Agenda - Council - 04/12/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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to several opportunities 1br residential development in 2005. If the City sets a moratorium at this time it sends out a negative message that the City is anti-development. City Administrator Norman advised staff would like to discuss drafting a letter from the City Council to the Planning Commission that would explain the Council's position regarding the consideration o£ development applications prior to the completion of the City's Comprehensive Plan Update later this year. Councillncmbcr Strommen stated she is confused on what the point of the letter would be. Clearly thc Planning Commission considered the proposals and voted how they felt they should vote. She qucstioned if the letter would lay out some criteria by which these development proposals should be considered or would direct the Planning Commission to just consider them. City Administrator Norman replied the direction to the Planning Commission would simply be to consicler the developments on their merits without the bigger picture of the Comprehensive Plan [3roccss. Councihncmber Cook commented this direction was the message of the last joint City (',ouncil/l~lanning Commission meeting. City Administrator replied staff agrees, but the Planning Commission does not seem to agree based on their comments. Councilmcmber Strommen suggested if the Council is going to ask the Planning Commission not to use thc Comprehensive Plan as the reason to vote against these developments, it would be beneficial to provide some criteria for the Commission to follow. She stated once one of these developments is approved the floodgates will open and the City begins to lose options. These are not minor amendments; they are fairly significant. She expressed concern that by the time they get to thc larger planning process the City may have missed opportunities and foreclosed options. Slue questioned how one development can be approved and another denied if they do not know the factors to consider and the merits on which to rate them. She stated one of the things she appreciates about this Council is the commitment they have made in that they understand development is coming and have embraced it in a way that they want to control and shape the City. Thc City's Comprehensive Plan update process is now delayed and considering these amendments before that is completed may limit their options in the future. To mitigate that there sh(mld bt some criteria on which developments can be rated based on issues like transportation, green space, and open space. Councihnembcr Cook stated the letters and telephone calls he has received, and what he saw when watching the Planning Commission meeting, come from a gap between the knowledge the City Council has and the knowledge the Planning Commission and general public have. He keeps hearing questions about why they are not staying in the MUSA lines and about lcapfi'(2gging. Itowever, the City Council has been working under the understanding that the MIJSA docs not exist any longer. This is information that needs to get out. Another question he hears is why the City is not working within the Comprehensive Plan. The answer to that is that City Council Work Session/March 15, 2005 Page 3 of 9