Agenda - Council - 10/28/1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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delegatable duty - this is Council obligation (zoning). You cannot have zoning laws in non- compliance with the state. There are metropolitan laws that will apply. You cannot have little pocket votes deciding these kinds of issues. This is a taking. This has no rational public purpose. He felt that all developers are not being treated equally - it depends on where the development is. John Peterson, Good Value Homes, respectfully disagreed with going ahead with the comp plan. He wondered how one could plan this City with the current state of land use uncertainty. We do not know if this will hold up in courts. He stated his company has two parcels that have received preliminary plat approval. He would only dare get infrastructure if he has court backing. There is still a risk on his part. He stated they are in a mood to get a court ruling. He felt it's highly unlikely that the persons affected by this will join together in a suit - he felt that there will be a plethora of lawsuits. The monetary damages they have incurred will be substantial. The voters have spoken and now we need to get this resolved. Jake Barthold stated that the damages he would seek would be more than thousands of dollars. Chris Dempsey, 14794 Krypton Court NW, Ramsey, stated that he has spoken against this resolution when he has been permitted to do so. He does not disagree with the concept but he feels this was too restrictive. He hoped the 396 people who voted this in can sleep at night knowing what they have done and the problems they have created. He added that Mr. Hendriksen, author of the petition, even proposed changing the language because his view point was different but the way this is structured, he was unable to do that. We have some significant problems in the City because of the way the system is abused. Councilmember Haas Steffen remarked that state statutes never anticipated tht~t planning and zoning would be done by charter law. This is very unusual. Mr. Dempsey added that this amendment is disastrous to the City and that we will encounter higher taxes because of all the legal costs. Mayor Gamec agreed it's a shame it had to come to this and that the system is being abused. Mr. Dempsey added that the entire focus was done because of the effect of development on two neighborhoods. The City Council performed admirably and gave everyone a chance to speak but their hands were tied. He hoped this would get straightened out and that this type of thing will not happen over and over again. Councilmember Haas Steffen stated she would like a visioning process that's not inhibited by lawsuits. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Haas Steffen, Beahen, Beyer and Zimmerman. VotingNo: None. Mayor Gamec recessed the meeting at 8:49 p.m. Mayor Gamec called the regular meeting of the City Council back to order at 8:58 p.m. I I I I I I I I I I I I I Case #5: Initiate Eminent Domain Proceeding for the Acquisition of Property Required for the C.R, #116 Extension between Ramsey and Armstrong Boulevards (Improvement Project #97-25) City Engineer Jankowski pointed out that Council had selected an alignment for the extension of C.R. #I 16 between C.R. #56 and C.R. #83. The City has the right-of-way to the first half-mile west of C.R. #56, however, it needs to obtain title to the western portion of the alignment which covers three properties and involves the acquisition of 8.2 acres. Staff is asking that Council City CouneildSeptember 23, 1997 Page 12 of 23 I I