Agenda - Council Work Session - 10/29/2013

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DRAFT Statement of Policy Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA/Critical Area) [October 29, 2013] Statement of Purpose This document is a Statement of Policy and has been adopted by the Ramsey City Council after review by the Environmental Policy Board (EPB) and Planning Commission. This is a preliminary policy. The City will follow up with a detailed policy upon review of the final Draft Standards document. The City of Ramsey would like to thank the DNR for its previous support in our special legislation efforts in removing overlapping regulations, as we were previously both in the Critical Area as well as the Wild and Scenic Overlay. The focus on the Critical Area will help immensely in the administration of our ordinances while still focusing on appropriate regulations to protect the corridor. History The following is a brief history of the City of Ramsey's participation in the rulemaking process for the Critical Area. 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. On September 16, 2013, the City of Ramsey hosted a collaborative process with its residents to discuss opportunities and barriers related to the rulemaking process. The intent of this process was to involve residents and stakeholders early in the policy and standards development process rather than reacting to a set of draft rules prepared by the DNR. 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? • What types of standards (i.e. setbacks, limits on impervious [hard] surface, limits on vegetative removal) would you feel important for the City to protect through administration of additional land use controls, if any? • What general questions or concerns regarding the Critical Area would you like to discuss with the DNR? This was a higher level policy discussion. The City did not review the draft rules line by line, but the draft rules were available to discuss as needed. The City did not prepare the agenda; the topics were chosen by the participants of the collaborative process. As part of the City of Ramsey's 2013 Strategic Plan, the City identified 'Transparency' as a core value for the organization. With that in mind, the City Project Webpage www.cityoframsey.com/shoreland Project Contact Tim Gladhill Development Services Manager 763-576-4308 tgladhill@cityoframsey.com City of DRAFT Statement of Policy — Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (10/29/13)