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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — JANUARY 8, 2024 10 in Arden Hills and work in the community. He supported the 1,960 units because it will create additional affordable housing options for families that want to take advantage of the great schools in the community. He also supported the additional housing because it will create housing options for folks that need a leg up. He encouraged the Council to support the comprehensive changes that were necessary in order to allow for the 1,960 housing units. Rita Lamatsch, 1535 Royal Hills Drive, stated she agreed with one part of the amendments and disagreed with the others. She supported the flex office space being rezoned to residential because the community had too much office space. However, she indicated she opposed the large multi- family housing units. She believed it would be better to keep with the character of Arden Hills to have more single family homes, townhomes or duplexes as opposed to the 175 unit apartment building. She asked if the proposed 125 unit apartment building on the North Heights Church property was being factored into the traffic study. She suggested the mixed retail north of Highway 96 be rezoned to allow for more townhouse or duplex style housing that was more in keeping with the neighborhood. She stated she was concerned with how TCAAP traffic could be coming down the spine road, through the North Heights Church and into her neighborhood. Nancy Jacobson, 3188 Asbury Avenue, stated after the dust settles tonight, she hopes the Rice Creek Commons project moves forward. She looked forward to seeing more detailed park and trail plans for RCC. In addition, she wanted to see more about how the surrounding area connects to RCC. She urged the Council to consider how important it would be for this development to be connected to the remainder of the City. Mary Henry, 3521 Ridgewood Court, explained she fully supported the proposed zoning changes for Rice Creek Commons. She indicated some people may feel changing the flex office to housing may impact employment. She discussed how more housing improves the economy for a community, given the fact more and more people were working from home. She stated it was important to understand how housing, post -pandemic, was employment. She reported there was not a strong need for additional office space given the fact the community already had excess retail and office space. Ann Hall, 4276 Norma Avenue, stated she was happy to see the proposal tonight and noted she supported the flexibility in zoning along with the higher density housing. She reported there was a clear for high quality affordable housing in the metro area. She was confident the City could provide this in a smart and effective manner. She reported safe housing was a basic human right. She expressed concern with the fact her children would not be able to purchase a home in the community once they are grown young professionals. Gregg Larson, 3377 North Snelling Avenue, stated was the culmination of a year's worth of work to bring new life to a project that has been stalled for the past six years. He stated it was encouraging to see the City ready to formally consider a compromise on 1,960 housing units for Rice Creek Commons. He indicated this was a density that was endorsed by the developer and Ramsey County. He reported a vote of approval would adopt changes that remove the roadblocks on a project that has held so much promise for so long. He explained the years of delay and litigation left the City with frustrations and lost opportunity costs. He stated now the City was close to realizing the benefits of more housing, more commercial development and more employment opportunities. He thanked staff for all of their efforts over the past year and for their renewed collaboration with Ramsey County. He acknowledged the work of the Planning Commission, who carefully reviewed these recommendations before recommending approval.