Narrative
4931 West 35th Street • Suite 200 • St. Louis Park • Minnesota •55416 • www.civilsitegroup.com
Matt Pavek, PE • 763-213-3944 Patrick Sarver, PLA • 952-250-2003
Memorandum
TO: Sharmeen Al-Jaff
Senior Planner
City of Chanhassen
FROM: Patrick Sarver, PLA.
Civil Site Group
DATE: 01/28/2020
RE: Moments of Chanhassen, Chanhassen, MN
We are requesting Municipal approvals to construct the Moments of Chanhassen. This one-story, 48 unit,
65,000 GSF building, includes a lower level resident amenity space, look-out units, storage and underground
parking.
Due to the existing site conditions & constraints, including dynamic topography, wetland location, and adjacent
street frontage treatments, a traditional parking and building location, orientation, and setbacks have proven
excessively difficult to achieve without drastically degrading the services and amenities required for this type
of site use. Therefore, we are requesting flexibility in both the parking setback requirement and a reduction in
setback along the smaller wooded wetland, through the use of wetland averaging. Given the unique shape
and location of the wetland we are proposing significant increase in setback from the wetlands and natural
features on both the eastern and western ends of the site to counterbalance the reduction in setbacks at the
center of the site. We are proposing to replace the existing vegetation that is disturbed by our construction
activities with a low/no maintenance area along the entire north side of our site, with the ultimate goal being an
overall enhancement and expansion of the buffer from the highest quality natural wetland features. It is the
intention of the developer/owner and the development team to earnestly engage with the stakeholders for this
site, including City Staff, Riley Purgatory Watershed Staff, and our immediate Lake Ann community, to
enhance, protect, and highlight the phenomenal natural resource that will become our future Moment’s of
Chanhassen home.
To help to mitigate the impacts of these setback modification requests, we are proposing significant
enhancements to the building architecture, landscape improvements and screening. We are proposing
enhanced screening along the south side of the parking lot and building foundation, as well as minimizing
grading along the north side of the building so as to retain as much naturally occurring native plant material as
possible. We also are proposing to reintroduce native/LID (Low Impact Design) plant material, and native plant
restoration to further improve the stormwater runoff into the adjacent wetland areas. We also plan to remove
the invasive impacts from the Buckthorn species that has likely negatively impacted the viability of the natural
vegetation throughout the site.
The Owners/Operators of the Moments of Chanhassen are proud be providing high quality senior care in their
currently operating facility in Lakeville but are equally excited to start construction of their second home on this
premier Chanhassen location in 2020.
Thanks for your consideration and attention on this matter.
Best Regards,
Patrick Sarver, Civil Site Group
Elizabeth Wright, Moments of Chanhassen