11-13-23-R - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—NOVEMBER 13, 2023 4 City Administrator Perrault stated after the November 16 JDA Advisory meeting, which Ehlers would be attending, updates could be made to the financials. Councilmember Holden expressed concern with the fact a term sheet would be considered by the JDA prior to the City having any financial information. She asked if this would be updated before the terms. She stated she did not know how much this was going to cost the City or how we would pay for this. She asked how can we draw up terms before we know? She noted there seems to be a lot of cost details that aren't known. City Administrator Perrault indicated this was a good question. He explained the term sheet was non-binding and direction given with the document would be high level. He reported the language regarding finances would state the City intends to recoup its costs on infrastructure and covering operational costs going forward. He stated the financials will not be dependent on the term sheet and vice versa. Mayor Grant stated whatever terms are drafted, they should not violate the agreement. City Administrator Perrault reported this would the case. Mayor Grant was in agreement with Councilmember Holden that the financials would change given the changes that were made to density and zoning. He explained the Council directed staff to begin making amendments for a Comp Plan Amendment. He commented further on how the changes that were made by the JDA would impact the community. He stated he did not want to see housing and warehousing mixed together, but rather wanted this development to be something really special. He recommended the zoning be looked at further, noting the City may want more office/mixed use while eliminating the warehousing. In addition, he stated the red area within Rice Creek Commons was not to house anything "big box". He supported the Council holding further discussions regarding the proposed zoning prior to any Comp Plan Amendment being considered. Councilmember Holden discussed how the office/mixed use space was originally put into TCAAP to assist with creating jobs and these parcels have been removed. Mayor Grant stated he was pleased with how Parcel A would be developing and that it would bring jobs to the area. However, he indicated the City was missing an opportunity by not discussing the red portion of Rice Creek Commons. He reported the original plans for this development was to create 4,000 jobs. He commented on how the new plans would not come close to this number. Councilmember Holden asked if the Council was interested in reviewing the zoning map. Councilmember Monson stated the Mayor's concern was having flex office space next to homes, because this would allow for warehousing close to the housing. Mayor Grant reported this space, the flex office space, was designed to be warehousing.