WORKSHOP ITEM - Erik Thorvig, Community Development Director
Title
PARKSIDE NORTH LAND USE DISCUSSION
Background
The development southeast of the Main Street and Lexington Avenue intersection is identified as Parkside North. The master plan and land use for the area was approved in 2014 and one master developer (Paxmar, Inc.) has developed the commercial and residential areas. Residential lots were sold to individual builders and there is a mix of housing including detached townhomes, villas and traditional single-family homes. Several commercial lots have been sold by Paxmar for development along Lexington Ave. including Kwik Trip, KinderCare and Renovation Church. The property at the corner of Main Street and Lexington Avenue (Royal Lakes) is owned by a different party.
Paxmar owns an approximately 6.69 parcel of land (subject site) at Frazier and 122nd Ave. This site was identified for High Density Residential (HDR) land use in the 2014 master plan approval and 2040 Comprehensive Plan. HDR allows for a variety of residential products including townhomes and apartments in the range of 12-25 units/acre. The developer has been marketing the site for apartments which is consistent with the HDR land use. Staff has received several inquiries in the past 2-3 years from developers interested in constructing apartments however nothing has come to fruition. Staff has also talked with a builder interested in constructing townhomes.
This area received significant attention during the Renovation Church and Royal Lakes development proposals. During the Royal Lakes proposal, staff made the city council and attending residents aware of the HDR designation in an attempt to educate the neighborhood about potential future uses in the area. The subject site was discussed at a subsequent city council workshop and there was interest by some councilmembers to discuss whether HDR is an appropriate land use designation for the subject site.
Staff researched several concerns regarding a potential land use change. First, a certain amount of vacant land is required to be guided for HDR in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to meet affordable housing forecasts set forth by the Metropolitan Council. After discussing with the Metropolitan Council, they confirmed that the City of Blaine would not need to “replace” this HDR acreage elsewhere in the city to meet the affordable housing forecasts.
Secondly, staff contacted the developer and informed them that this topic was going to be discussed. The developer is not in favor of a land use change and their desire would be for the land use to remain HDR. The developer provided an email that states “I wanted to provide a follow up to the voicemail messages that we exchanged regarding property in Parkside North that we own under the name of AKM Farm, LLC. For the record Paxmar/AKM Farm LLC is not requesting, nor are we in favor of any zoning or land use change to our lots within Parkside North. In specific regard to the lot that is zoned and guided for high density residential (apartment site), we are adamantly against a zoning change or reduced density designation.”
If a land use amendment is brought forward formally, it would require a super majority (5 votes) to be adopted.
Recommendation
Discuss the topic and provide staff direction.