Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 10/09/2014

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• Projects that impair the use and enjoyment of the Regional Parks System unit due to excessive noise, air pollution or water pollution, and • Projects that interfere with the operation and maintenance of the Regional Parks System unit Where appropriate, the Council will initiate or accept for initiation a metropolitan significance review of specific projects if it is necessary to help protect the Regional Parks System. A project that is consistent with a Council- approved local comprehensive plan is exempt from metropolitan significance reviews for metropolitan system effects. In accordance with the Council's Thrive principles, increasing population densities in urban areas is preferable to scattered developments throughout the rural and agricultural areas of the metropolitan region. Increasing population densities adjacent to urban Regional Parks System units is not a detriment to those units if the urban development is designed in ways that are sensitive to areas that enjoy scenic views and the natural features of the Regional Parks System unit, and do not interfere with the operation and maintenance of the unit. The Council will work cooperatively with local governments to help ensure urban development and land uses in areas adjacent to Regional Parks System units occur in ways that preserve the integrity of the Regional Parks System. System Protection - Strategy 2: Conversion of Regional Parks System lands to other uses Lands in the Regional Parks System will only be converted to other uses if approved by the Metropolitan Council through an equally valuable land or facility exchange as defined below: "Equally valuable land" is defined as land that: • is contiguous to the Regional Parks System unit containing the land proposed to be exchanged (within the same park/trail unit) • has comparable or better natural resource characteristics, and • could provide comparable or better recreation opportunities than the land being released from the covenant In exceptional circumstances, the Metropolitan Council may accept as equally valuable land the addition of land to another unit of the regional parks system where: • the replacement land has comparable or better natural resource characteristics • the replacement land has comparable or better recreation opportunities than the land being converted, and • no other reasonable alternative exists and where all other provisions of this policy can be met "Equally valuable facility" is defined as an exchange of land for facilities when recreational benefits and /or natural resource benefits are increased as a result of the exchange. For example, some land within a regional trail corridor may be exchanged to widen a highway if a highway