Consider Natural Resources Elements of the Harmony Farms Preliminary Plat (Project No. 23-111); Case of U.S. Home LLC dba Lennar 

The City has received an application from Lennar (the "Applicant") for Preliminary Plat review of a proposed single family residential development north of 167th Ave and east of Nowthen Boulevard on Outlots B & C, Harmony Farms (the "Subject Property").  

Project Overview
The Applicant is proposing a single family residential development of fifty-seven (57) lots to be served by municipal sanitary sewer and water.  The Subject Property is zoned R-1A, which requires a minimum lot width of eighty (80) feet and a minimum lot area of 10,000 square feet.  There will be two points of access to the development, including a full access at Coquina Street and 167th Avenue and a right-in right-out access on Nowthen Boulevard, satisfying both the City and Anoka County.  The Subject Property also abuts the Brookside Elementary School property and the Applicant has included a trail to connect this neighborhood with the school parcel.

Natural Resources Inventory and Minnesota Land Cover Classification System
The City's Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) does not indicate any native plant communities within the Subject Property.  Per the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS), the Subject Property consists of 'Planted or Cultivated Vegetation' and a very small portion of 'Dry Grassland'.  There are no floodplains present and only a very small portion of the Subject Property is considered wetland.  There are no proposed impacts to the wetland area.

Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan
The only existing trees on the Subject Property are along the northern boundary and adjacent to the wetland in the southern portion of the site.  The proposed tree removal exceeds the removal threshold (allowed to remove up to sixty percent [60%] of the significant tree DBH inches; this project is proposing to remove seventy-six percent [76%] of existing significant tree DBH inches).  This requires reforestation of at least 331 inches of newly planted trees.  The Landscape Plan includes 500 inches of new trees, which does satisfy the reforestation requirement.

Landscape Plan
The Landscape Plan provides a minimum of two (2) trees per lot, with the lots abutting Nowthen Boulevard and some of the lots abutting the elementary school parcel having additional plantings in the rear yards.  Additionally, there are extra trees proposed in the rear yards that back up to the proposed stormwater basins.  There is a healthy mix of deciduous and evergreen trees with no genus constituting more than twenty percent (20%) of the overall plantings.  All species and sizes are acceptable.  The Planting Schedule indicates that some trees will be three (3) inches in size at the time of planting.  The total proposed inches being planted should be updated, as it was based on all trees being 2.5 inches (meaning the reforestation is actually higher than the proposed 500 inches).  Staff has also recommended that fencing, in addition to the proposed plantings, be installed now on the lots backing up to Nowthen Boulevard to assist with screening and possible noise reduction.

 

The Applicant is responsible for all costs associated with this request.

Staff recommends approving both the Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan and the Landscape Plan, contingent upon compliance with Staff's review comments.

Motion to recommend approval of the Landscape Plan and the Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan, contingent upon compliance with Staff's review comments.