Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/10/2002

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August 3, 2001 Mr. James E. Norman City Administrator City. of Ramsey 1.5 t53 Nowthen Boulevard NW Ramsey, Minnesota 55303 Subject: Response to the EAW Request on The Ponds Residential Development Project Nowthen Boulevard and St. Francis Boulevard NW (Highway 47) Ramsey, Minnesota ProSource Project No. 01-317 Dear Mr. Norman: Pro$ource Technologies, Inc. (ProSottrce) is pleased to present to you our research on the citizen's request for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) on The Ponds residential development project (Site)' located at Nowthen Boulevard and St. Francis Boulevard NW (Highway 47) in Ramsey, Minnesota. In addition to our letter response, ProSource has conducted a Limited EAW for the Site, which is included as an attachment to this letter. Project Understanding Royal Oaks Realty (Royal Oaks) is proposing to construct "The Ponds" subdivision, consisting of 73 Single- family homes, t52 townhouse units and 82 apartment units, on the Site (Figure 1). As part of the development process, Royal Oaks has requested that the city: 1) rezone the Site from a B-1 BusineSs District and R-1 Residential District to a Planned Unit Development District; 2) approve the preliminary prat; and 3) grant a variance to exceed building height restrictions for the proposed apartment building. As a result of.this request, a citizen petition requesting an EAW' (dated June 24, 2001) was submitted to the Minnesota Planning Environmental Quality Board (EQB). The EAW request was then forwarded by the EQB to the City of Ramsey in a letter dated .rune 27, 2001 for a decision on whether to conduct an EAW for the proposed project: The citizen petition outlined several issues of concern regarding the impacts of this proposed project. The stated issues included: I) effects on wetlands, including a concern that increased lawn runoff from the proposed development could jeopardize the health of the wetlands by altering their pH and nutrient balance and that increases in the volume and/or rate ofrunofffrom the proposed project could cause area flooding; 2) the reduction of' wildlife habitat and the subsequent effects on wildlife utilizing that habitat; and 3) the need for more information regarding how the proposed development will handle waste treatment and how that treatment will affect local water and wildlife. According to the EQB, an EAW provides information to detern'fine whether an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is needed for a project. The EAW' is defined by state statute as a "brief document which is designed to set out the basic facts necessary to determine whether an EIS is required for a proposed action." The purpose of the EAW process is "to disclose information about potential environmental impacts of the project; it is not an approval process." An EAW is required for any project listed in the mandatory