3.0. - 7.0. SR 10-26-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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.--...., .I. e In 1991 and 1992 the land subject to this application was zoned P.U.D. and designated Highway Commercial on the comprehensive plan of the City of Elk River. These actions established the permitted use of this land and allowed for development of a shopping center on this site subject only to the very careful review the City Council has under P.U.D. zoning to ensure a high quality development. e In reliance on this zoning, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent by the developers to come up with the best possible plan for use of this piece of property for the designated shopping center use given the parameters of market demand, site features and the provisions of applicable Elk River ordinances. Kraus- Anderson, the premier developer of shopping centers of this type, was only interested in the project because it was zoned for the shopping center use. Many hours have been spent with staff and Elk River's consultants to assure that all conditions for granting of the P.U.D. permit are fully met. We would like to thank the staff for their tough but fair critique, review and suggestions as to fine tuning this plan to the finished product to be approved tonight. Special attention has been given to assuring that the development meets in all respects the seven criteria for granting conditional use permits and P.U.D. permits for property already approved for shopping center development. It should be noted that the planning commission unanimously and specifically found that all seven of these criteria were met and indeed they are. The staff report to the City Council confirms this conclusion. Let us review how this development meets these criteria. 1. The first criteria has to do with eliminating detrimental effects on surrounding property and the neighborhood. All aspects of the shopping center were carefully designed to achieve this goal. For example, the center and its focus were all directed toward Highway 169, not the neighborhoods west of the project, Freemont was extended through the projec~ to provide a new street contained in the project to handle the bulk of the traffic serving the project, the developer has agreed to abide by the City's feasibility study to handle increased traffic without a negative impact on surrounding areas at the developer's expense, ponds (note that the pond nearest the school is only 3 feet deep) have been fenced to assure protection for school children, the school district has cooperated with the developer to buffer the school area from the center and improve the existing ponding area. Kraus- Anderson will cooperate with law enforcement officials as it does in all its shopping center developments to assure that crime and criminal elements will be deterred not promoted by this project. All in all, a quality development has been provided to enhance rather than degrade the area. The developer has spent hundreds of hours to make certain all of these concerns are met. e