Agenda - Planning Commission - 05/02/2013

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Regular Planning Commission 5. 4. Meeting Date: 05/02/2013 By: Tim Gladhill, Community Development Information Title: FOR DISCUSSION ONLY: Receive Update on Former Municipal Center Land Use Open House Background: On April 18, 2013, the City hosted an Open House to discuss potential future land uses for the former municipal center located at 15153 Nowthen Boulevard NW. It is important to note that the City does not have any current development proposal nor Zoning Amendment under review; this process was an attempt to be proactive in advance of potential official requests. Two potential land uses were presented to analyze compatibility with the surrounding development. The concepts included a 47 lot single-family development and a data center. Based on the preliminary analysis of that Open House, the clear preference focused on the single-family concept. For simplicity, the Open House focused on zoning tools. It is acknowledged with any future development, an Comprehensive Plan Amendment will also likely be necessary. A more in depth summary is provided in the Observations section below. The findings and comments of the Open House are attached to this case. In September, 2006, the City moved City Hall, the Police Department, and Fire Administration functions to the current Ramsey Municipal Center at 7550 Sunwood Drive NW. Prior to that date, City Hall, the Police Department, and Fire Station #2 operated from the now former municipal center located at 15153 Nowthen Boulevard NW. At that time, Fire Administration was located at Fire Station #1 located 15050 Armstrong Boulevard NW. Fire Station #2 still currently operates at the former municipal center. Since the decision to relocate the Ramsey Municipal Center to its current location, the City has been reviewing acceptable land uses. As several ideas have been suggested for acceptable future land uses, the City Council directed Staff to host an Open House focused on acceptable land uses as a way to pro -actively engage the surrounding Property Owners prior to any development proposal coming forward for City review. In addition, two (2) important events occurred in in 2011 and 2012 that assisted in framing the format of the Open House. As part of the 2011 City Council Strategic Plan, one (1) goal and implementation strategy was to perform an inventory of all City -Owned land and its ultimate disposition, if any. This process was completed over several months between 2011 and 2012. The former municipal center was identified as a parcel that the City Council desired to sell for future development of some type. At that time, several ideas for future land uses were discussed, but discussion focused on a single-family development. In addition, the City Council was approached by Connexus Energy in 2012 in regards to areas eligible for development of a data center. According to Connexus Energy, the former municipal center presented itself as an ideal location due to many factors that are generally accepted as best practices in siting such a facility. These factors include, but not limited to its proximity to redundant fiber-optic, redundant electrical service as well as separation from railroads and rivers. Given the two (2) concepts that have been most recently discussed, the City Council felt that it was important to pro -actively engage the surrounding community to discuss each concept's compatibility with the surrounding development. Notification: No notification is required. Staff attempted to notify surrounding Property Owners via Standard US Mail of the Open House held on April 18, 2013. A notification was also placed on the City's website.