2A, Arden Village Review and Update

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communications tower. SCI requested a Preliminary and Final Plat to subdivide the property into two parcels, and a Master and Final PUD for the development itself. Because the CUP encompassed the entire property, a CUP Amendment was needed to reflect the proposed legal description for the newly subdivided lot. On March 8, 2010,the City Council gave land use approvals for the Arden Village project including Conditional Use Permit Amendment, Rezoning, Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Preliminary and Final Plat, and Master and Final Planned Unit Development. Since that time SCI has filed the plat with the County, subdividing the property into two parcels, and sold Lot 1 and the tower to SBA Communications Corporation. Tax Increment Financing Request Subsequent to the land use approvals, SCI requested a letter of support for tax increment assistance. Although the request for tax increment assistance was relatively small in relation to total projects costs, local financial assistance is very important in leveraging tax credits, grants, and loans from other funding providers. SCI needed a letter of support for tax increment assistance prior to its application for tax credits from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA). On June 14, 2010,the Council voted to approve a letter of support for up to $225,000 in TIF assistance (Attachment B). SCI was unsuccessful in their attempt to receive MHFA tax credit funding in 2010, and came back to the City seeking a new letter of support for the 2011, application. On May 9, 2011,the City Council approved a letter of support for up, which included a good faith commitment of $225,000 in TIF. At the same meeting, Staff was directed to send SCI a letter stating that its current letter of support was no indication of future support of the project, and that SCI could not expect the City to support TIF for the project for an indeterminate amount of time (Attachment C). Discussion Given the turn-over in the Council, and the addition of two new members, SCI would like to opportunity to meet with the Council, discuss their project, answer questions, and get direction on next steps. Their desire is to prepare an application for the upcoming round of MHFA tax credit financing; however, a letter of support from the City is critical to the success of this process because of how the MHFA applications are scored. To assist in the discussion,the original plan set has been included in this packet(Attached). It is unlikely that another proposal for development will come forward on this particular parcel, which is currently vacant. City of Arden Hills City Council Meeting for March 19, 2012 P:I PlanningWlanning Cases12009(laserftched)109-021 Arden Village PUD,Plat,Rezoning(APPRO VED)103-19-12-CC WS-Arden Village- Memadoc Page 2 of 3