Woodbury City Council — Transcript
Monday, May 4, 2026
Cottage Grove Drive Master Plan Project 2025-0000604
Housing Attainability and Diversity Strategies
Regional Storm Water Management and Environmental Preservation
Votes (1)
Cottage Grove Drive Master Plan Project 2025-0000604
Dissent: None
Moved by John Colum [01:03:00] · Seconded by Rion Hole [01:03:02]
The Planning Commission reviewed the Cottage Grove Drive Master Plan, a high-level guidance document for a 370-acre development. Staff presented on regional storm water management (due to Karst topography), housing diversity goals (50/50 single family/townhome split, with flexibility for smaller lots and a price cap incentive), park and greenway opportunities, and street improvements. Discussions included funding for regional amenities, preservation of woodlands through easements, potential public safety facility needs in Southeast Woodbury, and the implementation challenges and market implications of the proposed attainable housing price cap. Several commissioners expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the price cap as an incentive for developers without direct construction cost support.
Notable Quotes (6)
The intent of the plan is to document existing conditions, provide guidance on lot and home types, roadway design and access management, storm water management approach, parks and open space and pedestrian movements.
A guiding principle within the comprehensive plan is to provide a variety of housing for all incomes and age levels within the city. Further, the city has a commitment to providing a mix of housing generally 50/50 between single family and town home or attainable small lot homes.
Our recommendation right now would be to to aim for between 110 and 120. And that's that's sale price for your reference. So that's the 445 to 490 on the screen, but not putting those numbers in the report to to give some flexibility as the market and AMI might fluctuate.
We've been hearing that from the market for over a decade and we have continued to reduce the lot widths. We've continued to reduce a lot widths as we move into new development areas and what we have not seen as tangibly is a reduction in the price of the home.
I think if you're going to attempt to do this, you have to have a cap. You have to have some kind of affordability requirement linked to it because if you just let the mark market dictate it, you are not going to get affordable units.
I think the incentives that we're offering are probably not strong enough to make a developer in today's environment say I want to build a 45 ft lot in that area. So I think as a city and as a staff, we probably ought to rethink that incentive structure if we if we really want to deliver that housing stock to the community.
Ordinances & Resolutions (7)
Project number for the Cottage Grove Drive master plan.
City Council directive adopted in December 2024, providing guidance on when master plans are required.
The guiding document for the city's development, frequently referenced for goals like housing diversity and park establishment.
Planned Unit Development; mechanism for memorializing price caps and for future development applications in compliance with the master plan.
Roadway improvements for Dale Road (Woodbury Drive to Cottage Grove Drive) are scheduled for 2028 as part of this plan.
Document provided to the Planning Commission for review, frequently referenced during the discussion.
Figure in the comprehensive plan related to subsurface sewage treatment systems.