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Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated there are mitigation techniques such as <br />addressing the architectural facade, articulations in the building elevation, and landscape <br />plantings to address that concern. <br />Mayor Strommen asked to what extent the Council dictates whether it is one building, two <br />buildings, or to let the market dictate. She asked whether the Council would indicate its <br />preference but if the market moves in the other direction, it would be acceptable. <br />Councilmember LeTourneau asked if there is a level of confidence that all the mitigation factors <br />are scalable. If so, the Council wants a market- driven community and that information will be <br />discovered over the next year or two when the marketability of this property comes to light. <br />Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated those are great points and relevant. He <br />explained the City has the discretion to choose the use on the property and the OMC Study <br />Group had considered three different concepts (one user, two users, residential user) noting there <br />was strong opposition to a one user concept. Staff would recommend not locking into one, two, <br />or three users at this time and to instead simply identify setback areas and keep in mind the <br />information that was brought forward on the mitigation request. Assistant to the City <br />Administrator Brama stated the guiding principles can be used when a proposal is received. He <br />advised it appears there is more market for several buildings than for Concept 1. <br />Mayor Strommen noted the Council is being asked whether to consider a Comprehensive Plan <br />Amendment with an Overlay District so it could be residential or a data center if the Overlay is <br />used. She stated the Findings Report will provide guidance to the end user if they are interested <br />in this property. <br />Assistant to the City Administrator Brama stated, in general, that is a fair characterization. He <br />stated there are two paths occurring at the same time, the Comprehensive Plan Amendment to <br />guide the use of the site and once that is completed, a Zoning Amendment that would include <br />many mitigation techniques and restrictions. <br />Development Services Manager Gladhill stated the Comprehensive Plan opens the use to this <br />land and the Zoning Amendment will set minimum baselines in how the building can look and <br />standards to drive protection for the residents, including Building Design Standards. <br />Mayor Strommen stated the next decision means the property will be opened to either a <br />residential option or a data center option. Then the following step (Zoning Amendment) will lay <br />out the specifics for the use. At that point, the City will wait to see what the market brings. <br />Councilmember LeTourneau stated from the perspective of a potential data center user, <br />ordinances acts as tools but also as a filter whether they want to come to Ramsey. He stated he <br />appreciates having that tool in place. <br />Councilmember Riley stated the City considered what model would be supported by 60% of the <br />people but his questions is whether that model is still attractive to the market. He stated running <br />City Council Work Session / May 20, 2014 <br />Page 4 of 8 <br />