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INTRODUCTION Comprehensive Plan Amendment The City of Ramsey in Anoka County has submitted an amendment to its comprehensive plan that would define an urban planning district in the City. This amendment was submitted in May, 1976. Council review was postponed until now because the City's proposal is dir- ectly related to the availability of metropolitan sewer service through the CAB interceptor. In September, the Metropolitan Council addressed issues related to the CAB interceptor con- struction through approval of an amendment to the Metropolitan Waste Control Commission (MWCC) Development Program. Council review of Ramsey's plan amendment was resumed following action on the Development Program. Ramsey's plan amendment comes before the Metropolitan Council during the transition period to the coordinated metropolitan local-planning process established by the Metropolitan Land Planning Act. The City of Ramsey has received its preliminary Metropolitan Systems State- ment which initiates.the new process. However, Ramsey's proposed plan amendment is reviewed under provisions of the 1967 law establishing the Metropolitan Council, as amended. There- fore, the Council's review comments are advisory and based on the Metropolitan Development Guide. Primary emphasis of the Council's review is focused on the adequacy of the ptan content and consistency with metropolitan development policy and system plans. The comments and recommendations of this review will not exempt the City from the procedures, requirements, and deadlines of the Land Planning Act. Bu~ the Council's comments at this time should help the City fulfill the requirements of the Act in the future. Ramsey will receive its final system statement by July. The statement will provide information on fore- casted population, households, and employment and the characteristics of existing and planned metropolitan sewers, highways, transit, airports and regional recreation open space facilities serving the City. Within three years following receipt of the formal system statement, the City is required to have prepared a comprehensive plan addressing land use, environmental protection, housing, public facilities, and implementation. The City's plan is to be con- sistent with the metropolitan system plans. II. PLAN A. REVIEW Purpose of the Proposed Plan Amendment The original comprehensive plan for Ramsey was developed by the Township in 1973. The Metropolitan Council did not review the plan because the Township was undergoing annexa- tion and incorporation proceedings. The Council reco~z~ended that the Township review the plan after the incorporation was settled, revise it if necessary, and resubmit the plan for review. Ramsey was incorporated in 1974. The very southern edge of the City was annexed by Anoka; the Ru~ River became the border dividing Ramsey from Andover. Apparently, the township's comprehensive plan was adopted by the City of Ramsey without review by the Metropolitan Council. The proposed amendment to that plan is an "Urban Planning District Study Report". There are several reasons for the amendment. First, Ramsey has experienced significant growth for a rural community in the past six years. Development has been largely resi- dential, scattered throughout the City, and served by on-site septic systems. The 1970 population of 2,727 has grown to a 1976 estimate of 7,620 even with the loss of some population through annexation by Anoka in 1974. Household size is estimated at 4 persons per household which is larger than the 1976 metropolitan average of 2.885. Secondly, the City has expressed a commitment to accommodate continued development in an orderly and economic manner. Ramsey recognizes that continued development will require major public improvements. This plan amendment assumes construction of a county bridge across the Rum River by 1978 and availability of metropolitan sewer service by 1979. Ramsey has participated in the efforts of the Champlin - Anoka - Brooklyn Park {CAB) Interceptor Study Committee to plan for future sewer service. The Metro- politan Council emphasized to that Comraittee that local comprehensive planning, inclu- ding delineation of local Urban Service Areas, would be a prerequisite for metropolitan sewer service. Furthermore, Ramsey decided to postpone action on any rezoning within the study area until a plan was developed for the area. A moratorium on development within the study area was established in October, 1975, and is still in effect. The City is concerned with the duration of the moratorium. Following Metropolitan Council review, the City intends to adopt the plan amendment and rezone the property within the Study Area ac- cordingly. B. Scope of Metropolitan Council Review Because Ramsey's plan amendment is not a complete comprehensive plan, Council review comments are correspondingly limited to the subject matter of the amendment. For example, the amendment does not address housing policy; therefore, no housing comments are in- cluded. The amendment would establish some very basic physical development policies