe range. Okay. Sounds Sounds good. That is a big range. >> [laughter] >> They will be all owner-occupied, nothing rental, nothing town home. So, all single family owner-occupied. All right. Nice size lots, too. Oh, yeah. [laughter] I was waiting for you to say that. You did though up until just now. So, thank you. I I'm sorry. Council member Garza. Um thank you. Are they the 450 lots, are they starting Are they going to be um slab on Would they be slab ones or would they have basements? I'd feel more comfortable committing to a specific number at the first final plat. We do have a range of slab on grades and full basements in the community. I just don't know the specifics as I stand here today, and I don't want to give you incorrect information. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right, thank you. Appreciate it. If by chance was there anybody in the audience that wanted to speak on this at all? Okay. Mayor, I'll move to adopt ordinance number 1109 approving a zoning amendment to change the zoning of 69.5 acres of land generally located west of Hadley Avenue and 95th Street and east of Grey Cloud Trail from AG 2 agriculture to R4 transitional residential. All right, so I have a motion by Council member Olson. Do I have a second? I'll second. Second by Council member Klassen. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Go ahead. Mayor, I'll adopt resolution 2026-044 approving the preliminary plat for a residential subdivision to be called Talc Glenn which will consist of 177 single family homes. Okay, so I have a motion by Council member Thiede. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Council member Garza. Finally, any other comments or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Good luck. All righty. [clears throat] >> Thanks for coming tonight. Yep. And then the final item under regular agenda is McCaddie Landing, which is preliminary plat and planned unit development, and Kelly uh is it Luke Bleeker? Becker. Becker, I'm sorry. I apologize. And also back up >> [laughter] >> once again this evening uh for engineer side of things is our city administrator Jennifer Lammens. So, welcome. All right, good evening, Mayor and members of the council. Before you is an application for a preliminary plat and planned unit development to be called McCaddie Landing. M and I Homes of Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the applicant requesting approval of this plat. Uh the applicant is proposing to construct 85 single family homes on approximately 36 acres, which is zoned R4 transitional residential. The applicant is requesting flexibility through the PUD for minimum side yard setbacks. The property is located south of the Woodbury border positioned between Jamaica Avenue, Ravine Parkway, and Military Road. The site currently consists of tilled fields with two existing homes and agricultural buildings adjacent to Military [clears throat] Road. Uh another feature to note on site is some shallow bedrock in the central area of the property as encompassed by the blue line on the map on your screen. In 2022, Manley Development received approvals for a preliminary plat, rezoning, and planned unit development on the property. The proposal at that time included 80 single-family homes and a rezoning from Ag 1 agricultural preservation to the R4 low-density residential zoning district. The preliminary plat layout had two proposed access points on Ravine Parkway, a full access at the existing intersection of 66th Street, and a second right in right out access further to the west. It was later discovered that a significant amount of bedrock on site posed a challenge for feasible construction of that layout. Uh so, the project did not move forward at that time. As mentioned previously, the subject property received approval in 2022 for the rezone from Ag 1 to R4 low-density residential. Uh the low-density residential district is now the transitional residential district uh following the comprehensive zoning code rewrite in 2023. The site is guided as low-density residential in the 2040 comprehensive plan, which supports the transitional residential zoning district. The proposed plat will have a net residential density of 2.66 units per acre, which is compliant with the defined density of two to four units per acre in the low-density residential land use designation. The proposed plat consists mostly of 52- and 62-foot wide lots. The preliminary plat includes proposed streets A, B, and C and outlots uh A through G. Outlots C and F will be deeded to the city for storm water ponding. And outlots B, D, E, and G will be owned and maintained by the homeowners association. Outlot A is adjacent to the Military Road Trail in the northwest corner of the plat and will be deeded to the city as a uh wayside trail park. Staff noted previously that there were areas within outlots C and F that contain slopes greater than a 4:1 grade. So, city policy prevents acceptance of slopes greater than