St. Cloud Council Approves 244-Unit Apartment Project on County Road 74

(KNSI) – St. Cloud’s City Council approved plans for 244 apartments along County Road 74 Monday night, clearing the way for The Flats on 74th.

The council voted 6-0 on all five items tied to the project, with Council Member Mark Johnson abstaining because of a conflict of interest. The vote rezones 45.9 acres at 3125 and 3143 County Road 74 from highway commercial to a planned unit development.

The land is owned by Jubilee Worship Center, which will sell a portion to Keepers Development. Plans call for five three-story buildings on roughly 17 acres, along with a rental office, playground, sport court, dog run and 499 parking spaces. The church will stay on its own 8.8-acre lot, and nearly 20 acres near 33rd Street South will be set aside for future commercial development.

Traffic was the only issue raised at Monday’s public hearing by four speakers. Business owner Rick Halloran, who owns 24/7 Fire along the corridor, told the council he watches the road for hours a day and has concerns about increased traffic. “I go up and down that road to my other businesses and personal stuff all the time. It’s a disaster and accidents waiting to happen.”

Community Development Director Matt Glaesman addressed those concerns by walking through the road’s trip numbers. “So here we’re going from 5,000 on the road today at 1,300 over the next three or four or five years, as long as it takes to build out this project. We’re still not at those thresholds for triggering expansion.”

He says the road is built to handle up to 10,000 trips a day.

The approved project includes conditions to protect two environmentally sensitive areas on the site, a cattail marsh pond and an oak woodland. Stormwater from the development cannot be discharged directly into the pond, and a 20-foot buffer must be maintained around both areas.

Under the development agreement, Keepers Development will be responsible for installing public and private infrastructure, along with sewer and water access charges and more than $200,000 in park dedication fees that must be paid before the final plat is recorded.

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