The council was presented with a petition from Keith Marti to amend the city’s comp plan allowing high-density residential land uses on a property designated for low and medium density residential, with the goal of creating new apartment buildings.

The location for the proposed development is 901 N. Highland Avenue. The property site is 10.2 acres in area and is southeast of the New Ulm High School, northwest of Kids Excel Center and west of Highland Avenue between 8th and 11th N. Streets.

The property is being proposed for development by Steve Kuepers Architects and Builders. The development would involve the construction of four, three-story apartment buildings, eight detached garages along with a pool, children’s playground, dog park, parking lots, storm water pond, and the extension of 10th North Street from North Highland Avenue to the west.

Each building would have 36 apartment units with a mix of one and two-bedroom units, with a total of 144 units on the site.

ScreensA computer generated concept design for the proposed apartment development at 901 N. Highland Avenue. The New Ulm City Council recently approved a comp plan amendment to allow a high density residential land use at the site. The comp plan originally designated the property as low density residential. Submitted photohot

The New Ulm Planning Commission previously reviewed the petition and recommended approval by a 4-0 vote with one abstention during their Feb. 27 meeting.

Community Development Director David Schnobrich recommended amending the comp plan for this purpose. He believed this proposed development would benefit the city.

Schnobrich said New Ulm was unique in terms of land development. The Minnesota River and Cottonwood River limited development on two sides and the airport air safety zones further limited development to the north. He believed the location at N. Highland Avenue was currently one of the best sites for residential expansion within the city.

Schnobrich said the reason the land was designated for low-density development is historical, few high-density developments have occurred in New Ulm. For this reason, staff designated most residential land as medium density with the understanding the city could increase density through an amendment if a project came along that warranted it.

Schnobrich said the city had changed properties to high density before. Recently the city changed the River Haven development project from medium to high density and did the same for the Highland Regency development and the Emerson Union developments.

Before creating the comp plan, the city surveyed 2,400 people about community needs. Housing was cited as a top need for New Ulm with affordable housing as the top housing need followed closely by apartments.

“I think the community recognizes that the need does exist,” Schnobrich said. “I think we all know that the cost of a single-family dwelling is very high.”

The city council did not require any additional convincing to approve the amendment. All were in support of the project.

“I am not sure that any of us need to be convinced that this will be an appropriate use of the property,” Council President Andrea Boettger said.

“This is a great opportunity for more individuals and families to live in the community,” Councilor Tom Schmitz said. “I also like the alignment of the buildings perpendicular to Highland Avenue.”

“It is a wonderful-looking project,” Councilor Larry Mack said. “I am glad they chose New Ulm.”

Councilor David Christian said he liked the project and made the motion to approve the petition changing the land use to high density, with a second from Councilor Eric Warmka. The motion was unanimously approved by the council.

With the amendment to the comp plan, the city will need to approve a planned unit development zoning designation for the site before development can begin.