After Five Years, Potential Sartell Apartment Complex Still Awaiting Approval

(KNSI) — Sartell municipal staff are trying to unravel a mystery surrounding a deal originally approved by the city council in July 2017. Rick Schultz purchased a seven-plus acre parcel from the Ferche Family Partnership, contingent on obtaining a Planned Use Development agreement allowing for a four-story apartment building.

Beginning in the fall of 2019 a moratorium on development took effect before Schultz was ready to break ground on his plat. For the next year, Sartell implemented sweeping rezoning as part of a future land use plan update. The parcel was changed to R-3, residential multifamily. Several new rules were put in place, which make Schultz’s initial plans impossible. He says he can’t sell to other developers either.

“And with this new zoning, it’s R-3 zoning. The density changed. So, I had someone who was interested in purchasing it, but they could only get 103 units.”

Schultz says closer to 130 units, along with a different mix, is necessary for profitability.

“A majority of them [the units] would have to be one-bedroom apartments, and you can’t build a property when most of them are one-bedroom apartments — they don’t cash flow.”

Sartell mandates certain lot areas per apartment unit. The changes approved in 2020 require 3,000 square feet for each two-bedroom apartment built. An efficiency unit must have an accompanying lot area of 2,400 square feet. The regulations are meant to limit population density within multifamily complexes. Schultz says the restrictions are causing him to lose money.

“Now the value has changed. Tax statements have gone down and I paid a lot of money for that seven acres. I’m actually losing money on it. If I would have to go under this new R-3 zoning, it changes a lot of stuff.”

Schultz spoke Monday night at the Sartell Planning Commission meeting.

All potentially affected property owners are sent out notices when rezoning is occurring via certified mail. Schultz says he was never aware of the initiative. The planning commission says the original PUD agreement was good for only two years, something Schultz contests.

Sartell staff say they never received a signed, recorded version of the file. Schultz says minutes of the July 2017 council meeting and a video recording should be able to answer any questions about what was approved. The missing documents further complicate the issue, though. Assistant City Administrator Scott Saehr says policy states the developer is responsible to ensure everything is in working order.

“When those documents were prepared and approved by council, it is up to the developer to record those documents, and then a copy of recording is sent back to the city. The city did not receive a recording of that specific parcel.”

Saehr says the Schultz property is not the only instance where the city does not have a copy of the recorded agreement on file. He is in the early stages of drafting a change in procedure to make it less common going forward.

Sartell staff brought the issue before the planning commission Monday to see if they would be open to the idea of allowing a structure that will let Schultz be profitable in his investment. Saehr says the city is always willing to compromise if it is for the good of everyone involved.

“We always try to look at things from a community development perspective, where it relates to our code. And maintaining a healthy balance also with the economic development of our community.”

Schultz was directed to come back with architectural renderings of what he has been envisioning for nearly five years now. It is still an open question on whether he’ll get approval to develop a complex closer to what the original PUD agreement allowed for or something more in line with the municipality’s current regulations.

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