Agenda - Council - 10/22/2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Response to Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Rulemaking Project (2013) City of Ramsey, October 11, 2013 Statement of Purpose This document is a preliminary response to the current set of draft rules forthe Critical Area. This is not a formal Statement of Policy and has not been adopted by the Ramsey City Council. Ramsey City Staff is forwarding this document in order to submit comments by the October 11, 2013 deadline. Ramsey Staff would like to thank the DNR for its previous support in our special legislation efforts in removingoverlapping regulations, as we were previously both in the Critical Area as well as the Wildand Scenic Overlay. The removal of the overlap will help immensely in the administration of our ordinances while still focusing on appropriate regulations to protect the corridor. Additionally, Ramsey Staff sees benefit to the tiered district approach, as this appears to have the potential of eliminating certain non - conformities for non -riparian Tots within the Critical Area, butsaid process should still not createtheresult of substantial non-conformi ngstructures in othercommunities within the corridor. RamseyStaffalsosees the benefitof updatingthe administrative portions to match current business practices and recen t legal decisions related to the Critical Area. The following is a brief history of the City of Ramsey's participation in the rulemaking process for the Critical Area. 2009 Process The City did participate and provide comment to the technical aspects of the rulemaking process commenced in 2009. We hope that our comments from that process will be used in the process commenced in 2013. August 13, 2013 City Council Review On August 13, 2013, the Ramsey City Council met to discuss the current rulemaking process. City Staff provided the current materials provided bythe DNR and the proposed schedule. The City Council did not discuss specific standards nor overarching policy. The City Council did direct City Staff to prepare a collaborative public process to involve residents and stakeholders early in the policy and standards development process instead of reactingto a set of draft rules prepared by the DNR. This collaborative process was held on September 16, 2013. Details of the process are included below. September 16, 2013 Ramsey Collaborative Process On September 16, 2013, the City of Ramsey did host a collaborative process with its residents to discuss opportunities and barriers related to the rulemaking process. A copy of the invite to the collaborative process is attached to this memo as Exhibit A. The City posed the question as: • What key resources do you feel the City and the State of Minnesota should protect through updated standards, if any?