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Mr. John Stark • <br />March 29, 2007 <br />Page 2 <br />�J <br />resulting from the park access. That is why we had previously come up with an alternate <br />plan showing park access to the north of the site in exchange for City land to the south. <br />This would allow us to maintain the needed density while addressing the park's access <br />concern. A copy of this plan is attached. If the City were to pursue access per the <br />Langton Lake Park Master Plan, I believe they would need to purchase the land for the <br />actual roads as well as the portion of the property east of the Mount Ridge Road <br />north/south extension. The price of acquiring this land would be approximately $950,000 <br />based on the current Purchase Agreement price; however, this does not even take into <br />account the diminished value of the remaining buildable area considering the significan± <br />wetlands to the northwest. My point here is that the portion acquired by the City would <br />have a higher per square foot value, and by all accounts would exceed $1 million. Thi� <br />does not even factor in the cost of the roads themselves. <br />There are two other points that I feel need to be considered relative to the Langton Lake <br />Park Master Plan. First, the proposed road running east/west along the southern edge <br />of our parcel impacts the major wetland area to the south (on City-owned land), as does <br />the intersection where the two access roads meet and turn to the southeast continuing <br />on to future parking. Either a portion of the wetlands would need to be mitigated, or the <br />east/west road would be pushed further north, further impacting any development value <br />of the remaining property. Second, the Master Plan indicates a connection off of <br />Brenner Avenue which has been strongly opposed by the neighbors to the north of our <br />property. In fact, they have made it clear that they feel they have previously fought this <br />battle, and were assured by the City that such a connection would not be made. I <br />certainly have no first hand knowledge of those previous discussions, but thought it very <br />important to pass these comments along. We have never shown any type of connection <br />off of Brenner as a result of our discussions with the neighbors. <br />From a practical standpoint, if access to the park is a primary concern to the City, it <br />appears that there are other less impactful approaches that will allow us to pursue our <br />development and cost the City much less. Our previous alternative contemplated a land <br />exchange. Feedback I received during the Planning Commission meeting indicated that <br />such an exchange could be an uphill battle. An alternative would be purchasing from us <br />the area where we currently show two twin homes in the northeast corner of the <br />property. This could allow the City to come in off of Brenner Avenue and cut directly <br />east to the existing park. The cost of acquiring this portion of the site would be <br />approximately $250,000, and the impact to the site is much less. Again, we would <br />assume the City would acquire this land (or exchange for Park Dedication Fee waiver) <br />and pursue access separately from our project as we feel the neighbors would not <br />support this park plan. <br />In your letter, you had asked that United Properties provide one of two specific <br />responses to the DRC request. I believe this letter serves as an analysis — both practical <br />and financial as to why our development will not work if park access is made pursuant to <br />the Master Plan. The second part of their request asks for a revised site plan that <br />includes access in such a way that is practically and financially feasible. I believe we <br />have already addressed this in our earlier alternative site plan and offer an additional <br />alternative in the previous paragraph. I further hope that this will help all involved to <br />come to the conclusion that park access under the Langton Lake Park Master Plan will <br />have a major impact to our development — possibly to the point where we are not able to <br />