Parks Board recommends 6.5 acres and fees for Monarch Mixed‑Use development after floodplain study

Town planning staff briefed the Parks Board on changes to the Monarch Mixed Use Development’s parkland package after a floodplain study altered how much land can count toward the town’s park‑dedication ordinance.

Tyler, staff planner, said the developer will deed the full green area to the town but a portion of that land was identified as floodplain and therefore cannot be counted toward the ordinance’s dry‑land park‑dedication requirement. To address the shortfall, the developer proposed a combination of deeded land and cash‑in‑lieu. The current recommendation presented to the board called for dedication of about 6.03 acres of the southern parkland plus a 0.5‑acre pocket park (combined in board motions as 6.5 acres), $622,480 in cash‑in‑lieu for the remainder and $347,000 in park development fees, with allowances for credits if the developer builds and transfers improvements in the 0.5‑acre pocket park.

Jonathan Kirby, engineer for the applicant, confirmed that the town is receiving the same overall land area as previously discussed but that a portion (approximately 3.86 acres) is now measured as floodplain and therefore triggers the cash‑in‑lieu requirement. Board members sought and received clarification on whether the pocket park would be deeded and how maintenance would be handled; the developer indicated the pocket park would be built and that HOA maintenance/ownership was likely for the pocket park while the larger park parcel would be owned by the town and publicly accessible. The board moved and unanimously passed a recommendation to planning and zoning and town council reflecting the 6.5‑acre dedication, specified cash in lieu and park development fee totals, and language allowing offsets for on‑site improvements to the pocket park.