Council approves Trails and Commons townhome development as part of Thomson Reuters redevelopment

Eagan — The City Council approved a planned‑development amendment and preliminary subdivision on Dec. 3 to permit the Trails and Commons townhome project, part of the larger Thomson Reuters redevelopment.

City Planner Schultz summarized the proposal: 104 townhome units in 24 buildings on about 22 acres, public water and sewer connections via Irene Road, internal looped streets, stormwater ponds and proposed retaining walls to minimize grading and preserve trees. Staff noted the site lies in an airport noise overlay that requires structural noise attenuation and listed requested deviations including cul‑de‑sac length, some reduced setbacks and tree removal mitigation.

The applicant, Lennar, said it reduced unit count from an earlier 134 plan to 104 units to save trees and that the internal roads meet the city's 32‑foot curb‑to‑curb standard (an AutoCAD annotation had shown 30 feet but the developer confirmed the roads are designed to city standards). Staff asked for building elevations and final recreational amenity detail to be provided at final PD review and for mitigation planting to meet code requirements.

Council approved the PD amendment and the preliminary subdivision subject to conditions in the planning record, including final PD submittal requirements, public street widths meeting city standards, tree mitigation and noise attenuation measures consistent with airport overlay rules.

Councilors praised staff, the applicant and partners for advancing the broader redevelopment while noting remaining details to be finalized at the final PD stage.