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Planning Commission Minutes July 23, 2024 --------- Page 6 of 7 pipes at a cost that far outweighs what the developer is willing to pay. She stated they met with staff who explained it may be possible to connect at some capacity but not the full 200 acres that was proposed to be developed, without the developer investing in larger pipe. She explained that installing larger pipes would allow future developers - i.e. their competitors - to benefit from that extension at a much lower cost. This proposal with 1 acre lots offers an option to still develop the property, bringing some tax base to the city, and provides a transition between Miske Meadows and the larger lots in Nowthen. Mr. Carlton noted that in the past, the city has charged trunk area assessments as properties were developed. He stated there are options, but the question is who bears the cost of installing the entire trunk system, as you can't just install put part of a trunk line. What is the cost burden that the developer could bear and where is the gap and the city could fill in a mechanism if we wanted to keep the land use guided for urban residential. Commissioner Rydberg is in favor of having future developers connect to the trunk line but felt the city would end up being the "bank" holding the debt until future developers added on. He felt it important to make the process equitable for all developers. His question was, are there areas surrounding this that could be developed in the future? Mr. Carlton stated the northeastern utility area expansion site does get into a number of those costs, how many developable acres are available, number of units, and estimated cost of these utilities. Chair Beise and Commissioner Mauren agreed with Commissioner Rydberg's comments. After discussion, it was the consensus of the Planning Commission that they would like to see this area guided as an urban residential area with city services (city sewer and water) and to further continue conversations with the developer, city council, and utilities to evaluate and find financial solutions to make it fair to developers to support installing the trunk line. Ms. Lindahl stated the same concerns exist for both sewer and water, but t\he cost of this is out of scale because such a large part of the land is unbuildable due to wetlands. She appreciated the support to extend services and share costs as they cannot front load costs even with the assessments to the properties. She stated ultimately, if the council cannot support the extension costs, she suggested removing this area out of the urban service district. Commissioner Booth noted he preferred the application be allowed a 1-acre lot with septic and well. He lived in this area and was concerned about the number of wetlands creating a large amount of undevelopable area, and would suggest removing the area from the urban service district if unable to complete extension of services. 8.2 Concept Review: The Specht Family Farm Housing Development Mr. Carlton presented the staff report. He distributed a letter from the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) containing comments on the proposed development adjacent to their property. He introduced the development team from Capstone Homes, consisting of Stephen Bona, Matt Barker, Heather Lorch, and Kenny Novak. He also introduced Brian Krystofiak, PE, and Ryan Ruttger, PLA, with Carlson McCain. Erwin and Marilyn Specht were present representing the landowners. Mr. Bona provided a PowerPoint presentation to explain the history of the Specht farming operations,