Agenda - Council - 05/26/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Dear Chloe, Tim and City Planning Commission Members, This is a follow up letter concerning the Thursday, May 7th virtual city planning commission meeting that we were invited to be a part of. We felt we were listened to and heard by many who were on the call and we really appreciated the opportunity to speak and share our input and concerns. We also very much appreciated that our letters, calls and petition were shared with the mayor, all city planners and city council members. Chloe, I think we have you to thank for that, so thank you! I also wanted to thank City Council member Debra Musgrove for taking the time to sit in on this very long meeting and listening to all we had to say. Thank you. However, we felt that a few members on the planning commission were either not listening, didn't understand our concerns or had already made up their minds. • For example: One of the planners commented, "But I like small lots." The issue is 'should the 80' lot sizes be rezoned to smaller lots, NOT what is the planner's opinion of what they like or dislike. That is irrelevant. They should be neutral and make decisions based on the information given to them & what is in the best interest of the Residents of Ramsey. • Another planner said, 'I like having a home owner's association to take care of my yard and snow removal.' Again, this was also an opinion and is an irrelevant point. • One of the other planners said, 'Some people can't handle a larger lot and shouldn't have one.' I contend that when it comes to taking care of your own property, lot sizes have nothing to do with it. You either do or you don't care for your own property to someone else's standards. • One of city planners, we felt, refused to consider anything we said. It was obvious, her mind was made up before this meeting. (Conflict of interest???) It certainly does not build an atmosphere of trust. There were 55 people on that call, I know that many Ramsey residents had written letters, called city planners and city council members and the mayor, letting their concerns known and asking that the application be denied. Many were not on this call. One of the residents on the call, I felt, said it best, "You don't live out here. I don't think you understand what we are trying to say." A well thought out 20 year plan should be respected and adhered to, especially when the application to rezone the Trott Brook and Hunt properties that was submitted was so far off of the original long range plan. In all seriousness, we feel this application should have been denied out of the box for that reason alone. Again, we are very thankful that the senior planner brought it to our attention and is allowing us input concerning this application(s) to rezone to such small lot sizes. Most of us weren't even aware of the original plan to zone to 80' lot sizes out here until this all came up a few months ago. We would not have been in favor of that, but we absolutely are NOT in favor of anything smaller than that. What we need city planners to understand is this: All of us asking you to deny the rezoning application to anything smaller than an 80' lot size for the Trott Brook & Hunt properties is already a compromise on our part, if you really think about it. In closing, we love our rural area and the beautiful feel that we have out here. We appreciate that we have a voice in this. Please deny the re -zoning application and ask the Excelsior builder to work with the 80' lot sizes or better yet, submit ideas for even bigger lot size plans. He seemed like he had a lot of experience and probably has many wonderful and creative ideas on how to keep the rural feel and character in a development. Thanks so much. Sincerely, Mark and Jill Winger 7610 —168th Ave. NW Ramsey, MN