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City of Arden Hills – 2040 Comprehensive Plan Approved: November 2019 6-20 6.4.10 Development Capacity and Net Residential Density The Metropolitan Council’s Thrive MSP 2040 assigns a community designation of “suburban” which requires an average net residential density of at least five units per net residential acre. Densities lower than this are not an efficient use of the region’s sanitary sewer infrastructure. Net residential acreage is calculated by subtracting wetlands, water bodies, public parks, arterial streets, and identified natural resources that are protected by ordinance from gross acres. The number of net residential acres is then divided by the number of lots to determine net residential density. According to the 2016 land use data provided by the Metropolitan Council, there were 1,362 acres of net residential land in Arden Hills, which includes the rights- of-way of adjacent City streets. The Metropolitan Council lists 3,198 housing units in Arden Hills in 2015. Based on that information, the residential density in the developed portion of Arden Hills is approximately 2.35 residential units per net residential acre. While this is below the five units per net residential acre required by the Metropolitan Council, the City is not required to raise densities in the built portion of Arden Hills. However, all future land uses should be able to accommodate development in average of five units per net residential acre. There are no expected land use changes that would result in a reduction in net residential density in the developed part of Arden Hills. Furthermore, the remaining vacant residential land that is south of Highway 96 and 10 is guided for development that could be built at a density of an average of five residential units per acre. Land guided for High Density east of Interstate 35W, south of County State Aid Highway 96, west of Snelling Avenue North and north of interstate 694 density may be increased by up to 100% through the use of the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process if the intent is to meet the goals of the Comprehensive Plan. The City Code includes PUD regulations that allow for a higher quality and compatible development of property by encouraging reasonable flexibility from applicable standards, including at higher densities than would be allowed under the underlying zoning district and/or guided land use designation. The City has utilized PUDs and PUD Overlays for many residential and commercial developments, which is a trend that is likely to continue into the future given the limited size and amount of land available for new development and potential redevelopment east of Interstate 35W, south of County State Aid Highway 96, west of Snelling Avenue North and north of interstate 694.