a 4:1 on city property due to maintenance challenges uh posed on those steeper slopes. So, staff have been working with the developer since the council memo was published to adjust those lot lines and outlot boundaries uh to ensure the slopes um are not on city-owned outlots. Maintenance of those steeper slopes would then be the responsibility of the homeowners association. The plat was revised as shown on the screen and staff are working with the developer for some final adjustments. The applicant is requesting PUD flexibility on the side yard setback standards. The R4 zoning district requires minimum house side yard setback of 7 and 1/2 feet and minimum garage side yard setback of 5 feet. The applicant is proposing to decrease the minimum house side yard setback to 6 feet and increase the minimum garage side yard setback to 6 feet um which would ensure um a separation of 12 feet between structures on each lot. Besides the flexibility for the side yard setback, the proposed development meets or exceeds all of the R4 zoning district standards. And the request um it for the PUD uh is consistent with the goals and policies of the comprehensive plan, including the preservation of natural features, primarily the bedrock on site while maintaining an allowed density. So, here are a couple uh examples of the types of homes proposed to be constructed within the development. Um they'll be a combination of walkout and lookout style designs primarily. The applicant held a neighborhood meeting on February 12th with notice um sent to the surrounding property owners within 500 feet of the project area. The applicant gave an overview of the development to 16 residents who attended the meeting and city staff were present as well uh for any questions at that meeting. Primary comments and concerns voiced uh included the impact traffic would have on Jeffrey Avenue with the closure of Military Road. And a request was made to keep Military Road open until additional uh road connections to the north into Woodbury were made. There were some questions and concerns over the impact of grading and blasting uh which were explained to be less impactful um than one might expect as we've seen with other developments um in the area that have bedrock. And uh lastly, there were some concern with long-term maintenance of the storm water ponds and discussion regarding the elevation of the homes on the site. Um so, I'll go into a little bit further detail on each of those items throughout the presentation. In 2006, the city completed the East Ravine Master Plan as a guide for the overall layout of roads, utilities, storm water, and other development patterns. The master plan outlined a long-range trail plan for the conversion of Military Road to a pedestrian trail beginning at Keats Avenue in the Cedar Hurst area of the city and going up to the Cottage Grove-Woodbury border. The plan for conversion of the road into a trail has subsequently been outlined in the city's comprehensive plan and has been implanted already with several other developments that have come in along Military Road. So, in conjunction with this development and a proposed county roundabout project at the Jamaica and Military Road intersection in 2028, the Military Road connection between Jeffrey Avenue and Jamaica Avenue is planned to be removed and the corridor converted into a pedestrian trail. The removal of Military Road and the construction of the pedestrian trail is anticipated to begin with the county's roundabout construction project uh in 2028. Military Road will remain a vehicular connection between Jeffrey Avenue and Jensen Avenue. The trail itself within the Military Road corridor will be composed of an 8-foot wide asphalt surface and the developer will be required to construct that trail and remove uh the current road. Funds to support the road removal and trail construction have been collected with other developments which have come in along Military already. Um as mentioned, uh surrounding residents have voiced concerned uh over the increased traffic on Jeffrey Avenue um from traffic being redirected onto Jeffrey once Military Road is closed. Uh city staff have worked with the consultant to complete a traffic count and traffic volume estimate on Jeffrey factoring in the closure of Military Road. Current daily traffic volume on Jeffrey is approximately 2,250 vehicles a day um and conservative estimates based on new traffic patterns with the closure of Military Road have found that Jeffrey Avenue will see an average of uh 2,900 trips per day. And that's based on an approximation that a uh typical single-family home generates 10 trips per day. So, similar traffic patterns and neighborhood characteristics do exist elsewhere within the city uh such as Harkness Avenue to 60-65th Street in the Langdon Hills development and 61st Street to Hadley Avenue within the Eastbrook development. Both are 28-foot wide face-to-face with fronted lots on both sides and support