Agenda - Council - 03/10/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Suburban • Suburban Edge • Emerging Suburban Edge Urban Center communities include the largest, most centrally located and most economically diverse cities of the region. Urban centers are located in the metropolitan urban service area (MUSA) and have a minimum average net density of 20 units/acre. Urban communities are adjacent to the Urban Center communities and have seen considerable development and growth along highways. Urban areas are in the MUSA and have a minimum average net density of 10 units/acre. Suburban communities saw their primary era of development during the 1980s and early 1990s. Suburban communities also include places that were once resort destinations along Lake Minnetonka and White Bear Lake and along the St. Croix River. Suburban communities are in the MUSA and have a minimum average net density of 5 units/acre. The Suburban Edge includes communities that have experienced significant residential growth beginning in the 1990s and continuing to the 2010s. At least 40% of the land in these communities is developed, but significant amounts of land remain for future development. Suburban Edge communities are in the MUSA and have a minimum average net density of 3-5 units/acre. The Emerging Suburban Edge includes cities, townships and portions of both that are in early stages of transitioning into urbanized levels of development. In the majority of these communities, less than 40% of the land has been developed. Parts of Emerging Suburban Edge communities are in the MUSA and all have a minimum average net density of 3-5 units/acre. Rural Service Area About half of the land in the Twin Cities region is located in the Rural Service Area. This area includes a range of land uses, including cultivated farmland, vineyards, hobby farms, gravel mines, woodlands, small towns, scattered and clustered housing, open spaces, and significant expanses of the region's natural resources. Aside from the Regional Parks System, investments in regional service and infrastructure are limited in the Rural Service Area. The Rural Service Area is divided into four community designations: • Rural Center • Rural Residential • Diversified Rural • Agricultural The Rural Service Area contains some of the Regional Parks System's large park reserves, including Crow Hassan and Big Marine Park Reserves. In addition to providing passive recreation opportunities, the park reserves also preserve, maintain, and connect high quality or regionally important natural resources. The metropolitan system plans and policy plans seek to carefully integrate regional land use, housing, transportation, wastewater, water supply, surface water management, natural resources, and parks policies to achieve regional goals in each area and avoid working at cross-purposes. In this Policy Plan, the forecasts are used in the planning and capital improvement program processes to assess regional needs for wastewater treatment 8