Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 04/10/2014

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City of Ramsey 2030 Comprehensive Plan Appendix A: Community Background Parks, Trails and Recreation The 2001 Comprehensive Plan contains a park, recreation and open space chapter. In addition, Ramsey completed a Master Trail Plan in 2004. Figure 3-28 shows the existing and planned parks and trails. Ramsey contains significant natural resources, including the Mississippi River, Rum River and Trott Brook wetlands system. The existing comprehensive plan identifies these many resources and how the park system can be used to protect these natural areas, as well as provide additional recreational opportunities for Ramsey residents. The comprehensive plan identifies the wide variety of parks in Ramsey from the regional Mississippi West and Rum River Central Parks to the local neighborhood parks serving neighborhoods with tot lots and basketball courts. The Ramsey Master Trail Plan was intended to provide a framework to guide the continued development of a trail system for city residents and visitors to use and enjoy. This plan also envisioned making Ramsey the hub of a larger, inter -city trail network. The plan describes proposed improvements to the Ramsey trail system, their costs, and specific design detail. This document will continue to be useful as Ramsey develops its trail system. As the community grows, it will be important to provide additional park and recreational opportunities for new residents. The City will maintain a policy that requires all developers to donate a portion of their land for public parks or open space, or provide cash in lieu of land to upgrade existing park and recreational facilities. The City will determine which combination of land and cash is appropriate for each development at the time of development review. An important part of the Comprehensive Plan Update process will be identifying inconsistencies between the 2001 Comprehensive Plan, the cities current zoning, and conditions as they exist on the ground. At the end of the Comprehensive Plan process, the City will have a consistent vision for the park and trail system built on the previous land use plan and master trail plan that is implemented accurately through the City's zoning ordinance Figure 3-28 shows the inconsistencies in the current situation. The dark green on the map shows planned park as designated by the 2001 land use plan. The light green shows areas of existing park land that are not designated as parks in the 2001 land use plan. Unless the City truly plans to reduce park area, these areas should be covered by the 2001 plan. The hatched areas are zoned as park, but not all parkland zoning corresponds with an existing or planned park. City of Ramsey 2030 Comprehensive Plan Appendix A-43