Consider Natural Resources Aspects of Site Plan for Norhart Mixed Use Apartment Complex (Project No. 24-104); Case of Norhart Architecture LLC

The City has received an application from Norhart Architecture LLC (the "Applicant") for Site Plan review and a variance for a five (5) story, mixed use apartment building located north and east of Sunwood Drive and west of Zeolite Street (the "Subject Property").

General Project Overview
The Applicant is proposing a five (5) story, mixed use market-rate apartment building with 223 units.  The building will also include about 5,000 square feet of vertically integrated retail space.  There will be both surface and subsurface parking and other amenities will include an outdoor pool, grills, and fire pits.  The Subject Property is currently zoned COR-4b, which allows a density of up to fifteen (15) units per acre.  However, the application also includes a request for a zoning amendment to rezone the Subject Property from COR-4b to COR-4c, which requires a minimum density of fifteen (15) units per acre with no maximum.  There will be two points of access to the Subject Property, one off of Zeolite Street and the other will be a shared driveway with the Home2Suites parcel to south, which will come off of Sunwood Drive.

Natural Resources Inventory and Minnesota Land Cover Classification System
The City's Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) does not identify any native plant communities on the Subject Property.  The Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS) classifies the Subject Property as 'Urban with Little Vegetative Cover'.  There are no wetlands or floodplains on the Subject Property.

Tree Inventory and Preservation Plan
There are no significant trees on the Subject Property and therefore, there was no need for an inventory or preservation plan.  The Environmental Policy Board may recall that much of the remaining vacant land in The COR was cleared and grubbed last fall.  The proposed landscaping for this project includes forty-five (45) new trees.  The combination of plantings for the hotel project, this project, and the Waterfront Village detached townhome project (north of the Subject Property), along with the City's improvements to The Waterfront, which also includes plantings, will ultimately exceed the reforestation requirements from the clearing and grubbing activities last fall.

Landscape Plan
The landscape plan includes a combination of deciduous trees and both evergreen and deciduous shrubs.  The perimeter of the site (all views from public roads and entrances) is well landscaped.  Staff had recommended enlarging the parking lot islands to accommodate trees, which would not only provide some shade but also break up the parking lot with some visual relief.  However, this would result in the loss of parking spaces, which would drop below the minimum number of stalls required.  In lieu of installing trees, Staff has recommended increasing the number of shrubs in these islands.  Staff provided a few other minor comments regarding the Landscape Plan, most specifically limiting plantings in the boulevard along Zeolite Street to include only trees (no shrubs) and to utilize a species from the Connector Street pool of species outlined in The COR Design Framework.

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

Staff recommends approving the Landscape Plan contingent upon compliance with Staff's review comments.

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