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Metropolitan Agencies <br /> Metro Cities supports local authority over land use and zoning decisions, and <br /> opposes the creation of non-local appeals boards with the authority to supersede city <br /> zoning decisions. <br /> 4-K Regional Growth <br /> The most recent regional population forecasts projects a population of 3,652,060 people <br /> by 2040. <br /> Metro Cities recognizes cities' responsibility to plan for sustainable growth patterns that <br /> integrate transportation, housing, parks, open space and economic development that will <br /> result in a region better equipped to manage population growth, to provide a high quality <br /> of life for a growing and increasingly diverse metropolitan area population and improved <br /> environmental health. <br /> In developing local comprehensive plans to fit within a regional framework, adequate <br /> state and regional financial resources and incentives, and maximum flexibility around <br /> local planning decisions are imperative. The regional framework should assist cities in <br /> managing growth while being responsive to the individual qualities, characteristics and <br /> needs of metropolitan cities, and should encourage sub-regional cooperation and <br /> coordination. <br /> In order to accommodate this growth in a manner that preserves the region's high <br /> quality of life: <br /> • Natural resource protection will have to be balanced with growth and <br /> development/reinvestment; <br /> • Significant new resources will have to be provided for transportation and transit; and <br /> • New households will have to be incorporated into the core cities, first and second-ring <br /> suburbs, and developing cities through both development and redevelopment. <br /> In order for regional and local planning to result in the successful implementation of <br /> regional policies: <br /> • The State of Minnesota must contribute additional financial resources, particularly in <br /> the areas of transportation and transit, reinvestment, affordable housing development, <br /> and the preservation of parks and open space. If funding for regional infrastructure is <br /> not adequate, cities should not be responsible for meeting the growth forecast set <br /> forth by the Metropolitan Council; <br /> • The Metropolitan Council and Legislature must work to pursue levels of state and <br /> federal transportation funding that are adequate to meet identified transportation and <br /> transit needs in the metropolitan area; <br /> 2017 Legislative Policies 45 <br />