Planning commissioners give feedback on proposed 9-lot subdivision at 4255 Wood Lane Drive

WOODBURY, Minn. — Developers for a proposed 9-lot planned unit development at 4255 Wood Lane Drive asked the Woodbury Planning Commission on June 30 for concept-level feedback on a requested comprehensive-plan amendment and reduced lot sizes.

The applicant is seeking to reguide the parcel from rural estate (one unit per three acres) to urban estate (one unit per one acre) and to allow lots averaging roughly 0.77 acre, down from a proposed one-acre standard. Staff described the concept as a tool for early feedback and said no formal approvals occur at the council level during the concept-PUD stage.

Why it matters: The site sits adjacent to Arbor Ridge and near a municipal drinking-water well; staff and the applicant said connecting to city sewer and water would reduce aquifer drawdown and septic contamination risks compared with further private wells and drain fields. Commissioners also raised neighborhood, connectivity, tree-preservation and stormwater questions that could change lot configuration as the project advances.

The applicant, represented by Todd Olin of Land and Resource Consulting, said the proposal would include two cul-de-sacs, a 10-foot bituminous trail along the south side of Hargis Parkway and extension of water and sewer stubs into the site. "There's a strong, strong desire for it," Olin said referring to market interest in larger lots. A staff presenter identified the controlling code provision for the concept process as "code section 24 2 0 7" and summarized the concept-PUD steps: neighborhood meeting, planning commission review and city council review.

Commissioners pressed on several items that staff said will be resolved in later stages: stormwater basin sizing (the largest remaining variable), tree-inventory and grading impacts, sidewalk/trail connections and the odd-shaped right-of-way area along the south side of Hargis that results from a school-district easement. Commissioners suggested design changes such as swapping lot lines (to meet minimum widths), resizing cul-de-sac right-of-way where appropriate, adding a connector trail through the subdivision to the adjacent school and preserving perimeter trees.

Staff asked commissioners to weigh whether the site should be treated as an "urban estate" buffer zone between denser neighborhoods to the east and more rural parcels to the west and south. Staff said the comprehensive-plan designation could be revisited during the citywide 2050 plan, but that, given existing and anticipated utility extension, staff views the parcel as an appropriate transitional site for one-acre density. Staff emphasized the concept-review nature of the hearing: "No comments, suggestion, remarks, or observation made by city staff, the planning commission, or the city council shall be binding on the city for future stages."

What remains to be decided: final lot dimensions, exact stormwater-basin footprint and detailed utility design. Commissioners and the applicant noted the neighborhood meeting on June 18 had 16 participants; neighbors at the June 30 meeting reiterated concerns about grading, stormwater and tree impacts. Staff recommended future review steps and that the applicant include the trail construction and utility extension plans in future submittals.

The planning commission provided feedback but did not take a formal vote on the concept PUD; staff said a full planned-unit-development application with detailed civil plans and stormwater modeling would follow if the applicant chooses to proceed.

For now, the applicant will consider commissioners' suggestions on lot sizing, connector paths and the basin location and return with more detailed engineering, grading and tree-preservation information at the next review stage.