Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/02/2018

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United States Department of the Interior IN REPLY REFER TO L3303 December 12, 2017 Tina Goodroad City of Dayton 12260 South Diamond Lake Road Dayton, MN 55327 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Mississippi National River and Recreation Area III E. Kellogg Blvd., Ste 105 St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1256 RE: Scoping EAW for North Dayton Development Dear Ms. Goodroad: The National Park Service (NPS) is pleased to provide comments on the Scoping EAW for the North Dayton Development. The northern portion of the proposed project would lie within the boundary of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (NRRA). Congress established the Mississippi NRRA in 1988 to preserve, protect, and enhance the significant values of the Mississippi River Corridor in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Under Item 9a the document states only that "the northern portion of the site is located within the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Program district CA -SR..." The Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA) shares the same boundary as the Mississippi NRRA. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) administers the MRCCA program allowing for cooperative management of the Mississippi NRRA with local governments including the City of Dayton. A notation should be made that this area is also part of the Mississippi NRRA. Additionally, under Item 9a the claim is made that "the Mississippi River and adjacent river corridor lands are designated and classified as `Wild & Scenic River' and `Critical Area'..." In 2012, the Minnesota State Legislature revised the Mississippi River Wild and Scenic River (WSR) boundaries to remove any land in the cities of Dayton and Ramsey. This action was taken to reduce the number of shoreland-related regulations pertinent in these areas, because the Mississippi River in these cities is also regulated under the MRCCA rules as well as standard shoreland rules. The reference to the WSR designation should be removed from the document while retaining the MRCCA reference. It should be noted that there is a Primary Conservation Area (PCA) located on the northern edge of the study area (see attached map). PCA's are afforded protections under the MRCCA rules that went into effect in January 2017. PCA's are to be set aside as open space in whole or part as applicable in large developments such as the one proposed here. This is meant to provide opportunities to protect or restore valuable resources in the Mississippi River Corridor.