Agenda - Council Work Session - 01/19/2005

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It needs to be pointed out that at the end of 2004, the City has a total of 7,457 residential lots. Of these lots, 4,610 are "rural" and served by individual septic systems and private well. Approximately, 2847 lots are "urban" served by City Water and Sewer. As can be seen, the City currently has a gOod mixture of"rural" and "urban" lots. As we enter 2005, about 62% of the City. 's residential lots are "rural" and 38% are "urban". Staffviews this as a positive for the City as there appears to 'be sufficient choice in lot size for existing and new residents to choose from when deciding the type of lot they would like to live on. It should be noted that the recently adopted Comprehensive Sewer and Water Plan (as well as the 1990 plan) anticipates that urban services will be utilized for the land south of the Trott Brook. From this study, it is shown that there will be enough capacity to serve this area with City sewer and water in the future. Sprawl. The term "urban sprawl" is a common term heard around the Twin Cities, as well as the rest of the nation. The growth of Ramsey in the 70s and 80s could be characterized as urban sprawl. Smart Growth America, a non-profit anti'sprawl advocacy group defines urban sprawl as a situation where a population is widely dispersed in low-density development, has rigidly separated homes, shops, workplaces with a network of roads marked by huge blocks and poor access, and a lack of well-defined activity centers such as downtowns and town centers. The group goes on to say that many of the other features that are associated with sprawl - the lack of transportation options, the relative uniformity of housing options (i.e. all single-family homes) and the difficulty of walking anywhere in the community are a result of sprawl. 1000 Friends qfMinnesota, is a local anti-sprawl advocacy group. In their "What is Sprawl" publication, the group states that two things combine to create sprawl; density and design. In regards to density, 1000 Friends of Minnesota advocates that densities be one lot for every 20, 40, or 80 acres for areas not served by urban services. According to their publication, preserving 20+ acreage lots accomplishes a number of goals: · They protect agricultural economies by not artificially increasing the value of farmland based on the ability to subdivide. They protect the natural habitat by keeping it intact. Lot Sizes of 1 to 10 acres don't protect natural habitats because of the relatively closely spaced buildings, the associated landscape changes, and the presence of domestic pets break up the wildlife movement and foraging areas. · They protect water quality by keeping septic systems spaced far apart. They allow for a tract of land to be developed at urban densities when and if urban services do reach an area. :Developing large lot housing in unsewered areas may reqUire a very expensive routing of urban services around those lots. · Page 2