traffic um through the development. As a 20-foot 28-foot wide road, peak volume on Jeffrey based on traffic counts will not create a bottleneck effect. The site will have one primary access to the south on Ravine Parkway aligning with 66th Street South. This will be a full access, which will require some updates um to the striping on the existing left turn right lane on uh the Parkway and the addition of a right turn lane on the Parkway. The singular connection on Ravine Parkway will then branch into two roadways within the development to connect with uh Genaro and Jarvis Avenue at the Cardinal Reserve development to the north. As previously mentioned, the county plans to rebuild Jamaica Avenue and the Jamaica Avenue-Military Road intersection in 2028 um which will include a roundabout at that intersection. Military Road within Cottage Grove will not connect to the new roundabout um and in response to requests to keep Military open until other road connections into Woodbury are made, staff notes that timing of the development within Woodbury is not definite and is dependent on land development from private property owners in Woodbury. However, there are plans for future road connections to the north once that development does come in in Woodbury um such as Southridge Drive, which would connect to Cottage Grove's Jennifer Avenue. And future Pioneer Drive in Woodbury would also connect with the leg at the county's planned roundabout um to serve as an additional northern connection. As development and connections do occur in Woodbury, this is expected to provide some relief to traffic volumes, as well. A minimum of 10% of developable area is required to be dedicated for parks as a part of development projects per city code. Outlot A is is 0.15 acres is the only proposed park area and it's planned to be established as a wayside park serving as an entryway onto Military Road Trail in the northwest corner of the plat with the preliminary park layout shown here. Dedication of outlot A will account for 5% of the developable area. So, a combination of land and cash in lieu of land will be required prior to the final plat. The developer is proposing 5-ft wide sidewalks on one side of all internal streets, as shown. A sidewalk connection is proposed to connect this development to the Cardinal Reserve development to the north at Jarvis and Janero Avenue. Crosswalk signage will be placed where those sidewalks connections cross over Military Road into Cardinal Reserve. The western terminus of the proposed Military Road Trail will connect with a new 8-ft wide asphalt trail along Jamaica Avenue. And that will be constructed as part of the county's construction project in 2028. And that will then connect with an existing trail that runs along Mill the Parkway, as well. City code title 11313 requires completion of a tree inventory for all qualifying trees on the entire project area. And the applicant has submitted a tree survey and tree preservation plan. 585 qualifying inches are proposed to be removed above the permitted removal threshold. Therefore, mitigation is required on this site. Final landscaping plans will be reviewed prior to the final plat approval to ensure all the qualifying inches have been mitigated. Additionally, city code requires a buffer averaging 50 ft in width, but no less than 30 ft wide to run parallel to the rear lot line along major roadways, which includes Jamaica Avenue and Ravine Parkway. The applicant has provided a compliant buffer along each of those roads. The buffer along Jamaica Avenue will be encompassed in outlot B and the buffer along Ravine Parkway is composed of land adjacent to the trail along the Parkway and the landscaped areas within the rear yards of those lots abutting the Parkway. The HOA will then be responsible for the maintenance of the buffer along both of those roads. The developer has added additional evergreen trees to screen on the east side of the plat abutting Ravine Meadows in response to resident requests for additional residential buffering. An earthen berm also exists along the boundary with Ravine Meadows, which provides additional screening due to the elevation of the berm and the proposed walkouts. Over on the southwest corner of the plat, the developer has provided additional trees along Jamaica Avenue to match the existing pattern of trees along Ravine Parkway at that intersection. And additionally, a number of trees existing along Mill along the Military Road corridor from Jarvis Avenue to the eastern edge of the development will remain within outlot E. Yard trees are required and have been provided in each lot based on the lot size. The developer's engineer submitted a storm water management plan, which has been reviewed by the city. The plan calls for two ponds, one on the west side and one on the east side of the development within outlots C and F, respectively. Comments on storm water are included in the plan review memo. And the city engineering staff will continue to work with the developer's engineer to ensure that all the grading within city outlots does not exceed a 4:1 slope. City staff will be responsible for the lawn maintenance of the ponds, which does include mowing about twice a year. With that, the recommendation is listed on the screen before you. And there's a represent representative from MI Homes present tonight, as well, for any questions. >> Fantastic. Thank you. First, Council, any questions for staff at this time? Nothing? Nothing down here? Okay. I guess you're good. How about the developer? Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, I'm Emily Becker with MI Homes, 5354 Parkdale Drive, Unit 100, St. Louis Park 55416. I don't really have anything to add. I think Planner Becker did a great job. Very comprehensive look at it. If you have any questions for me, I would be happy to answer. Any questions for Council member the >> have a comment. You know, and again, we're we're we're giving a minor concession in terms of changing the side yard setbacks instead of the 7 1/2 and 5 to 6 and 6. You know, and it seems like we're always making things a little smaller than a little bit bigger, you know, if it was 6 1/2 and 6 1/2, then it would have been just, you know, a little bit bigger. My My question actually is though is is why does 6 and 6 work and 7 1/2 and 5 doesn't? I think we did look at that and in order to get to the number of homes that we need in order to make it financially feasible. As Kelly had mentioned, it is a very challenging site. I mean, there was a previous preliminary plat that was approved with few less lots and it just was not financially feasible with the bedrock and we did look at those numbers and we felt 6 and 6 would be the best and also because of the size of our homes and being able to fit it on the lot. But essentially, that's a that's basically, you're you're I guess you're gaining a half of half foot, 6 inches on each home and that and that was enough to make those changes necessary. Mhm. Okay. Any [snorts] Any other questions? Just one for me, like I asked the last one. Housing price range? Yeah, so unfortunately, I know [laughter] he gave a very wide range, but it's going to be very close. Probably 450 to 600 and the reason it would get up to that 600 if if if the buyer chose a number of very high-end options, but I think essentially, most of the homes are going to be around 450 to 550, likely. Okay. And I would say thank you for working, I know, with this the the development that's to your east there and helping with the extra trees and such and doing some of the extra things. I think working with our staff that work real good, so. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Okay. Was there anybody in the audience that wants to speak on this one at all? All right. Council, there's only one recommendation on this one. I'll move Mayor, I'll move to approve the preliminary plat and planned unit development for a residential subdivision to be called McCarty Landing, which will consist of 85 lots for single-family homes. All right, so we have a motion by Council member Klausing. Second. Second by Council member Olson. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. Good luck. Thanks for coming tonight. >> Yep, thank you. All right, we're down to towards the end of the Council meeting. I will We're at Council comments request. I will start with my colleague down here, Mr. Klausing. Thank you Mayor. Lots of comments on social media about all this snow plow work. Big shout out to our public works. I was working out of town and came home around 1:00 in the afternoon and my street was beautifully plowed. Thank you so much. I know there's a lot of work that goes in the back end of making all that uh all that function, all the public works function. Not just that one driver and that one plow truck. There's a lot of people involved. So, thank you. And um some thoughts and prayers. There's a family in the north end of our town. As the meeting was starting tonight, there was a fire in their home. The family members suffered some burns. They're in the hospital. I understand they're going to be okay, but shout out to our fire department and our neighboring fire departments that came to help. And um I'm just thinking about them. