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Commission recommends city accept Amberly Woods land donation for parkland
Summary
The Forest Lake Parks and Recreation & Trail Commission voted Oct. 15 to recommend that the City Council accept a proposed land donation from the Amberly Woods developer; staff said the parcel would exceed the city’s typical 10% dedication requirement and could add woodland parkland and trails.
The Forest Lake Parks and Recreation & Trail Commission on Oct. 15 voted to recommend that the City Council accept a land donation proposed by the developer of the Amberly Woods preliminary plat.
City planning staff told commissioners the Amberly Woods proposal would create 56 single-family lots and is split into two halves: about 17 developable acres on the west and roughly 20 acres on the east. Staff said Minnesota Statute 462.358 and City Code section 152 allow the city to require land dedication or cash-in-lieu during subdivision and that, for residential subdivisions, a 10% dedication is the typical metric. Staff calculated the 10% requirement for the west half at 3.27 acres and said the developer is proposing to donate 6.21 acres of land on the east half—land that staff described as largely wetland and wetland buffer but including about 6.27 upland woodland acres.
Staff recommended accepting the land, saying the area lies within a draft 2040 comprehensive-plan search area for a neighborhood park and would help address an identified deficit in natural-surface hiking trails noted in the draft park plan. The developer’s representative, Twin Cities Land Development, was present for questions, city staff said.
Commissioner Karen moved the recommendation that the City Council accept the land donation as proposed; Aaron seconded. The motion carried on an affirmative voice vote recorded as “Aye.” The commission did not record a roll-call tally on the meeting transcript.
If the council follows the commission’s recommendation, staff said the parcel would be added to the city’s park inventory and would be considered in future park planning and trail-extension work. The council will make the final decision at a later meeting; a date was not specified on the record.
Why this matters: land dedicated at subdivision can add permanent parkland and natural areas without immediate capital expense from the city, and staff said the Amberly Woods dedication would exceed the minimum dedication for the portion of the site being developed.
Next steps: the commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council for final action; staff and the developer will continue to coordinate parcel details and any required environmental or easement considerations.
