Agenda - Council - 09/13/2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Count Response 1 Because housing is going in first and retail will follow Idon'twantto be so flexible with the housing market that we lose desirable retail/restaurants space because we blurred the boundaries too often. The strongest desire of citizens for moving forward with the COR was because citizens believed it was the best way to bring decent retail/restaurants/places to work and playto Ramsey. For existing residents, that's the goal and housing is the tradeoff. 1 It is important to have acitypolicy, but the market will always change that vision. The city should always lookat suggested revisions and discuss accordingly. 1 Lackofflexibilitycould stifle creativity and innovatio n. All proposed boundary changes or use change needs to be evaluated regarding long term consequences. Shortterm gain for one developer can cause major issues for the long term goals. 1 No specific suggestio ns...just need to be flexible, butdon'tcede control so much thatdevelopmentis shaped entirely by perceived needs of private developers. 1 The COR Plan seems well thoughtoutto me. If amendments are allowed, !believe itwould cause confusion and/or flow problems if businesses in the section weren'tofsimilar type. For example, Iwouldn'twanta restau rant in the middle of a professional service area. 1 The type of land uses/changes will depend on proposed projects and market needs. 1 Too much rigiditywill keep the lots vacant. We must be willing to adaptto the needs of potential businesses. 1 We have waffled between all three. I have long advocated going to a points -based system for the COR as it believe it gives staff the most flexibility to attract tenants. 1 We need to be flexible with the times, but not lose a long-range vision. If we make modifications on one area, we should make a corresponding modification in another area to maintain the balance we want. 1 With regards to the downtown area, have a firm viewon the type of physical infrastructure is the onlyapproach that will allowfo r a development pattern thatdoesn'tfail due to m arketco nditio ns. While it is acceptable to be flexible in other areas of the City, the COR should focus the efforts of the City Land Use Planning policies to develop a real downtown that citizens are interested in using. The other alternatives will resultin lowdensity, big box stores, bland apartments, unsafe streets, and will ultimately be cannibalized by other developing or developed cities along the US10 Corridor. To thatend we must recognize thatthere is already big box land to the south in Coon Rapids and traditional downtowns to the north and south in Anoka and Elk River. The market suggests that Ramseyshould noteven exist as is. 1 Without at leastso me boundaries there may be develo pment challenges especially with the potential of new councils moving forward. 16