Agenda - Council Work Session - 06/01/2004

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The Urban Development Concept Plan is a subdivision approach to regulate ghost platting. It is a more formalized approach to ghost platting than has been adopted in other communities. This approach ties down many of the typical platting items such as right -of-way, easements for utilities and drainage, pretiminmS' storm system design, lot size and arrangement, and existing and future house pad locations. Provisions for potential park and trail cormections are also discussed to allow the option for land dedication. These items, if determined necessary by City Council, would be included with the final plat documentation for subdivisions that have a land area of 20 acres or more. The important aspects of this approach are: 1. Preliminary layout of major subdivision design elements to anticipate a future condition and its impact. 2. Identifying proposed rural plat housing pad locations so they do not cross future urban parcel boundaries. 3. Understanding how to address surface water management in a future urban condition. This is an especially important aspect in Laver Grove Heights becau se many subwatersheds in the rural area do not have outlets. 4. The Urban Development Concept Plan does not require preliminary utility plan. Although sizing utilities fbr the development is feasible, it is difficult to know where larger mains would come fkom and how they might be sized. For th/s reason, typical utility and drainage easements are adequate along lot lines until the time of urbanization when additional engineering analysis is available. Ultimately, the provision of services to these rural areas will require.a broader review of the area in which a greater level of detail can be given utility planning issues. In addition to Urban Development Concept Plan, provisions in the Open Space Design section of the zoning ordinance also regulate ghost platting. The Open Space Design section provides a regulatory approach for Open Space Subdivisions. These developments usually have a large percentage of open space that is typically owned in common by development property owners. Provisions in tiffs section prohibit the permanent protection of open space areas to not exclude the ability for these undeveloped tracts to accommodate urban development in the future if desired. Conclusions Anticipating re'ban development is sound planning. In Laver Grove Heights however, most of the opportunities to implement various ghost platting approaches have been lost. Historical development patterns and constraints on the remaining parcels in the rural area leave very limited opportunities to reasonably implement ghost platting techniques. For the remaining parcels available for development, the Urban Development Concept Plan does provide a viable approach to implement urban growth policies. From the City and Metropolitan Council perspectives, the Urban Development Concept Plan provides a mean the flexibility to accommodate changes in local or regional policy. In the rural area in Inver Grove Heights, the remaining undeveloped parcels are scattered- and few are contiguous to one another. In addition to development policies, utility planning is a significant factor in implementing ghost platting. Utility extensions to serve these developments would need to "leap frog" fln'ough rural areas which would likely cause it to be an expensive undertaking and possibly cost prohibitive for a developer to implement without £mancial assistance from the City or other outside sources. The future provision of water and sewer service in the rural areas is a difficult issue to address without further study and'policy direction. City of lnver Grove Heights Rz~rctl Subdivision Report - damtat? 2003 ~ -34- page 10