Willow Lakes phase 5 brings mixed‑use plan and traffic concerns; planning commission backs conditional review

Developers and city planning staff returned to the council’s workshop on Sept. 2 with a proposed Plan Development Overlay (PDO) for phase 5 of the Willow Lakes community, a lakeside subdivision that would add mixed‑use elements and require several design reviews and traffic mitigations.

City planning staff summarized the proposal as five distinct subareas: a lakeside clubhouse/boathouse (commercial use up to 40,000 square feet and up to three stories with rooftop decks), up to five purpose‑built short‑term rentals, 11 single‑family detached lots on the central west side, a cluster of up to five “mansion homes” (multiunit buildings designed to read as large single houses) to the east of Slalom Lake, and a 60‑bed assisted‑living facility designed under the proposed MR‑12 standards.

Staff told the council the project has been under review for months and that four of five subdivision phases already are platted or built; phase 5 has been the subject of earlier neighborhood and planning‑commission review. Planning Commission voted 4‑0 to recommend the PDO to the council, and staff said the commission and staff want future design review permits to return with detailed elevations, site plans, and parking studies for the clubhouse, mansion homes and assisted‑living elements.

City planning staff said the neighborhood and the project’s homeowners association have objected to some earlier concepts (notably four‑story condominium proposals). The HOA asked developers to remove the condo plan and proceed with an approach the neighborhood finds more compatible; developers revised the central area accordingly.

Traffic, parking and the unfinished section of 1400 West figured prominently in the workshop discussion. Planning staff and residents said the proposed fitness and event center could generate non‑resident traffic; several speakers pressed the developer to finish the 1400 West connection (from the built portion northward) and to include traffic‑calming features so the new facility does not function as a high‑speed cut‑through. Planning staff told council members the western bypass classification exists in the long‑range transportation plan but most of that corridor is not built; staff said it is reasonable to require that the developer invest in street improvements and traffic calming as part of the PDO conditions.

Staff also described other constraints and expectations: the project contains wetland and critical‑lands areas, the developer has adjusted lot layouts to preserve those resources, and certain uses are to be written into the PDO so a future owner cannot unilaterally replace, for example, the assisted‑living proposal with a wholly different use without a code amendment.

Public comments to planning commission and at the workshop focused on stormwater and standing water on nearby properties, the timing and scale of new construction, and the desire for pedestrian connections to the regional trail network. Planning commissioners asked that project elements requiring higher intensity (the clubhouse, mansion homes and assisted living) return for full design review with color elevations, parking calculations and landscaping plans before the council acts on a final ordinance.

Why it matters: Willow Lakes is a large, partially built neighborhood iden­tified in the Woodruff neighborhood plan and long‑range plan; the design and land‑use controls written into a PDO will govern how many units and uses are allowed on the final phase and how transportation and trail connections are mitigated for the surrounding area.