07-30-07 Item 7B, Planning Case 06-040 Final PUD for Traverse Business Ctr

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After discussions with Ramsey County Public Works, Staff did not request an updated EA W or traffic study. Although the background traffic has likely increased since 2001, Ramsey County has indicated that the existing traffic signal at Round Lake Road and Highway 96 should be able to adequately handle the additional traffic from the proposed business center (Attaclnnent 3F-12 of the report to the Planning Commission). The traffic portion of the 2001 EA W indicates that the proposed business center should not produce significant negative impacts, though it does recommend improvements to the Highway 96/Round Lake Road intersection. Most of the recommended improvements for the Highway96/Round Lake Road intersection have since been implemented. The EA W does not assign a level of service (LOS) rating to the Highway 96/Round Lake Road intersection or the Highway 96/I-35W intersection, which makes it difficult to determine what the impact on service would be at those intersections if the building is approved. Further traffic studies would be needed to determine LOS at the intersection. Should the City Council determine that an updated EA W or traffic study is needed, one can be ordered. However, in terms of traffic generated by the proposed project, a new EA W or traffic study is unlikely to provide significantly new information since the mix of uses and size of the business center is essentially the same as the 2001 project proposal. The business center project itself will not generate any more new traffic now than it would have in 2001. While a traffic study that calculated the current and post-development level of service at the Highway 96/Round Lake Road and Highway 96/I-35W intersections may be helpful, CMK Arden Holdings could probably not be held accountable for the full cost of traffic improvements at those intersections should that be deemed necessary. The traffic generated from this project should be included in the TCAAP traffic analyses. Developer's Al!reement If the City Council approves the Traverse Business Center, a developer's agreement will be prepared that incorporates all of the approved conditions into a contract form. The developer's agreement will require City Council approval, which will be drafted after the final conditions are set by the City Council should the proj ect be approved. Findinl!s of Fact The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal from CMK Arden Holdings for the proposed Traverse Business Center and determined that the phases one and two are in substantial conformance with the design standards from the March 26, 2001, proposal. \lAhdocsllahIAHdatalPlanning\Planning Cases\2006\06-040 Chesapeake Final PUD (COMPLETE)\073007 - CC Report - Chesapeake Final PUD.doc Page 4 of7