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Council gives staff direction on High Point Crossing sketch plan, asks for standards review on rural roads and pipe materials
Summary
Council provided guidance on the High Point Crossing 18-lot residential estate concept: generally supportive of rural-road flexibility and wetlands/ponds on lots with reservations about maintenance; asked staff to draft rural-road standards, study a concrete ribbon edge, and return with public-works feedback on allowing PVC water mains as a city standard.
The Lake Elmo City Council on Tuesday provided nonbinding direction to staff on the High Point Crossing revised concept plan, an approximately 80-acre proposal that would develop roughly 18 residential estate lots with private septic systems and a required roadway connection to Imperial Avenue.
Planning staff and Senior Engineer Jack Griffin told council the resubmitted concept meets many zoning standards but raised three principal engineering concerns: (1) staff recommends an urban road section rather than the developer’s proposed rural section, (2) stormwater pond designs as shown require corrections to meet city standards, and (3) septic drainfield locations will need revision to comply with Washington County and city technical requirements.
Developer Paul Robinson (Rachel Development) said he favors a rural road section to reduce upfront infrastructure costs, wants wetlands and stormwater ponds allowed on private lots as in some previous residential-estate projects, and asked the council to consider allowing PVC for water mains to reduce material costs and schedule delays.
Council members expressed a range of views. Several members signaled openness to providing flexibility for rural sections and private-pond arrangements to keep project costs down and advance the pre-plat process; several others supported requiring a concrete ribbon edge along the pavement to stabilize road shoulders and limit future maintenance costs. Jack Griffin advised that allowing PVC for an individual project would complicate public-works maintenance and spare-parts inventories and recommended that any material change be considered as a citywide design-standard update after departmental review.
Council directed staff to: (1) circle department heads (planning, public works, engineering) to draft or identify rural-road design standards and to clarify expectations for sidewalks, boulevard trees and maintenance; (2) return with recommendations on whether and how to allow PVC as a water-main standard; and (3) provide feedback to the developer before the next application submittal. No formal approvals were made; the discussion was nonbinding direction to staff.
