Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 11/18/2004

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· ~- 2 O0 J C'omprehanzive Plon Amended Febt'uo~.' 26, 2002 home in '..:he corridor severat years a,,o New commercial deve ooment continues to occur today sucil as the Comfort Inn Hotel constructed in ~995. Vacant land near the hotel is cun'endy hein~ marketed ~:or a restaurant use~'. All economic development that has occurred within the corridor has occurred away from the r~ver.t'ront to take advantage of [4ighway ~0. The Mississippi River is not considered as a resource for commercial river navigation through Ramsey; however, there Inas been some interest by private landowners and developers in riverffont deveiopment l:~or commercial purposes, such as a restaurant overlooking cite river. Public spaces (including parks trails and open space) Three park (aciiities are located within the Corridor, all having frontage on and providing access to the River. The State of Minnesota has a wayside rest at the northwest corner of tile City.', which has a shelter, restrooms, park benches and some historical interpretation markers. Mississippi West Regional park is a Counb, owned park that is currently undeveloped but scheduled to be developed as a passive recreational park with potent/al to have some trails and some picnicking hcilities. The majori¢' of this park will be left as natural areas with some ©ak-Savanna restoration. Development for this park is scheduled for 2006- 200'~. The tliird park is part o~' the Rivenwick Subdivision and includes trail access that connects to the City, of Ramsey trail system. This park is directly adjacent to tile Mississippi West Regional Park. Boat access to th'e river is limited to canoes at the W'ayside Rest area. Through Ramsey~ tine Miss/ss/ppi River is designated a State Canoe Route, as is the Rum River nortll of the Rum River Dam in Anoka. Ramsey is t~¢rtunate to have several small islands (which ir shares with the Ci~ of Dayton) within the 5-mile stretch ol-~ the Mississippi River including the named islands of Foster Island, part of tile Mississippi West Regional Park, Cloquet [sland and Goodin ~[sland. Many of'the islands provide public and private campsites ~'or river travelers. Future park development includes a proposed passive or natural park along the hanks of the Mississippi River betw~een Bowers Drive and Alpaca Estates. The intent of this park is to preserve the remaining riverfront in a namrat state. d) Agriculture Use Roughly 250 acres within the Critical Area Corridor are actively farmed to ,corn, soybeans, and other cash crops. Although some of the soil ,types in this area are suitable to agricultural uses, tile high permeability of sandy soils and the risk of seasonal flooding create hazards to agriculture uses. The soils in the areas are more suitable to pasture or woodland than cash grain a~icuitural uses. The current ~'a~Tn operations, ho~vever, have not sho~vn an interest in developing their land. [4owever. as urbanization pushes OLttward along Highway [0, this land is likely to succumb to developmeut pressures. Agricultnral uses are expected to continue ;tntil urban services are extended to se[ye this area and tile landowners make the decision to develop the land. e) T runspo rta ti{)n Ti~e Mississippi "= ' ,-J'.-' ~s primarily ustc! only as a recreational means of tra~sportation within the Cit', or' Ramse,,.. There are no barge terminals or ~]eering ~u'e 3Iso at :l ~ni~]imum. k{~h'~vav i0, :',_tuning generally' parallel with tile rive:', is a rm~,;,r four-!one ,;ii,.,'ided hi~i~wa? tinat is .zurrel~d', operating at maximum capaci~/.