Comp Plan 1974-1977 FILE #1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- $ - for inclusion An the Urban iServi~e Area sometime between 1981 and 1990. The exact timing of this e~pansion °~ith~iMUSA depends upon the timing of metropolitan sewer service to Ramsey. The very e~rliest sewer service will be availableis 1981, not 1979 as stated in the City's plan. Metropolitan sewer service Will ~e provided to the City of Ramsey via the Champlin - Anoka - Brooklyn Park (CAB)-interceptor. On October 14, 1976, the Metropolitan Council approved an amendment tol the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission's De- velopment Program. This a~enc%m~ent provides for construction of the Anoka segment of the CAB interceptor by I979.:~ This segment would provide service initially for the City of Anoka only, wit~j treatment at the existing Anoka Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Development Program amendment also provides for the Commission to pursue federal and state financing for. construction of the lower reaches of the CAB through Champlin and Brooklyn Park by 1'981. This lower stretch of the interceptor through Cham~lin and Brooklyn Park Would. phase out the Anoka Treatment Plant by carrying the wastewater flow south t~ough other existing interceptors and ultimately to the Metropolita~ WastswaterTrea~ment Plant at Pig's'Eye. The Anoka upper segment of the CAB will be sized for eventual service to Ramsey when the lower reach of the CAB is constructed. A ma~or r6aSon for this delay is that Anoka Treatment Plant has limited reserve capacity, and first priority for allocation of this capacity is given to the City of Anoka. Anoka is a designated Freestanding Growth Center and considered part of the Current Metropolitan Urban Service Area. Furthermore, expansion of ,_he MetrOpolitan U~ban Service Area to provide additional land for urban development d~nd in the. North Minneapolis sector is not needed until the 1980's. Therefore, Ramsey ~hould not plan to become part of the MUSA until metro- politan sewer service is available. At the earliest, this will be 1981. If there are identifiable.pollution problems in Ramsey which need to be solved before 1981, it may be possible for Ramsey to use capacity in the Anoka Sewage collection system. ~h'is arrangement would not only need to be worked out with the City of Anoka, bu~ would also require approval by the Metropolitan Council and Waste Control Commission. The plan proposes the establish~ent of a "sewer availability area" (SAA) within the 1990 urban service district.' The leading edge of the SAA will stay five to ten years ahead of the actual sewered area. The SAA will be based on the city's financial program for exten~ing.$ewers', and sewer service will be guaranteed by a certain date. Plats in a~ Within'one mile of the. sewer availability area will be required to escrow a payment for sewer laterals. This will discourage subdi- vision activity before sewer construction takes place.. A problem exists for the perio~ of time befor~ .the seWer availability area encompasses the entire 1990 urban service district. During this ~eriod, urban density development will be permitted by the zoning ordinance oB the OUter fringes of the urban service district, and there ~ill ~e no ~crow rep~ir~ment to ~i,co~ra~e ~=ban subdivision activity. This loophole, if it is one, should be plugged. A oossible solution is to let the urban land use zones in the Zoning ordinance-"fioat" with the sewer availability area. Land outside the SAAwould be in the rural zoning category, and land could be rezoned automatically as the SAA is expanded by city council action. WhAtever method is used, however, i~ shoUld not permit urban development where urban services are not imminent. In fact, staff recommends that the sewer availability area not exceed a five-year prospective development area, in conformance with policy 3e of the Metropolitan waste Management Plan: 3e. Sewage disposal for.development in those portions of Orban Service Area co~nunities planned by the local govern- ment to remain rural%for,a period of five (5) years or longer must be consistent with the policies established in this Guide Chapter for the Rural Service Area. The Rural Service Area The Rural Service Area consists of about 12 square miles stretching across the northern and northwestern ~rtions of the City. It contains at least a dozen housing subdivisions within which are many vacant lots. The planning document lacks an inventory of exactly What the Rural Service Area does contain in the way of existing development and physical features. The City has adopted a five-aCre minimum lot size and a density standard of four households per 40 acres. This appears to be a reasonable density cap for a rural area. From our experience# we recommend to Ramsey that when this policy is written in ordinance for~, it be phrased as four households per quarter~quarter section, rather than per forty &cres.~ O~her communities in the Metro Are~ that have used a density approach have found it ~ifficult to delineate forty acre parcels, thus making administration of the ordinance very complicated. Quarter-quarter sections, on the other hand, are readily defined on a map. The Transition Area Remsey's proposed Transition'Area includes approximately 5,000 acres of developable land or about 8 square miles. The City has adopted as policy a 2% acre minimum lot size. In addition~ within the Transition Area, lots would be designed for future resubdivision when mttnicipal water and sewer is available (after 1990) by requiring a minimum lot width of 300 feet. Within the Tranaitionan~ RUral ~eas, there are approximately 750 existing platted lots of 1+ acre in size. The p~ah does not clearly state what development policy will apply to these pl~t~ed ~ot~ It appears that these lots could be developed at any time because the City has assumed these lots would accommodate part of the anticipated 1990 population ~roWth. At'3.5 persons/household, this means that