Council approves Forest Road North Garage PUD and assessment agreement

The Forest Lake City Council unanimously approved a final plat and planned unit development for the Forest Road North Garage and separately authorized an assessment and development agreement on March 26.

Abby, the city planner, told the council the 30-acre proposal from Hallberg Marine would divide the site into a multi-tenant industrial condominium frontage along Forest Road North, garage-style condominium units in the rear and a future contractor’s yard on Out Lot F, with public infrastructure extensions including a water main connection and a tie into the Met Council sewer system. The code required the council to hold a public hearing on the final plat; the council opened the hearing at 6:15 p.m. and, seeing no public speakers, closed it one minute later.

After the brief public hearing, a council member moved to adopt two resolutions and an ordinance to approve the final plat, PUD and rezoning; the motion was seconded and passed without opposition. The council then approved the Forest Road North Garage assessment agreement and development agreement, with minor revisions noted by the city attorney, again by unanimous vote.

Staff said that the roadway improvements to Forest Road North are not being upgraded as part of this application and that an assessment agreement gives the developer time to construct the roadway while allowing the city to plan capital improvements so they are not piecemealed. The developer’s representative, Scott Peterson, was present for questions; none were raised that required changes to the approvals.

The council’s action included adoption of the listed resolutions and ordinance numbers as read into the record and direction to staff to finalize documents in form for signature. The city will publish the finalized documents after the city attorney completes the noted minor edits.