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Olson. Thank you. First of all, let me second the comments by my colleague uh Council member Klausing about the snow [clears throat] plowing. What a great job. And this was a big one. So, for those at home who may not quite understand, the team [clears throat] came in at 1:00 in the morning between public works and parks. They made three swipes through town. They took a short break. I I don't even think it was 4 hours. And then they were back at it. And then back in [clears throat] the morning again the next day at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 a.m., something like that. So [snorts] they they really worked around the clock to make sure that people could at least move around town on the main roads and things. You know, as everybody knows, our public works and parks snow plow team does a magnificent job, but they definitely deserve our thanks. So, if you get an opportunity and, you know, can either send them a note or give them a call or just see somebody around town, make sure you pat them on the back for the hard work. And it never happens on a weekday. It's always on a Sunday. Um the second thing I wanted to mention is we do have a Easter breakfast coming up for our Cottage Grove Lions Club. I know it's that time of year again, um and we're really looking forward to a great turnout. This year will be March the 29th. That'll be held at the VFW per usual. Uh starts at 8:00 in the morning, and it goes until noon. Um please come out and spend some time with the Easter Bunny who'll be on hand to talk to all the kids, enjoy a great breakfast. We'll also have the bunny ears available. Um I know that uh Chief Corwin really likes those, so we'll save some for him. But um it's going to be a great time. So, VFW March the 29th. Please be there. And then uh the last thing that um I just wanted to talk about is >> [clears throat and cough] >> as we move forward here into the springtime, it's um it's important that people recognize that there's going to be a lot of maintenance work that's going on out in the community. Um there'll be tree trimming taking place. There'll be road cleanups and all kinds of things taking place. So, just understand you're going to see a lot of our city workers out doing what they do uh to make sure that the city is clean and um that all the storm drains work properly and all the rest of it. So, if you see some of those folks, give them a wave. They work really, really hard, especially this time of year. Um and in between snow plowing, they try to get all that other stuff done. So, um just again, make sure that you uh recognize the hard work and effort. With that, Mayor, I'll turn it back to you. Awesome. Thank you, Councilmember Olson. Councilmember Betheny. All right. Just 92 days till Strawberry Fest. So, get uh get yourself psyched up and and prepared. It's going to be a good time. Also, uh next Wednesday night, March 25th at Carbone's, uh there is a uh a Strawberry Fest candidate informational meeting, and that's the uh uh uh um the the the the folks that uh that go around and represent Cottage Grove at different uh different fairs and things like that. Uh and it's a There's also a a scholarship program uh that is involved with that, and it uh that's what the next uh Wednesday meeting is about is a scholarship program, and and uh we'll overview the requirements expectations for those interested in representing the community during those upcoming summer festivities and such. So, uh if uh you're interested in that, uh you know, get on over to Carbone's next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. on March 25th. That's all I got. Fantastic. Thank you, uh Councilmember Betheny. Councilmember Garza. Thank you, Mayor. Well, I am jumping on that bandwagon of um compliments to our public safety and to our um parks and rec and to our um public works. Everyone has been doing an amazing job. I know today um public safety had some things that they had to address with the fire today. So, thank you guys for being on that and for uh supporting cities that were there to help. Also, our plows are amazing. They were out plowing this morning. And the day that before the day we got the snowstorm, they were actually out filling potholes earlier in that that day, and then by that evening, they were preparing to do um plowing. So, they're just all over the place, and they're doing such a great job. So, like our um the rest rest of our council members said, just say hello, wave to them, and make sure you stay out of their way so that they can do their job safely. Um also, I'd like to bring up a couple more events that our Cottage Grove Ice Arena is having. So, on March 28th, we have our Cottage Grove Easter Egg Hunt that's coming up. Starts at 9:00 a.m. We can find out more information on the website. And then right after that, on April 3rd, the Cottage Grove Ice Arena, they're throwing a family golfing, so mini golf, 18 holes of mini golf. So, you can sign up for that. It's in 2-hour sessions, and you'll get more information on the website. So, thank you, Mayor. Awesome. Thank you, uh Councilmember Garza. Uh so, uh two things real quick for me. Uh one is I had the opportunity uh earlier this week to um do a my mayor's moment is going to be a little different this next grouping, if you will. Thanks to Phil who's in the audience here working with us. Uh uh I ended up uh I've gotten a lot of questions about speaking up road projects and things like that. A lot of people asking what's going on in the community, and so we I thought it would be a great opportunity uh to do almost kind of like a podcast, if