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Metro Cities recognizes that there is merit in aligning comprehensive plan timelines with <br />the release of census data. However, the comprehensive plan process is expensive, time <br />consuming, and labor intensive for cities, and the timing for the submission of <br />comprehensive plans should not be altered solely to better align with census data. If <br />sufficient valid reasons exist for the schedule for the next round of comprehensive plans to <br />be changed or expedited, cities should be provided with financial resources to assist them <br />in preparing the next round of plans. Metro Cities encourages the Council to review its <br />comprehensive planning process to make sure that the process is streamlined and efficient, <br />so as to assist in alleviating excessive cost burdens or duplicative or unnecessary planning <br />requirements by municipalities in the comprehensive planning process. <br />Metro Cities supports a 10 -year time frame for comprehensive plan submissions. <br />IV -J Natural Resource Protection <br />,. <br />Metro Cities supports the Metropolitan Council's efforts to compile and maintain an <br />inventory and assessment of regionally significant natural resources for the purpose of <br />providing local communities with additional information and technical assistance. The <br />state has a significant role to play in the protection of natural resources. However, any <br />additional steps taken by the state or the Metropolitan Council regarding the protection of <br />natural resources must recognize that: <br />The protection of natural resources is significant to a multi - county area that is home to <br />more than 50 percent of the state's population and a travel destination for many more. <br />Given the limited availability of resources and the artificial nature of the metropolitan <br />area's borders, neither the region nor individual metropolitan communities would be <br />well served by assuming primary responsibility for financing and protecting these <br />resources. Metro Cities urges the state and /or the Metropolitan Council to provide <br />financial assistance for the preservation of regionally significant natural resources. <br />■ The completion of local Natural Resource Inventories and Assessments (NRI /A) is not a <br />regional system nor is it a required component of local comprehensive plans under the <br />Metropolitan Land Use Planning Act. <br />■ The protection of natural resources will have to be balanced with the need to <br />accommodate growth and development, reinvest in established communities, <br />encourage more affordable housing and provide transportation and transit connections. <br />■ Decisions about the zoning or land -use designations either within or outside a public <br />park, nature preserve or other protected area are, and should remain, the responsibility <br />of local units of government <br />30 Metro Cities <br />