Ordinance rezoning of Outlot A and Outlot B, Circle Seven Subdivision from T, Transition, to O-R, Office Residential and Resolution approving the final plat for Augusta Park Estates. The subject property is described as Outlot A and Outlot B, Circle Seven Subdivision, Mankato (PID R010904200020 and R010904200019); by request of Steve Kuepers.

At the July 27, 2022, meeting, the Planning Commission recommended adoption of the ordinance rezoning Outlot A and Outlot B, Circle Seven Subdivision from T-Transition to OR, Office Residential District. 

At the July 27, 2022, meeting, the Planning Commission recommended adoption of the resolution approving the final plat. 

Steve Kuepers of Kuepers, Inc. is requesting the final plat review of Augusta Park Estates and the rezoning of the subject area from T, Transition, to O-R, Office Residential. The subject property is described as Outlot A and Outlot B, Circle Seven Subdivision, Mankato.

Final Plat
The subject properties were previously platted as outlets as part of Circle Seven subdivision. In order to provide a lot and block legal description and allow development to occur, replatting is required. 

The final plat for the proposed Augusta Park Estates subdivision contains two blocks and four lots. Block 1 has three lots; Lot 1, Block 3 is 2.36 acres; Lot 2, Block 3 is 2.57 acres, and Lot 3, Block 3 includes 6.31 acres. A 120' X 15' rectangular parcel has been created on the southeast corner of Lot 3 and will be dedicated to August Drive right of way for the future round-about at Highway 22. Block 2 has one lot, and it is 3.49 acres. 

The concept plan submitted with the preliminary plat showed the proposed development to include multi-family dwellings, parking garages, parking lots and recreation and amenity areas within the future development. The total development is proposed to contain 270 new multi-family units. The concept plans contain a unit breakdown for the development of 12 studio units, 96 one-bedroom units and 162 two-bedroom units. 

Utilities are provided within the Premier Drive corridor, and as requested during the Site Plan and Traffic Advisory Committee review process, final calculations of the average utility demand on a peak day will be provided at the time of building permit submission for review and approval. The applicant has provided a hydraulic report which demonstrates that the site is designed to meet City requirements, alleviate the Trunk Highway 22 ditch and conforms to the site specific criteria. 

Access points to each of the lots are from Premier Drive and conform to engineering and access management standards. 

The applicant submitted a trip generation analysis for the proposed development with the preliminary plat. The analysis found that the proposed development has fewer daily trips and peak hour trips than the previously considered and contemplated draft development plans that were only conceptual.   The conceptual plans included 235,000 square feet of general office space and 54 single-family residential units. 

As a result of the conditions of approval of the preliminary plat, the applicant has submitted a traffic impact study with the final plat. The findings of the report showed that, based on traffic impact analysis described in the report, it is not expected that the proposed development will introduce operational deficiencies that require intersection geometry or traffic control improvements. While traffic operations are expected to be acceptable without roadway geometry or traffic control changes, there are some low-cost improvements that could be considered to improve traffic flow and roadway safety. The improvements include striped right turn lanes on the northbound and southbound intersection approaches. This is a common treatment on stop-controlled approaches, and it would mitigate a condition where right-turning vehicles are queued behind through-moving and left-turning vehicles. The second proposed improvement is a striped left turn lanes on the eastbound and westbound approaches. This would place left-turning vehicles out of the through traffic stream, reducing rear-end crash potential and mitigating traffic flow impediments caused by left-turning vehicles. Lastly, as part of traffic study, the applicant has been asked to evaluate the pedestrian connections. The applicant will be installing a pedestrian connection from the northwest side of Premier Drive to the southwest side of the Premier and Augusta intersection. The application has provided mapped images demonstrating the improvements and they are included in the attachments of this report. 

Payment in lieu of parkland dedication fees will be required prior to affixing signatures to the final plat in the amount of $45,300, which is the remaining amount from the Circle Seven Final plat. When Circle Seven was platted, payment was allowed in phasing as the outlots were replatted. The remaining portion of this amount is $45,300. 

During a review of the preliminary plat, public comment included the desire for landscaping between the properties. To illustrate the potential landscaping on the property, the developer has provided a landscaping rendering of the landscaping. 

Rezone
The applicant is requesting the official zoning of the property from T, Transition, to O-R, Office Residential. The requested O-R zoning is consistent with the underlying land use plan designation for the area, which depicts the area as Office Residential.