Planning commission recommends council deny Marsh Run 3 apartment project after neighbors raise parking, safety and scale concerns

The Minnetonka Planning Commission on July 24 recommended that the City Council deny the Marsh Run 3 redevelopment proposal at 11800 Wayzata Boulevard, forwarding a 3–2 recommendation for denial to the council.

City planning staff had recommended that the council adopt an ordinance approving the site’s master development plan and adopt a resolution approving final site and building plans, including expansion permits and variances (notably front-yard setback and floor-area-ratio adjustments). Staff told commissioners the project replaces a 1984 office building with a four‑story, 44‑unit apartment building including first-floor enclosed parking, and that 20 percent of units (nine units) would be offered at rents affordable to households at 50 percent of area median income.

Susan Thomas of the city’s planning staff described the proposal as consistent with the comprehensive guide plan and the I‑394 corridor’s long-term redevelopment pattern. Thomas said the project would add stormwater treatment where none exists now, would provide underground stormwater chambers, and would increase setbacks to wetlands and floodplain areas compared with the existing building; the application included about 3.1 cubic yards of floodplain work (staff said the volume is de minimis and can be administratively approved). Thomas said the development would remove 14 high-priority trees and one significant tree but remain under the tree‑removal thresholds in the city code.

Applicant Tom Dillon of…