1-17-2006 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Approved the east side. Another trail will connect from the central greenway,through the senior condos to the southern portion of the site and a tunnel under the rail road tracks that will lead to the regional park. They are proposing to increase the grade of the development by twelve feet to help hide the rail cars with the central green way being as flat as possible. The central corridor trees and vegetation will be more natural looking at the park and as you progress down the road they will transition to a more urban look. Schiferl inquired if the bridge would be wide enough to walk a bike over. Harrington replied that while the bridge has not yet been designed,there are several local companies that have pre-fabricated bridges that can go as wide at twenty feet. Zisla asked how they are proposing to get the legal right away to go over the bridge. Fernelius replied that last May the City had a meeting with the rail road and they are willing to cooperate with the City on crossings, although a bridge had not been discussed. Zisla asked if the City is assuming that they will gain the right to cross the bridge or if they have the legal right. Fernelius replied that the City is assuming it will gain the right. Harrington stated that there will be five foot sidewalks through out the development that will connect to the trails that lead to the regional park. Chris Winter, Sherman and Associates, stated that the developers have from the beginning been concerned about connecting the Northwest Quadrant development to the rest of New Brighton. They want to make sure that all the passage ways will be easily accessible to all the residents of New Brighton. They have also allotted space for bike paths along the trails and Old Hwy 8. Schiferl inquired if there will be any sign stating private roads, closed to the public. Winter replied that the association will be formed mainly to help maintain the roads and green spaces, and that all the roads and green spaces will be open to the public. Greenfield reported that the City will be purchasing the Midwest Asphalt site in April and they will then begin demolition, environmental remediation and grading which should go through June. In July the developers will purchase the land from the City,they will start putting in the private utilizes, and installing the roads and pad sites. Their goal is to have model homes in place by September or October of this year and have models open for the spring preview of 2007. Zisla asked Fernelius if the reason why they are being asked to not take action on this tonight is because of the rezoning,parking issues and the Park Depai tiiient's concerns about open space. Fernelius replied that those are the main concerns and the City has not decided how to process this development, either by a PUD or a PRD. Zisla also voiced his concern that the City secures the legal right of way to cross the rail road. His concern is that if you can not cross the rail road the development will be isolated and not usable by the rest of the community. Fernelius stressed that these plans are preliminary and the commission will have a chance to look at this development again before the final site plan and that the City will have more clarity on the rail road and other issues before the final site plan comes before the commission. He is fairly confident that the City will gain the right away. Schiferl stated that he was disappointed that the developers did not bring up the environmental side of the design guidelines and that he is hoping to hear more about it. Greenfield replied that the developers are working with Excel Energy on their energy modeling program,which they normally apply only to commercial buildings, however because of the size of the loft buildings and condominium buildings they have agreed to apply that model to the development. They have also met with the residential department at Excel and will be following up with them. They have two different projects that are being done at developments locations. One project has a common dumpster for recycling and it is then separated at the recycling plant. The other project has multiples dumpsters that allow the development to recycle on site. Schiferl stated that the second plan is a much better choice. C:\Documents and Settings\jgoepe\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK28\1-17-2006.doc