you will, with our county commissioner to talk about all the uh projects that are going to be happening in Cottage Grove, uh and even close to Cottage Grove, even touched upon some of our neighboring communities that are going to affect Cottage Grove in a good way. And so, I just wanted to mention that in not the too distant future, that will be out on uh cable, uh websites, uh we'll be able to share it on social media. Uh but uh if you're interested to understand kind of what's going on or what projects are going to be happening in the city of Cottage Grove this year and the next year, uh and some of the things that are again are happening in the communities around us that are affecting, you know, in essence affecting access into Cottage Grove in a good way, um with the with the outcome that is. Um uh pay attention, check that out. If there's questions, obviously you can uh leave a note or reach out to our county commissioner or myself, and we'll be uh very happy to uh help uh answer your questions. Uh second thing real quick is I just again, I got to say kudos and uh to our public uh public works team, parks team. One of the one of the I I'm serious when I say this. I've been the mayor for quite a while. And I got more positive comments about this snowstorm from residents than I've ever gotten before. I've gotten positive comments, and of course you get a few that complain. I didn't Knock on wood. Knock somewhere wood. Um did not get a single negative complaint about uh the snow plowing, but multiple, multiple about in all different venues, whether it's email, messenger message, uh um uh tweets, whatever. I mean, it was pretty amazing the amount that we had. So, kudos to our public uh works. And Ryan maybe is must be home sleeping right now, I guess, after all this long work, cuz our public works uh director isn't here tonight. But Zach, you can pass this along to them since you you see them down there. And then the last thing I'll say real quick, you know, I've been out there working uh with our uh Cottage Grove Lions uh to make sure that this year's 250th uh anniversary of the United States of America 4th of July celebration is going to be a big one. Um and it will be. Um I have uh I wanted to recognize at the moment uh the businesses that have already committed to uh funding uh this 4th of July celebration. I will mention to you we're over $35,000 right now. Um so, we're going to be probably somewhere between, you know, if everything what I'm thinking and what I'm hearing is going to be somewhere between 40 and 50,000. So, you want to talk about an amazing fireworks uh celebration on the on the 5th of July. Uh it's it's going to be amazing. So, I did I did want to reach out uh and and acknowledge uh Renewal by Andersen uh with the significant donation, North Point uh development in the business park, Tennis Sanitation uh up there amount uh for the success or the celebration this year, 3M. Uh and then we have a couple new ones that are are coming this year uh so far uh as I've been hearing and more on the way. Holmsteins, who's very new to our business park, is uh providing a nice donation. And Van Meter just reached out to me. Uh they're also going to be providing a donation towards the uh Cottage Grove 4th of July fireworks, which again is being um put on as uh overall sponsored by the Cottage Grove Lions. So, if you see or know of anybody that works with these different companies, um these businesses, please thank them. Uh they don't have to do it. They do it because they love our community, and they want to give back to the community. Um and I do appreciate the fact that they're all stepping up, specifically even this year because of the the celebration of our 250th anniversary. So, anyway, uh I thought I'd just share that with you. Uh for the public now, uh just to let you know, uh we do have a workshop, which is open to the public. We'll be moving to the our training room. We have three items that we're going to be reviewing. One is the our police annual report on use of force data. Uh there'll be a presentation, which we get every year. Uh the second item is the Minnesota Law Enforcement Support Online, or the Min Less uh Lesso Leso Leso. Lesso. I got it right. Lesso. Uh Leso uh participation, and that's where we can get certain equipment um that benefits our public safety department, our city. And then the uh third one is recreational vehicles, some com- conversations about everything from e-bikes to things like that. So, uh there is no workshops that are closed to the public this evening, so we won't be adjourning in here. Um but everybody have a great week, and uh obviously Well, no, I guess we will have one more meeting before before Easter. No? One more? One more. All right. So, I don't have to say happy Easter yet. So, everybody, let's enjoy what's going to hopefully be the last of the snow for this year. Say that with me, please. All right. Have a good evening. We really need to find >> Mhm.