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MEMORANDUM DATE: May 19, 2014 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers Patrick Klaers, City Administrator FROM: Jill Hutmacher, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Residential Development and Densities Background In April the City Council was given options for a self-guided development tour to see examples of recent residential developments that mixed types of housing and/or were infill redevelopment projects in town centers or transit areas. These development projects are relevant to TCAAP because they demonstrate how types of housing can be mixed, and how density can be successfully achieved. The following memo is intended to outline concepts related to density in preparation for further City Council discussion on this topic. Density Density is a difficult statistic for comparison purposes because it is measured in many different ways. Gross density is the simplest calculation just divide the total number of units by the total development area. Gross density, however, does not take wetlands, open space, road infrastructure, and other undevelopable areas into account. Net density is a more accurate measurement for comparison purposes, but it can be calculated in different ways. For example, the Metropolitan Council deducts the following from net density calculations: wetlands, water bodies, ponds; public parks, open space, and trail corridors; arterial road rights-of-way steep slopes, bluffs, and other undevelopable acres protected by local ordinances The Metropolitan Council, however, does not deduct interior roads, private open space, or stormwater ponds/setbacks, whereas some communities will include these factors in their net density calculations. Net density can be more simply calculated as the number of units divided by total area of developable lots. The difference between varying calculations of density can be significant. For 16 Page of