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• • 0 THURSDAY,DECEMBER 4, 1997 SAINT PAUL PIONEER PRESS C5D Woodbury and developers cut deal to save oak trees JIM BROEDE STAFF WRITER bonus on the remaining 100 acres dard" in size, some as small as 50 produce." between the city and the develop- in the Puk Family Farm subdivi- feet wide. Single-family lots in the subdivi- ers. sion at Pioneer Drive and Lake But from the start, the city's sion will have an average width of "There was lots of give and 'n fast-growing Woodbury, devel- Road. That clears the way for 221 planning staff and parks commis- 58 feet. take," he added, "and we came up opers could have decided to de- single-family homes and 234 town- sion rallied behind the proposal, "Bigger lots, of course, would with something that's a little bit stroy an oak stand to make way homes. andpraised the developers for offer moreprivate open space," ordinary." for 300-plus single-family homes. p "But p out Urban the clusters g Y "You might call it our first true willingness to provide almost four Jurgensen said. there's a clusters are few and far It's perfectly legal under city zon- urban cluster," city associate times the amount of parkland cus- trade-off. Owners of those smaller between in the Twin Cities area. ing. planner Marty Jurgensen said, tomarily required by the city. lots are getting easy access to Instead, a deal was worked out. "This isn't a new concept for "and it might be used as a model "The planning commission's vi- public open space." Orrin Thompson Homes andOrrin Thompson," Pritchard said. P for others to follow. We're putting sion of a preferable community," The developers also will set "We have built urban-density clus- tplaces, Centex Homes will give to the city limits on urban sprawl and pre- Jurgensen said, "includes larger aside a private, 3-acre corridor ers in other particularly 57 acres — 37 percent of their serving an oak savanna all at the lot sizes to produce a more open running north-south through Puk " 157 acre tract — for a publicin Denver and Florida. same time." appearance around the structures. Family Farm, including trails con- park. Hundreds of oak trees, some The development met with op- The staff's vision encourages set- necting to the city's oak-tree park. Puk Family Farm prices are 1 up to 150 years old, will be in the position last summer from the ting aside large amounts of public Bill Pritchard, a spokesman for expected to range from $80,000 to park. city's planning commission, pri- park and open space and allowing Orrin Thompson Homes, said he $105,000 for townhouses and The city, meanwhile, will grant marily out of concern that 96 per- buyer preferences to determine thinks everybody is coming out a $130,000 to $200,000 for single- ,about a 50 percent housing density cent of the lots were "substan- what size lots the market should winner as a result of negotiations family homes.