PUD Rezoning RequestPUD Rezoning Request
I am asking the City of Chanhassen to consider rezoning our property located at 1601 Lake
Lucy Road, to Planned Unit Development - Residential. The property itself is unique, primarily
because it is an island. A road and bridge were constructed out to the island approximately 22
years ago. For several years my wife and I have been looking for a larger parcel of land to build
a home. A primary reason for that was so we could build a living space nearby for my mother
who is now 86 years old. The island was a perfect opportunity for us to build living quarters
near but still allow my mother to keep her independence.
In the fall of 2018, we set out to design a home that would achieve all of these goals by creating
essentially two living structures combined by a tunnel or skyway. Unfortunately, every option
we explored led to a dead end. The island is an amazing piece of geography - beautiful in every
way, but it also provides many home building challenges to overcome. After trying to “piece
together the puzzle” for a year, we paused our design plans as we were temporarily exhausted
from running into blockers. After consulting with our architect, we realized that the opportunity
to create two separate living structures on the 8 acre parcel (not including the driveway down to
the island) dramatically simplifies many aspects of the design and build. To accomplish this
goal, we needed some flexibility of ordinances. This is the reason we are requesting a rezoning
of the island to Planned Unit Development - Residential. This zoning category allows flexibility,
but in turn requires high design standards. I hope to demonstrate that we intend to meet the
higher standards.
We have included several documents to add some additional context to the application and
address some known concerns in your consideration. Included are:
A composite map showing all of the highlighted features together.
A map showing a preliminary design of the two living structures and accessory building and the
total buildable area.
A map showing proposed (but optional) water preservation areas.
A map showing no water preservation areas.
A map showing the total grading limits without the water preservation areas.
A map showing the total grading limits with the water preservation areas.
A map showing the total hard surfaces for the plan and the septic system and drainfield area.
A Site Information summary showing critical square footage elements and calculations of these
designs.
A septic system drainfield sizing analysis by a licensed septic designer.
The natural beauty of the island is undeniable, but in 2018 it was deep into the cycle of being
overtaken by an invasive species - buckthorn. Shortly after purchasing the property, we worked
with Jill Sinclair to get direction on removing the buckthorn. This was no simple matter. This
invasive species was quite literally taking over the island and muscling out other native trees
and plants. We hired one of the specialists Jill recommended and cut, treated and removed an
astonishing amount of buckthorn. That effort returned the island to it’s natural balance. In our
plans to build we intend to preserve that beauty in every way possible.
We are planning to build “green” structures using solar for power, geothermal for
heating/cooling, green roofs on parts of the structures, highly efficient building designs, rain
water harvesting for watering the lawn and vegetation and various other plans to minimize our
impact on the environment. Furthermore, as we get deeper into the design process, we plan to
engage a civil engineer to assist with both a grading and erosion control plan to introduce the
appropriate amount of water management located near the driveways to account for any run-off
towards the lake including french drains, rain garden, etc. Given the majority of the current bluff
conditions (mainly exposed soli), we propose addressing any susceptible bluff areas with native
plantings to help mitigate potential erosion.
Obviously, in the building process we will be impacting the island and vegetation, but the bulk of
the tree removal will be on the interior of the island and the driveways on the island are
designed to be appropriately narrow for the tree canopy to grow over. The bluff areas and
shorelines will not be affected in terms of tree and canopy coverage. The grading limits and
calculations have been provided in the accompanying documents. Additionally, we have
ordered a tree survey from an expert (again recommended by Jill - thank you Jill!) and will make
it available as soon as it is complete.
A few weeks ago, I was able to walk the island with the Fire Chief, Don Johnson. Don shared
his concerns and recommendations. One concern he shared was the ability for the larger fire
trucks to navigate the island and have the ability to turn around. Since then, we have updated
our plans to allow for turn around areas for the fire trucks. Don also recommended we design
the living structures with fire suppression sprinkler systems. We plan to incorporate this into our
designs going forward.
Lastly, we hired a licensed septic designer (sourced from the approved contractor list on the
Carver County website) to do some preliminary calculations to ensure we have enough area for
the septic system and primary and secondary drain fields. The architectural drawings allow for
12,984 square feet for the septic system while his calculations call for only 11,000 square feet.
Thank you for your consideration.
John Wicka