Developer seeks pre‑application feedback for 14‑home subdivision at 5600 Vagabond Lane

City staff and a developer presented a pre‑application sketch Jan. 7 for a potential 14‑lot subdivision at 5600 Vagabond Lane in Ward 1, and commissioners provided advisory feedback but took no formal action.

Sean Brill, the staff presenter, said the parcel is just under 5 acres, guided LA1 and currently zoned FRD; staff described a concept plan showing a public street with a cul‑de‑sac and 14 lots and noted the next steps—rezoning to RSF 3 and preliminary platting—if the owner moves forward. Brill flagged safety and connectivity concerns: the city's access‑spacing guideline for Troy Lane is about 660 feet and, under the sketch, the new intersection would sit roughly 285 feet north of one intersection and about 165 feet south of another.

"So again is the request for a pre application sketch review. It would be for 14 new homes," Brill told the commission. He also said utilities would be city water and sanitary sewer and that staff viewed the review as advisory; no vote was taken.

Developer Ben Schmidt (Twin Cities Land Development) described past efforts to assemble neighboring parcels for a master plan and said constraints from private roads and unwilling parcel owners prevented that approach. He said the proposed product would be similar to nearby Carlson Ridge—two‑story detached homes—and gave a price expectation in the high hundreds of thousands. Schmidt said Lot 7 in the sketch is drawn to avoid affecting the existing private road easement.

Neighbors who spoke raised safety and fairness concerns. Property owner Deborah Larson said the city previously declined to include her parcel in Carlson Ridge and said the city had not always applied spacing guidance consistently. Rena Sugarbaker, who lives across from the site, asked the commission to "consider the risks" to students who wait at a nearby bus stop and said limited sight distance and lack of sidewalks make a new, closely spaced intersection risky. Resident Paul Schulmesters noted a legal history around the private easement and warned the easement can be altered only by unanimous consent of the 15 owners.

Commissioners discussed whether the sketch constitutes a "premature subdivision" under section 508.01 of the city code. Staff noted courts have found that treating access spacing as an absolute bar on redevelopment risks a taking, so the commission must balance safety and property‑access rights. Commissioners offered mixed views: some described the developer's plan as a reasonable piecemeal approach; others warned piecemeal approvals could lead to inefficient street layout and repeated exceptions to spacing guidance.

Chair Booth said the feedback would be forwarded to the City Council for a similar sketch review, tentatively on Jan. 27. The meeting record shows no final decision or formal city action on the sketch tonight.