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

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Councilmember Shryock stated that because the market drives development, things may happen in a different course of action and asked if the City is that far off from the original vision. She did not think that the City is too far to reign it back in and believed that perhaps it is time to reassess how far off the path the City is. She noted that the City is half way towards the initial vision for housing and would like comparative information for the other aspects and how the off vision tasks could be corrected. Councilmember Williams stated that an important part of the vision is timing. She stated that the market will not always be too far off to achieve certain elements but noted that the timing of the vision would be a big factor, whether that is ten years or 25 years. She noted that right now residential is hot and a big development factor but advised that can and will change. She agreed with the comments from Councilmember Shryock regarding staff completing a comparison of certain elements in The COR. Mayor Strommen stated that there was a lot of housing in the original vision and agreed that timing is key as people have seen this housing development but have not seen the retail elements. Councilmember Kuzma stated that CBRE is the consultant the City hired to work on this vision and provide input and they have said that the City needs rooftops in order to bring in the retail elements. He noted that the rail station and Armstrong interchange were also important elements in attracting the desired development. Mayor Strommen asked the items that people would like to reaffirm or re-evaluate from the list of items included in the vision. Commissioner Brauer stated that the original vision was never viable because Ramsey did not have the space or demographics that big box retailers are looking for. He stated that the City needs to look at the data and also believes that the City would benefit from the cluster data that developers use in order to better determine and attract development. Mayor Strommen confirmed that Commissioner Brauer would like to re-evaluate the retail aspects in the vision using data. Commissioner Brauer stated that Ramsey will not get big box retail and should instead focus on local businesses. He referenced the piecemeal strategy that the City has been using, noting the changes in the past eight years in the market, and stated that it would be difficult to obtain beneficial data from that changing market. He stated that the City needs a vision that keeps them from being jerked back and forth from a temporary change, or what the City interprets to be a temporary change. Mayor Strommen confirmed consensus that the group would like to re-evaluate retail components within the vision. Vice Chair Bauer stated that the attempt is to make Ramsey a destination type of stop and would cater more towards the smaller unique businesses and explained that pedestrian connections would also be important in that element. Excerpt from July 12, 2016 City Council Work Session Minutes