Council leans toward public road for Schmidt’s Hidden Valley; Saint Thomas unveils new church concept; staff seeks guidance on industrial design rules

At its planning‑item session the Corcoran City Council gave informal direction on multiple development items: it signaled a preference that a proposed three‑lot subdivision at Schmidt’s Hidden Valley III use a public right‑of‑way rather than a shared private drive; it provided early feedback on Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church’s concept plan for a new 14,000‑square‑foot church; and staff sought council guidance on updates to commercial and industrial district standards.

Schmidt’s Hidden Valley III (item 7a)

Planning staff described the applicant’s concept plan for a 28.26‑acre outlot at 21900 Oakdale Drive proposing three single‑family lots (about 3.5 acres to nearly 21 acres) served by a shared private drive. Staff and engineering presented an infrastructure feasibility study that identified a preferred road alignment to the west, matching the applicant’s concept, and warned a private drive could conflict with earlier internal street‑network plans and complicate future subdivision connections.

Michael Ball, an applicant, said constructing a full public road is not financially feasible for the owners: “we're not Lennar. We're not a $31,000,000 publicly traded company,” and noted the lot count (four development rights exist on the outlot, three would be used in this proposal) constrains economies of scale for road construction.

Staff estimated that building a public road with stormwater and other standards could cost on the order of $500,000–$600,000. Council members raised long‑term maintenance and plowing concerns for a cul‑de‑sac and noted private drives have frequently produced maintenance and ownership disputes. Several council members said they would prefer the city secure right‑of‑way and eventual public road construction so future traffic can be funneled to the safe sight‑line identified by engineering; staff described options including a dedicated right‑of‑way with a temporary encroachment agreement for private drive use or a single‑user driveway scenario that carries different requirements.

Council did not take formal action; staff described the direction given as advisory only and will work with the applicant on next steps and a potential agreement language that addresses future upgrade costs.

Saint Thomas the Apostle (item 7b)

Saint Thomas presented a concept for relocating and rebuilding its existing church on a central parcel the parish owns, proposing a roughly 14,000‑square‑foot building with 101 parking stalls. Carl Thielen, chair of the parish facilities planning committee, and other parish representatives described plans to reuse stained glass and other heritage items from the existing building and to remove several curb cuts on County Road 10.

Planning staff noted the project generally complies with setbacks and parking requirements but flagged several review items for the next submittal: whether the bell tower exemption applies to the proposed 70‑foot tower, buffer yard requirements between the site and adjacent residential zoning, possible signage changes when the church moves and the need to coordinate driveway and right‑of‑way work with Hennepin County. Parish representatives said they hope to do grading and site work in 2025 and begin construction in 2026; staff said the application likely will proceed as a site plan review and not require a public hearing.

Commercial and industrial code update (item 7c)

Planning staff reviewed comparative approaches used by six peer cities for transitions between industrial/commercial uses and neighboring residences, and asked council whether the city should adopt higher setbacks, a conditional use process for taller structures, window/transparency requirements, and more flexible impervious‑surface calculations at the plat level.

Councilmembers and staff discussed buffers, berming and tree planting to reduce noise and visual impacts, and the idea of moving stormwater and parking areas to shared outlots to create consolidated green buffers between residences and commercial parcels. Staff will return with draft code language and options for council review.

All three items were advisory at this meeting; no ordinances were adopted and no final approvals issued for the concept plans.