This item is a continuation of the discussion that occurred at the Planning Commission on August 18, 2026, regarding the proposed Civic Campus and its compliance with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Requested training materials, including the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the Southeast District Plan, are provided under the Planning Commission Training agenda item. The previous staff report, draft memorandum, and PowerPoint are included as attachments for reference. The draft memorandum can be thought of as a template or starting point for the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission can make changes as it deems appropriate.

Additionally, at the August 18, 2026, Planning Commission meeting, two items were discussed by the Commission: residential density within the Mixed-Use portion of the City Hall property and preservation of natural resources associated with the site. Additional context and data is provided below to assist in the Commission's deliberation. 

The anticipated public hearing for bonding for the Civic Campus has been rescheduled to the September 24, 2026, City Council meeting. The 45-day review period for the Planning Commission expires September 27, 2026.

Residential Density / Mixed Use

The original City Hall property consisted of approximately 78.88 acres. Approximately 39 acres in the northern portion of the property are guided Public/Institutional (P/I), while approximately 39 acres in the southern portion were guided Mixed Use.

Development of the southern portion has included the St. Therese senior living campus, City Center Drive, and the adjacent linear park. Approximately 12.89 acres were conveyed for the St. Therese development, encompassing much of the upland and previously farmed portion of the Mixed-Use area. The linear park adjacent to St. Therese encompasses approximately 3.69 acres, with additional acreage utilized for construction of City Center Drive.

The Comprehensive Plan establishes a minimum residential density of eight units per net acre within the Mixed-Use designation, and it is also assumed 50% of the site will develop with residential uses. For general comparison purposes, applying eight units per acre to half of the Mixed-Use portion of the original City Hall property would equate to approximately 156 residential units. This is a conservative comparison because it uses gross acreage and does not exclude wetlands, rights-of-way, parks, or other areas that would typically be removed when calculating net residential density.

With the first and second phases approved in 2026, St. Therese includes 163 residential units at a net residential density of approximately 18.39 units per acre. Additional land also remains available for a potential future residential phase. Preliminary approvals also contemplated memory care and skilled nursing units, although these uses are generally not counted as residential dwelling units for purposes of calculating residential density.

Based on these approvals, the 163 residential units already approved within the Mixed-Use portion of the original property exceed the 156 units anticipated by the Comprehensive Plan assumptions for this 39-acre Mixed-Use area on a gross-acreage basis.

Natural Resources / Woodland Preservation

The current City Hall property contains approximately 57.51 acres, with approximately 39 acres continuing to be guided for Public/Semi-Public. The existing City Hall building and parking area occupy approximately 2.11 acres, while the preliminary Civic Campus concept identifies a project area of approximately 3.67 acres. More than 50 acres, or approximately 90 percent of the current City Hall property, would therefore remain outside of the proposed project area, including Memorial Park and substantial wooded and open-space areas.

The portion of the property proposed for the new civic campus was previously identified as containing a high-quality maple-basswood natural community. The more recent 2026 tree inventory provides additional information regarding the current condition of that woodland and documents substantial existing tree mortality and decline, particularly among green ash. At the same time, portions of the woodland continue to contain healthy trees characteristic of the maple-basswood community.

The 2026 tree inventory evaluated the woodland area of approximately 9.5 acres on the property. Based upon the preliminary project area and information available at this stage of design, approximately two-fifths of the inventoried wooded area could be affected, while approximately three-fifths could remain. The precise number and quality of trees affected will depend upon final site design, grading, utilities, stormwater improvements, and other construction limits. This level of detail is not available at this stage in the project.

As design progresses, there is an opportunity to consider both preservation and restoration of the woodland. Site planning can seek to preserve the strongest remaining portions of the maple-basswood community while opportunities may also exist to remove declining or poor-quality trees and reforest disturbed or degraded areas with a diverse mix of native species characteristic of the maple-basswood community. This would allow consideration of not only the amount of woodland retained, but also the long-term ecological quality and resiliency of the woodland that remains. The Planning Commission could choose to include a finding that preservation of higher-quality portions of the existing woodland and restoration of impacted or degraded areas should be incorporated as the project advances in order to further the natural resource preservation goals of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. 

The Question Before the Planning Commission

The Planning Commission is not being asked to determine whether they support the Civic Campus individually or as a whole, whether the City should make the proposed financial investment, or whether the proposed design or location represents the preferred option based on the information currently available.

The question before the Planning Commission is narrower:

Is the proposed Civic Campus capital improvement in accordance with the City's adopted 2040 Comprehensive Plan?

The Commission's review should therefore focus on the policies, goals, land use guidance, and other applicable provisions of the Comprehensive Plan and whether the proposed capital improvement is consistent with that adopted planning framework.