Laserfiche WebLink
POLICY FOR THE DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS <br />CITY OWNED LAND <br />City of Ramsey, Minnesota <br />SECTION I: PURPOSE <br />To implement a policy for the sale of municipal owned land; including policy background, <br />decision criteria and process. <br />SECTION II: POLICY BACKGROUND: <br />Each year the Ramsey City Council develops, and prioritizes, strategic goals. In 2011, the <br />Ramsey City Council identified the need to develop an inventory of City owned lands as a <br />priority. <br />The objective of developing an inventory of City owned lands was to specifically identify City <br />owned parcels that are underutilized and unneeded for current or future City functions; and, to <br />evaluate which parcels should be considered for disposition. <br />As outlined by the City Council, disposition of underutilized City owned properties has a number <br />of benefits to the community: <br />(1) Reduced City property maintenance costs <br />(2) Reduced City liability <br />(3) Increased base of taxable parcels <br />(4) Reduction of surplus parcels unneeded by the City <br />(5) Reduced City resources needed for management of City owned parcels <br />(6) Reallocation of parcels to fit in line with long term City needs and goals <br />Furthermore, the City Council has determined that the demand for parks is shifting away from <br />small neighborhood pocket parks to larger regional community parks. The cost to maintain a <br />large number of small neighborhood pocket parks can be greater than the cost to maintain a small <br />number of regional community parks. As such, the City Council will consider the consolidation <br />of underutilized pocket parks in favor of larger regional parks. <br />A. INVENTORY FINDINGS, GENERAL <br />The City of Ramsey owns over 250 parcels city-wide. The majority of these parcels are <br />wetlands, existing or planned trails, existing or future right of ways (ROW) and <br />greenways. The remaining parcels are open spaces, existing or planned parks, Ramsey <br />Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) properties, Ramsey Economic <br />Development Authority (EDA) properties and locations of various municipal facilities. <br />36 City owned parcels have been identified by staff as underutilized, potentially <br />developable and unneeded for current or future City functions. Of the 36 total properties, <br />24 properties were found to be legally dedicated/ restricted and eight (8) properties were <br />