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City Council Minutes April 7, 2025 --------- Page 3 of 10 John Babcock and Bill LaVigne from The Bank of Elk River were present to accept the certificate of donation. Moved by Councilmember Calva and seconded by Councilmember Grupa to adopt Resolution 25-12, graciously accepting the 2025 Riverfront Concert Series contribution of $26,000 by The Bank of Elk River. Motion Carried 5-0. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS 7.1 Specht Farm (Oakwater Ridge) Residential Development: Land Use Amendment Resolution 25-13, Zoning Amendment Ordinance 25-04, and Ordinance Amendment 25-05 Establishing a PUD for the Oakwater Ridge Development The staff report was presented. Mayor Dietz opened the public hearing. Steve Bona, Capstone Homes - Recapped what was discussed at the Parks and Recreation Commission. He explained that they were proposing two acres for park dedication from the bluff to the waterfront with at least one acre of buildable land for a playground and shelter,. Half of the lowland riverfront is included as park dedication credit, and they decreased the HOA parkland with water access to 2.5 acres. Now they have about 0.4 acres of upland to work with, which increases the acres in the lower HOA field to 23 acres, and the cash contribution has stayed the same. He further explained that Capstone will be trying to get to a point where they can build the park sooner rather than later; they think they could get it in at Phase 2 of the project. He stated there was a discussion that they could get funding privately to get the park funded and built, but they needed to work through the details. Mr. Bona stated that in the master plan, the original trail system down from the corner of the Specht Farm was originally proposed as park dedication, but that is not park dedication anymore. He explained they thought they were going to rework the trail system, but have decided to leave the linear trail system and will be leaving as many of the trees along the trail system as they can. Mr. Bona addressed the lot sizes and explained that these products must be looked at as an alternative to attached townhomes. Capstone chose the Liberty-style detached homes, which are slab-on-grade and narrower, but explained that it needs to be at a certain price point to be affordable as well. He explained that the increase from 40-foot lots to 50-foot lots had already increased the price of their product, which would put them in the range of $375 to $435 for this product. If they move to 52-foot lots, they would lose 10 lots, resulting in about $5 million in revenue loss. They would have to try to make up this loss somewhere else. He further stated that they have done the 40-foot lots in other cities, and there has never been a parking problem. Comparing Liberty style to Miske Meadows with single-family homes is not a good comparison because this product is not a single-family home product; it is an alternative to attached townhomes. He also stated that having this product versus the attached townhomes means avoiding the HOA fees, which makes them more affordable as well. Mayor Dietz closed the public hearing. Councilmember Calva stated he doesn't have a problem with the 50-foot lots and appreciates the quality of Capstone. He asked Mr. Bona if he could describe the lots of Legacy Bay Farms in St. Michael. Mr. Bona explained that the Legacy Bay Farms is very similar to the Specht development proposal. Councilmember Calva expressed his concerns about the driveway size and asked if they could offer a