Plan for $850K-plus Homes Approved for Maple Grove Neighborhood

The Maple Grove City Council recently took action to allow a 33-unit housing development in the southwest part of the city.

The Juniper Hill development by Pulte Homes would build homes south of Elm Road and east of Elm Creek. The homes would be built on lots of roughly 0.25 acres to 0.33 acres in size.

According to Haley Daily-Sievers with Pulte Homes, the new homes are expected to be priced in the range of $850,000 to $950,000.

“These are our largest homes that we currently build, and we actually haven’t built them in a few years,” said Daily-Sievers. “We’re excited to bring this lineup back to the market.”

Previous projects similar to this one include Reserve at Medina, said Daily-Sievers.

Area shaded in green shows site for proposed Juniper Hill housing development.

Traffic Concerns

At the Dec. 15 council meeting, the council took action to allow a rezoning and a planned unit development agreement for the property. While the project received approval, it did come with traffic concerns from neighbors along Elm Road.

Council Member Mike Ostaffe mentioned that nearby residents were led to believe that Elm Road would be a neighborhood road, not a collector street. Ostaffe also raised concerns about traffic speeds.

“That seems concerning especially at the top of that hill where it’s fairly blind. I’ve driven there several times. It’s very narrow,” said Ostaffe.

Chris LaBounty, the city’s public works and engineering director, said traffic calming measures are planned, which include building additional median on Elm Road and constructing a roundabout at the intersection with Dunkirk Lane North.

LaBounty also said Elm Road could handle anticipated traffic volumes, projected to be 4,400 cars a day at full buildout by 2040.

“What’s tricky to the west of this development is that it’s right as we’re getting into the stream area,” said LaBounty. “Elm Road was intentionally tried to kept narrow so we had less environmental impact.”

The project was approved with a 4-1 vote on Dec. 15. Ostaffe was the lone no vote.

Also See: Nearly 80 Single-family Homes Proposed for Northwest Maple Grove

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