Shakopee council says "yes" to residential in Canterbury Commons

Shakopee Valley News

The Shakopee City Council voted 4-1 tonight to pave the way for an up to $400 million Canterbury Commons project to be built near Canterbury Park.

They did so by approving a comprehensive plan amendment tied to the redevelopment project.

The vote was literally met with applause.

The amendment, which required a super-majority vote (four out of five council votes), allows high-density residential to not exceed 10 percent of the area in the zoning around Canterbury Park.

Councilor Matt Lehman dissented. Councilor Mike Luce, who was believed to be the swing vote, voted in favor of the amendment after saying Dec. 1 he was finding it "almost impossible" to vote yes due to a lack of information from city officials.

"Originally I did want to tear this apart, and I tried hard," Luce said. "I didn't find fault with this."

Luce said in a written statement that there are issues with the project, such as increased congestion, but that voting no would make developers look at Shakopee as a "closed city."

"A very big negative for me, personally, would be that if I voted no, developers could and most likely would look at Shakopee as a closed city — closed to new development — and they would remove our city from their future development plans for the foreseeable future," Luce wrote. "I am unwilling to bring that amount of negativity to our city over some personal differences."

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the amendment on Dec. 7.

Comprehensive plan amendments are used when the original zoning ordinance is in error, significant changes in community goals and policies take place, significant changes take place city-wide or in neighborhood development, or when the comprehensive plan requires a different provision, according to a council memo.

"It's not the 80s anymore," Mayor Bill Mars said. "It's 2017. People want to be next to the action, where years ago it was 'no.' I believe it is time to unlock Canterbury's full potential for the betterment of our community."

The residential portion is part of Canterbury Commons' overall "work, stay, live, play" vision. It will consist of a luxury apartment complex, upscale townhomes and a senior housing co-op.

"Adding any type of rental property, to me, is a good thing," Councilor Jay Whiting said.

Though it wasn't a public meeting, the council allowed some residents to speak in regards to the project. Only one resident spoke against the amendment.

"I'm actually very concerned about the density of the project itself," Shakopee resident Jordan Olson said. "We're talking about people stacked on top of people stacked on top of people."

Shakopee resident Kayden Fox said the project is in line with the city's values.

"We need to accommodate change," Fox said. "These improvements have to be made in that area. Let's do it while we're doing this."

Canterbury Park staff has tried to develop the land since 2008. Canterbury Park President and CEO Randy Sampson said during a presentation on Dec. 14 that if the amendment didn't pass, the residential portion would still move forward, but would be delayed.

"We will come back and we will continue to move this forward," Sampson said. "There has to be residential. We do believe there could be some other options available to keep the project moving. There would be a delay, there's no doubt about that."

Now that the comprehensive plan amendment has passed, construction would begin in the third quarter of 2018 depending on the remaining votes, according to a news release.

"Canterbury Commons is an exciting project that will build our tax base, provide new housing options and add high-wage jobs to our community," Mars said in the release.

Canterbury Park staff will bring a preliminary plat to the council in January and a TIF district proposal in March or April. The TIF would pay for public infrastructure necessary for the project.

"The comprehensive plan amendment is the first step in what will be a very transparent approval process for Canterbury Commons," Sampson said in the release.

Sampson has said the project will generate an additional $6 million in property tax revenue and is expected to draw $300 million to $400 million in private investment.

Luce said his conversations, mainly with the developers, Sampson and Angie Whitcomb, president of the Shakopee Chamber & Visitors Bureau, helped him get to a "yes" vote.

"I can only hope that with the number of votes remaining to be taken in order to fulfill the city's requirement for this development to move forward that the entire council will be able to have greater dialogue and find amicable outcomes," Luce said. "Amicable dialogue is what brought me to my decision to vote yes."

Luce and other city officials have frequently clashed; in April, the council censured Luce, saying he overstepped his authority and misrepresented the city.