| 1/12/2009 3:16:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Mendota Plaza hinges on housing
Danielle Cabot
Review Staff
The details of a proposed 100-unit housing development to accompany future upscale retail shopping at Mendota Plaza on Dodd Road and Highway 110 remain too vague for the Mendota Heights City Council.
"I think you're trying to get us to approve something with a third of it ill-defined, and I'm not going to vote for it," said Council Member Jack Vitelli.
The council and members of the planning commission reviewed developers' plans for Mendota Plaza one more time before preliminary permits are scheduled to be approved or denied Jan. 20.
The 20-acre proposal encompasses greenway, trails, brick architecture, decorative lighting, fountains, and boulevard-like landscaping to accompany shopping and eventually a daycare and housing.
Staff reviewed a list of council and commission concerns that have been raised through the development process, ranging from traffic patterns to paint colors. For the most part, developers have come through in meeting the city's desires, but sticking points remain.
Developer Ken Henk of Paster Enterprises described their plan to provide four stories of senior housing with varying levels of services along with drawings of different ways the building could be designed.
However, Mayor John Huber said that there is not enough detail in the information to stand on in the future if the plans were to change.
Adding another dimension to the debate, resident Louise Lentz addressed the council on behalf of Isaiah, a faith-based advocacy group for affordable housing. Lentz said from the faith-based perspective, "It is part of our belief that we are our brother's keeper" and developing affordable housing on the site is a way to put "legs" on that belief.
She added that correcting a housing gap is important for the area to become economically successful. Affordable housing at Hillside Gables Townhomes in Mendota Heights has a waiting list of 690 families according to the Community Development Agency, pointing to a need for more, Lentz said.
Henk said that it was premature to be setting price points for the proposed senior-housing units, as well as their final design, and suggested it was unfair to be throwing affordable-housing demands into the conversation at this time.
Council members noted that affordable housing likely could not be constructed with the balconies, chimneys and roofscapes they have indicated are necessary for approval, and were not clear on what would qualify as affordable housing. Lentz said that homes up to $215,000 would qualify based on a percentage of the area's median income set by the Met Council, and rentals between $700-$1,000 a month would be deemed affordable by Metropolitan Council. Standards set by the Community Development Agency would be much lower.
The council seems uninterested in compromising the look of the units, and said they were a bit skittish about a fourth story. Council Member Ultan Duggan described the building as a potential "significant presence on the property" that should be designed with care. "It should be attractive. It should be appealing," he said.
Another sticking point, or rather a line drawn in the sand, was a third pylon sign on the property. Members of the council adamantly refused to approve a third lofty sign in the sky, and suggested developers swap in a monument style, low-profile sign instead.
Doug Hennes of the planning commission commented on the large gap between the where the council and developers stand on the housing units, but was positive about the ground covered on the rest of the Plaza.
If developers are able to satisfy the council's concerns at the Jan. 20 meeting to receive preliminary permits, they would be on schedule to break ground in the spring.
If the request is denied, the developers must ask for an extension or wait six months before making another request. An extension already granted by the council expires Feb. 1.
Danielle Cabot can be reached at southwest@lillienews.com or 651-748-7815.
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