Council approves Fern Lane townhomes after two years of reviews; planning commission recommended conditions

The Mountain City Council on April 8 approved three separate resolutions allowing the Fern Lane Townhomes project to move forward in the mixed-use downtown shoreland overlay district.

Rita Trapp, the city’s planning consultant, told the council the application seeks to combine two vacant lots into a 0.21-acre site for four for-sale townhome units in two buildings with a shared interior drive, a homeowners association outlot and two visitor parking spaces. The Planning Commission reviewed the project in 2023 and again in October and recommended approval after the applicant revised landscaping, deck sizes and trash and snow removal plans.

The council’s approvals covered (1) vacation of drainage and utility easements, (2) a major-subdivision preliminary plat and (3) a conditional-use permit for a shoreland planned-unit development. Trapp and staff stressed the site is subject to the Shoreland Overlay District and must meet Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) stormwater requirements; the developer must obtain MCWD sign-off on erosion control and stormwater management before final permits.

Developer representatives described changes made since earlier reviews. Scott Gates, representing the owner, said engineers provided turning-radius demonstrations and that garages were widened and 18-foot garage doors added to help vehicle maneuvering. Gates said prior submissions that proposed five units were withdrawn and the current design has evolved to address Planning Commission concerns about visitor parking, deliveries, snow storage and outdoor space.

Council members repeatedly raised concerns about the shared driveway configuration, vehicle turning clearance and whether three-story massing would be compatible with the nearby neighborhood. Trapp and Gates said the plan meets the city’s height limit (35 feet) and that building midpoints are expected to be around 33–34 feet. Staff emphasized that, because the project was filed before a later comp-plan amendment, the application’s density guidance differs from current plan language and that the project has been in review since 2022–23.

The council passed the three resolutions in separate roll-call votes. Conditions in staff and Planning Commission recommendations require coordination with MCWD on stormwater, documentation of snow removal and solid-waste logistics for the HOA, and final architectural details to remain within the city’s dimensional and shoreline standards.

The project drew no public speakers during the hearing. City staff noted no written comments were received prior to the meeting, though MCWD and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had provided technical comments in prior rounds.

If the applicant pursues building permits, city staff said the approvals still require completion of outstanding items (stormwater/erosion control approval from MCWD and final plat recording) before any vertical construction begins.