Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 04/13/2017

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52oning District Flexibility DESCRIPTION • The COR development has five general zoning districts that establish the underlying legal land use regulations that help guide/ restrict/influence development. The implementation of zoning districts within The COR is one method to help achieve the City's vision (dense urban core, business park in east, retail in the west, residential in the north). • Naturally, in order to have a zoning district, boarders of said zoning district need to be geographically defined. As a result, arbitrary lines have been drawn across The COR, where one district begins, and another ends. Unfortunately,these zoning districts don't necessarily follow clean parcel lines, and often times don't perfectly align with market demand (i.e. proposal form developers). • Regarding COR zoning districts, the City commonly caught in the dilemma outlined below: o (A) Receiving requests from developers and businesses that want to adjust the boarders of certain districts. In other words, not follow the zoning regulations specified on the property in which their project is proposed/desired—and rather follow market demand. In this situation, the city is pressured to be business/ developer friendly, and to better respond to the market demand. This alternative can result in unplanned projects (i.e. Casey's). o (B) Implementing the vision of The COR by enforcing existing zoning standards (districts). This alternative can result in losing potential projects (i.e. Dominium). Market Panel/Developer/Real Estate Professionals o The market panel was generally impressed and supportive of what Ramsey has accomplished, and generally encouraged Ramsey to maintain a strong vision, and not to waiver from their vision/design standards. o The market panel encouraged the planning commission and city council to make sure their visions are aligned—as not doing so could be obstructive to the success of the development. The city needs to act as a team. Page 8 of 8