Continental 432 Fund, LLC is requesting feedback on proposed 196-unit multi-family development project on 11.8 acres of property located in the northeast corner of 160th Street West and Pilot Knob Road. The site is one of the last parcels to be developed in Cobblestone Lake, a 320-acre mixed-use development. The site is adjacent to the 193-unit Orchard Path continuum of care facility, Cobblestone Manor (a 60-unit Dakota County Community Development Agency senior apartment building), Cobblestone Lake Medical Center, and a leg of the North Creek Greenway to the north; single family residential to the east, the Spirit of Brandtjen Farms mixed-use development to the south, and an Apple Valley water reservoir to the west.
The applicant is proposing to construct thirteen (13) two-story apartment buildings, eight (8) detached garage buildings, and a 4,421-sq. ft. clubhouse facility. Ten buildings will have 16 units per building and the remaining three will have 12 units per building.
The detached garage buildings will vary in size and will be scattered throughout the site and will provide 80 parking spaces. Together with the 116 attached garage spaces, 26 tandem attached garage spaces, 79 spaces in front of some of the attached garages, and 135 surface parking spaces; the site will provide 2.2 spaces per unit, which is below the minimum required by code of 2.5 spaces per unit. They are identifying 34 on-street parking spaces, 21 along the south side of Cobblestone Lake Parkway and 13 along the west side of Elmhurst Lane, which they are proposing to use in their calculation in an effort to meet the multi-family minimum parking requirements. With the inclusion of the on-street parking spaces, the number of spaces per unit would be 2.4.
The site plan indicates that the surface parking spaces will be nine feet wide and 18 feet long. City code requires that parking spaces shall not be less than nine feet wide and 20 feet in length. If a space is adjacent to a curb or landscaped area, the required length of the space can be reduced by 1.5 feet. They also show sidewalks located directly behind the curbs, which can limit its use with parked cars encroaching 1.5 feet over them.
Also, all drive aisles shall be a minimum of 24 feet wide.
The plan identifies 79 driveway spaces in front of some of units. To be consistent with other multi-family developments within Cobblestone Lake, the driveways should have minimum length of 20 feet.
Access to the development will be via one driveway located along the west side of Elmhurst Lane, and a second along Cobblestone Lake Parkway. The site will be completely fenced and the access drives will be secured. Residents will only have access to the Elmhurst Lane gate, with the other accessible by emergency personnel only.
Although the site is surrounding by public streets, access to and from the development will be only be available via Elmhurst Lane. Staff has concern with development having only one access to and from the site for the general public and residents. The proposed development will generate approximately 1,300 vehicle trips per day. A traffic study showing trip distribution to and from the site and potential impacts to the surrounding intersections may be required.
The site plan shows a network of internal sidewalks to serve the development. Any gaps should be filled in to provide better access throughout the site, as well as extensions to the sidewalk along the west side of Elmhurst Lane. Two gates will be installed in the fence along the north side of the site, which will provide access from the complex to the greenway trail and sidewalk along Cobblestone Lake Parkway.
The submitted plans show a retaining wall that will extend from the northwest corner of the site south to the southwest corner approximately 285 feet east along the south property line. The wall will be 16 feet tall at it highest point.
A preliminary landscape plan has been submitted that identifies the location of a variety of plant materials. Any formal submission should include a detailed list of plant materials for staff review to ensure that the proposed materials will be conducive to the existing site conditions and provide an aesthetically pleasing development.
The applicant is proposing to install four infiltration areas that would collect storm water from the proposed development. Three of the basins would be in the park area. In order to do this, an agreement would need to be executed that would require that the owner of the apartment complex be responsible for ongoing maintenance of the basins. Please note that this would be atypical, as we normally require that infiltration of storm water generated from a development in accordance with City code occur onsite.
Building exterior materials for the apartment buildings will consist of a variety of masonry, cement lap and vertical board and batten siding. The clubhouse will have a similar mix of materials. The developer has limited the use of masonry to column bases and a few areas of the building’s elevations. The developer should consider adding more masonry to the buildings.
A sign package has been submitted with this sketch plan review that includes two 48-sq. ft. monument signs, one of which will have an electronic graphic display area, and 20-sq. ft. illuminated signs on three sides of the clubhouse tower. One monument sign will be located at the main entrance to the complex and the other will be located in the northwest corner of the site, along Pilot Knob Road. The City's sign code permits one ground sign or one building sign having a maximum 40 sq. ft. of sign area.
If the project moves forward to the formal review process, one of the conditions of any approval will be submittal of a construction staging plan, which will show the location of any job site trailer, construction materials storage, and parking for construction workers.
The site is platted as an outlot, (Outlot M, Cobblestone Lake Commercial 3rd Addition) and is currently guided “HD” (High Density Residential/6-12 units per acre). High Density Residential areas include multiple-family structures (apartments and condominiums) at densities greater than twelve units per acre to the extent allowed by the zoning ordinance. Developments with densities of up to 40 units per acre are allowed in the areas within and adjacent to the downtown if certain performance standards in the zoning code are met. This designation fits with M-7, M-8 and PD zoning districts to the extent allowed when considered with parking, infiltration, lot coverage, and building setbacks. Areas of manufactured housing are allowed as conditional uses in the M-7 zoning district. The proposed project would be generally consistent with the Comprehensive Plan designation.
The proposed multi-family development will provide 196 market-rate apartments. This development proposal will address the City’s Livable Communities Act (LCA) principles of adding a housing product that helps provide a balanced supply and variety of housing types for people of all income levels and lifecycle stages.
The subject property is located in Planned Development No. 703/zone 8, which allows for gravel mining, which is considered an interim use. Rezoning would occur at the time of the former submittal and approval of development proposal. It would likely be rezoned from its current designation to zone 6, which currently allows for a variety of commercial/office/retail uses, as well as senior apartments and continuum of care facilities. The permitted uses section of zone 6 would also need to be amended to include apartments as a use.
No preliminary plat has been submitted. The subject property is currently platted as outlot. An outlot is defined as a platted lot to be developed for uses which will not involve a building or be reserved for future replatting before development. A replatting of the outlot into a lot or lots will be necessary before any development can occur. The developer has not indicated how they are going to replat the property, but one would speculate that it will be platted as one lot of record.
The property is located adjacent to two county roads CSAH 31 (Pilot Knob Road) and CSAH 46 (160th Street West), which are both county roads. Therefore, platting of the outlot into a lot or lots will require review by the Dakota County.
There is currently a .5 acre outlot (Outlot L, Cobblestone Lake Commercial 3rd Addition) located along the west side of Elmhurst Lane that is intended to be dedicated for public park that would include a trail. The applicant would like to relocate that trail property to the north of the proposed development. That property would allow for a trail connection between the existing trails around Cobblestone Lake and the trail that traverses under 160th Street West.