Moving forward on NE area environmental assessment

Talk about it

The city of Woodbury has moved one step closer to figuring out just what to do with a 580-acre chunk of land along the I-94 corridor in east portion of town that could bring additional commercial and retail to the community over the next 20 years.

Last week, city planners met with council members to discuss the latest developments on the “Northeast area.”

Planning staff recently finished conducting an alternative urban area-wide review (AUAR) of the Northeast area.

An AUAR is generally conducted on large areas in advance of development occurring in an area.

On Wednesday, March 11, the city council will vote to authorize distribution of the findings in the AUAR.

For the last two years city staff and contracted workers from Bonestroo and WSB worked on the AUAR to analyze three possible land-use scenarios for the area to determine the environmental impacts mitigation strategies for each of the scenarios.

The possible land-use scenarios for the area are:

• “Business park” scenario — included in city’s comprehensive plan, mostly businesses with some retail and high-density residential

• "Retail” scenario — Favored by some developers; would add almost 300 acres of retail. It also would include office and residential uses.

• “Gateway” scenario — Seventy acres of retail near Cottage Grove Drive and Hudson Road. Would add more park land and open space.

The major environmental concerns identified that required mitigation strategies were traffic, stormwater, topography and open space preservation, a staff report to the council stated.

Upon official distribution of the AUAR, the public has 30 days to comment on the environmental findings.

The council is expected to vote on adoption of the AUAR in April. Once adopted the findings will be included in the city’s 2030 comprehensive plan.

Tags: news, woodbury, business, assessment, auar, scenario, gateway, retail