Environmental Assessment June 1989

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Under the Ordinance, the existing landfill would be allowed to continue operations until it reached its permitted capacity as of the date the Ordinance was adopted. Any expansion or new landfill would be prohibited by the Airport Zoning Ordinance. The City of Ramsey has steadfastly expressed its opposition to the new landfill based upon the express conflicts with the County's own siting program outline and Metropolitan Council, State and Federal policies, regulations and guidelines. It can be expected that the City will take appropriate action to assure future land use compatibility, and to protect any public investment in the improved airport facility. Zone B Safety Zoning Another major land use and potential economic impact which could be attributed to the airport was a result of airport zoning. Specifically, the concern regards the Zone B restrictions on existing residential areas in the north approach. The zoning ordinance provides for minimum lot sizes of 2.5 acres in Zone B, while the existing residential development is primarily developed at one acre lot sizes. Since these homes were developed prior to adoption of the zoning ordinance, they were exempt from this provision. Homeowners had been encouraged by the City in the past to build on one side of their lot (Figure 2-8) so that in the event sewer and water were extended, the lots could then be subdivided. Under the airport zoning ordinance, however, the lots could no longer be subdivided thus creating a potential significant impact to homeowners potentially facing large sewer and water assessments on property which could not be sub -divided. The City Council recognized this problem and passed a separate policy statement which remedied this inequity prior to adoption of the airport zoning ordinance. In essence, if and when sewer and water is provided to the residential area and the lots cannot be subdivided due to the airport, those lots will be treated as single units for purposes of assessment. Not only did this resolve a potential land use conflict, but it enables the owners of property in situations where a home would be put on the market to assure potential buyers that they would not be faced with disproportionately large assessments. 2.3 WILDLIFE AND VEGETATION The airport site lies in the Anoka Sand Plain. Historically, this area was dominated by an Oak Savanna cover until disturbed by agriculture. Currently, none of the project area is used for agricultural purposes and the vegetation on site has evolved to a predominant bluegrass, quack, and brome grass mix with scattered 2-20