Council approves Limerick Village PUD and preliminary plat, defers small trail segment with escrow

The Lake Elmo City Council on July 21 adopted an ordinance rezoning roughly 80 acres for the Limerick Village planned-unit development and approved the project's preliminary plat with conditions, while agreeing to defer construction of a short trail segment on 5th Street North in exchange for an escrow from the developer.

Planning staff told the council the project, proposed by Maplewood Development, would create a mix of single-family homes, townhomes and multifamily buildings across medium- and high-density areas and include roughly nine acres of public parkland plus stormwater infiltration areas. Staff recommended approval with a dozen standard and site-specific conditions, including realignment of Hudson Boulevard, off-site utility easements, stormwater reuse in project plans and a finalized access plan for the adjacent Screton family property.

Mario Cucheral, owner of Maplewood Development, said the design reflects Met Council density requirements and market realities and that the team planned to keep the existing Hudson Road in service during construction. He said the developer expects to construct phase‑one streets, utilities and the single-family and attached townhome areas first and would address multifamily buildings in later phases.

A major point of contention was a drainage and stormwater swale near the Screton family's bin site that staff and the developer said makes it difficult to build the 10-foot north-side trail in that short corridor without substantial design changes. Warren Tracy, the developer’s project engineer, said the swale intercepts large off-site flows and that building the trail now would either require moving the swale or constructing a costly boardwalk; the developer proposed deferring that short trail section until the neighboring parcel develops and offering an escrow to fund future construction.

Planning staff recommended adhering to the city’s 5th Street design standards, but acknowledged the proposed interim access had county and stakeholder support. Council members weighed the risk of deferring the trail against the public benefits the development would deliver — notably a Hudson Boulevard realignment and extensive new construction of 5th Street segments. Several council members said the overall public value justified allowing a narrowly tailored exception if staff could secure a binding escrow and technical review.

The council adopted ordinance 2026-10 (rezoning and PUD standards) and, by separate action, passed resolution 2026-053 approving the preliminary plat and PUD with the staff findings and conditions and with the amendment that the developer may defer the specific north‑side trail segment that conflicts with the proposed stormwater swale. The resolution requires the developer to provide an escrow amount to be determined by staff to ensure the city has funds to construct the trail if needed in the future.

The council’s action preserves staff’s ability to demand compliance with other 5th Street standards and leaves several technical steps — stormwater swale validation, access permits with Washington County, and final trail design — to staff review and later plat-stage approvals. The planning commission held a public hearing June 8 and unanimously recommended support; staff noted no public comments had been received during that commission process.