04-09-2025 Parks and Recreation Commission Packet (2)

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Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes Page 5 March 12, 2025 could work. Commissioner Goodwin agreed and said she has gone to other parks with similar parking, and it did not seem to disrupt the neighborhood very much. Commissioner Loidolt asked if this would replace the option of a north parking lot or be in addition. Mr. Stremcha said it would be instead of and would provide 37 ten-foot-wide spots. Commissioner Niziolek asked if they could do a mini version of that on the north side as well. Chair Anderson said he thinks just one would be enough. Commissioner Loidolt said that from the grey area down to the blue area is a slope and he has concerns about that. Chair Anderson said the slope meets ADA and he thinks central parking would be enough. Commissioner Varty asked if cars could still roadside park. Chair Anderson said yes, they could. Commissioner Niziolek asked how much money would be in park dedication. Chair Anderson said that is incalculable right now and would be determined by City Council. Chair Anderson explained that per ordinance it is one thing but if Council does not follow the ordinance, it would be different. Commissioner Niziolek wants to recommend that 50 % of that money from the park dedication cash go towards finishing the trail in the flood plains in a reasonable amount of time so it does not end up being a dead-end trail. Commissioner Varty said not to disagree, but does that leave enough money to build a decent playground up on the bluff? Commissioner Goodwin said she thought she understood that the money that is dedicated stay in the parks in this development. Mr. Stremcha said that was the recommendation at the previous Commission meeting. Chair Anderson said that he would recommend that the city just accepts the cash and not designate where it goes. Commissioner Niziolek said that he wants to make sure that when the development is completed, all the amenities would be in. He thinks that will cost at least a million dollars. Commissioner Stewart questioned if they they could split the cash delegation to parks and trails. Mr. Stremcha said they can do whatever the commission recommends for the City Council to make the final decision on, but he suggested that they just accept the cash and then discuss the amenities later. Mr. Stremcha said they could create a wish list based on priorities and as funds become available, they can apply them. Commissioner Niziolek said he is worried they are just adding another million dollars’ worth of amenities they cannot afford. Chair Anderson explained that park dedication is a balance of land and cash. Commissioner Niziolek asked if he could make a request for the HOA to be a player in the development of this park since about 60% of the users of the park will probably be residents of the park. Mr. Stremcha said that is something to be determined in the future but as far as the park it was an all or nothing offer initially. The lowland could either be completely private or completely public. Steve Bona from Capstone joined the discussion at this time. Mr. Stremcha recapped the parking lot discussion that was taking place when Mr. Bona walked into the meeting. Mr. Bona explained that parking is allowed on both sides of the street in this development and these streets are much wider than previous developments they worked with. He explained that in their last development in Ramsey they have parallel parking, and it has worked well. He also said that the park is just shy of two acres and adding a parking lot would really cut into that. Mr. Bona pointed out that the grey shaded box on the slide designated for the bluff park would be shorter by one lot size. Page 6 of 54