Agenda - Council - 08/28/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-86- Councilmember Hendriksen stated that if there is a multi-story office building and there are some condos on top of the building he would not object to that. What he invisions will happen, and is the reason he is opposed to the mixed use, is that once the property is zoned mixed use and residential is a permitted use there will be large areas carved out for huge apartment buildings because that is what becomes economically viable first. He does not want to allow that potential to occur. Councilmember Kurak stated that a large apartment building has an enormous tax base so inquired if Councilmember Hendriksen was really concerned over tax base or having more people in the City of Ramsey. Councilmember Hendriksen replied that he is concerned over the net tax base because when there are 200 additional families and 300 additional kids in the City that will not make the schools better and the net affect is negative causing a tax increase on every citizen in Ramsey. Mayor Gamec stated that he likes the idea of mixed use, but does not like the idea of having single family in the area or large apartment complexes. He could vision a small townhome development along the outer edge of the site. Councilmember Kurak stated that she has previously suggested placing a cap on the percentage of residential that can be placed on the mixed-use site. She did not see that there would be any way that single family residential would be built on the site and did not see apartment buildings being placed on the site. Mr. Bachan stated that the City he lives in developed everything first on their mixed use site with residential being the last thing constructed and it took 15 years. Councilmember Hendriksen stated that if Mr. Bachan could figure out how to put the wisdom he just explained in writing then they would be making progress. Mr. Bachan explained that what they did in their City was lay out a policy statement of what they wanted to be developed on the site and then established guidelines. Councilmember Hendriksen stated that the residential area should not be coming in and then having the rest of the development try and work around it. In a mixed use area he could accept the primary focus being on commercial/industrial with residential be an auxiliary use, but noted that he still believed that the light industrial east of Ramsey Boulevard needs to continue and take up most of the BMA and Kurak property. Mr. Bachan suggested that the City try and develop a concept and then shop that concept. City Administrator Norman stated that he would like the areas discussed earlier in the meeting to be marketed by the EDA as industrial/commercial. City Council/July 26, 2001 Page 4 of 6 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Ii I