Consider Landscape and Tree Preservtion Plans for Rum River Prairie; Case of Rum River Prairie LLC

The City has received an application for a Preliminary Plat and Variance for a proposed subdivision known as Rum River Prairie.  The property is located both north and south of Armstrong Blvd west of Tiger St (the "Subject Property").  The Subject Property consists of about eighty (80) acres and is located within the R-1 Residential (Rural Developing) District.  The EPB reviewed the Sketch Plan for this project at their October, 2017 meeting.

The Preliminary Plat consists of twenty-five (25) single family residential lots.  All lots are at least 2.5 acres with the exception of Lot 1, Block 4 (southwest corner of Armstrong Blvd and Tiger St), which is 1.37 acres in size.  The Applicant has requested a variance to the minimum lot size to allow this to be a buildable lot.  Since this land is already separated from the remainder of the Subject Property by Tiger Street and Armstrong Blvd, the request seems reasonable and, as part of Sketch Plan review by the Planning Commission, seemed to be generally supported by that Commission too.

Based on the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS), the Subject Property consists almost entirely of dry grassland cover type with a very small portion shown as wetland prairie. Per the City's Natural Resources Inventory (NRI), the majority of the Subject Property was classified as an Altered/Non-Native Plant Community (per MLCCS, this is considered a semi-natural community that does not qualify for natural quality ranking), with the very northern portion being classified as Native Species Present in an Altered/Non-Native Plant Community (implies that there were native species present but within a non-native plant community). The National Wetland Inventory (NWI) does identify two small 'pocket' wetlands within the Subject Property. There are no floodplain areas within the Subject Property.

The Tree Preservation Plan indicates that roughly twenty percent (20%) of the Significant Tree DBH inches would be removed as a result of the project.  City Code requires that no more than sixty percent (60%) of the Significant Tree DBH inches be removed and thus, the project would be in full compliance with the preservation standards.

The Landscape Plan also appears to be in compliance with City Code.  Each lot is shown as receiving two (2) new trees and the species proposed are acceptable and include both deciduous and evergreen trees.  Staff has added an advisory comment to the Staff Review Letter stating that it may be warranted to consider additional landscaping in the rear yards of the lots adjacent to Armstrong Blvd to help mitigate potential noise from traffic.  This could be in the form of a berm with plantings.  This is not required by City Code, which is why this is only an advisory comment.

Staff would recommend approval of the Landscape and Tree Preservation Plans contingent upon compliance with the Staff Review Letter.

All costs associated with this request are the responsibility of the Applicant.

Motion to recommend approval of the Landscape and Tree Preservation Plans.