Agenda - Council Work Session - 01/11/2011

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Facilities: A high priority goal for the City of Ramsey is access to the many miles of river that run along our border. We are extremely fortunate to be bordered by the Mississippi River as well as the Rum River. Our Parks Staff has been working diligently, along with the Anoka County Parks Staff, to develop public access so our residents, and residents of the region, can experience firsthand these important resources. We ask that the draft rules do not impede our ability to develop such access in the limited few areas we still have an opportunity to do so. Other high - priority projects for Ramsey include the development of the Mississippi West Regional Park and the Mississippi River Trail (MRT). As it relates to right -of -way maintenance, it is imperative that we be able to enforce our ordinances related to long grass and vision clearance triangles. These are not only important from an aesthetic standpoint, but from a safety standpoint as well. We also support Anoka County's response to the initial draft rules. We find it important to be able to develop regional parks, which will help permanently protect valuable open space along the corridor, and to continue to plan for desperately needed transportation improvements within the corridor. We find it difficult to support a standard that makes an important river crossing subject to approval of the Commissioner of the DNR. The update to the rules should acknowledge corridors that have already been identified and should not impede the ability of these crossing to occur. We would like to see additional clarification on what is determined as `reasonable and consistent'. Subdivisions and Planned Unit Developments: The City is willing to explore the use of conservation subdivisions. However, we find the requirement for 50% dedicated public open space excessive compared to other districts. The City is unable to accept additional maintenance and monitoring obligations for these areas. The City would like to work with the DNR to develop Conservation Subdivision standards separate from our existing PUD standards that includes a lower dedication requirement that is focused on higher priority areas. As stated previously, we would like to explore credit for areas guided for parks /open space within our Comprehensive Plan. As previously stated, the City understands the importance of this critical natural and cultural resource and it is an extremely important piece of our community. The City wishes to provide adequate protections that balance private property rights. Cities have come a long way in managing urban growth since the Executive Order was established. We continue to pride ourselves of our blend of urban and rural character and pride ourselves on a high quality of storm water management. We understand the need for consistency across jurisdictions, but want to ensure that the state rules are indeed the minimum standards necessary in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our region and the Mississippi River. The City of Ramsey feels that there is still a need for room for local units of government to manage their land use and zoning appropriately, as we are those that are most familiar with the local needs of the area. In summary, a majority of our concerns are with areas guided as CA -2 and potential conflict with our approved Comprehensive Plan. In addition, we feel that this designation has too many standards that are much more restrictive than the remaining districts. If the intent truly is to have consistency across the corridor, then the CA -2 designation requires much revising. Please feel free to contact Tim Gladhill, Associate Planner and MRCCA Working Group member with additional questions or clarification. Sincerely,