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

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and it is likely it will sell, that does not mean the City is required to allow them in every location. Changes to Typical Process Due to the Stay at Home Order • Planning Commission meetings have been moved online, which changes our typical engagement process. • Postponed cases • Hosted preparatory webinars • Placed videos online • Extended public comment periods • Did more focused outreach • Suggested alternative means to provide comment 60 Day Rule The City has invoked 60 day extensions for the above projects due to the current State of Emergency related to COVID-19 and to provide the City additional time to further evaluate the proposal for compliance with applicable regulations and provide reasonable public input. The Applicant has agreed to an additional 60 day extension allowing review into September 2020, though City Staff still recommends firm direction tonight on lot sizes to allow time for revisions and public hearings during that time frame. Public Comment Written Comments Received:All written public comments have been attached to this case and shall be considered part of the formal public record. Staff has also attempted to summarize comments received in an attached document to note the most significant areas of concern from residents. Discussions with Residents: For the last two months or so, Staff has been speaking with residents about this project one-on-one and attempting to clarify the proposal, summarize the public hearing process, and provide opportunities for comment. While many telephones calls were followed up with formal letters or emails, some were not. Staff estimates that approximately ten (10) calls took place with residents who were opposed to the project. Reasons varied but the majority of reasons were: lack of rural character with project, project is too dense, traffic concerns, and environmental concerns. Calls came from residents throughout the City, but most were from those along Variolite or in the Brookfield neighborhood. The City also met with the homeowner of the property in the SE corner of this site. The Subject Property and neighboring property are a total of 40 acres, and the adjacent property would abut new residential homes on their north and west boundaries. Staff appreciates the time and thought that the homeowner has given to the project. They are concerned about the change to the character of the neighborhood, but understood that development was likely. They have requested that the Applicant provide them utility stubs to their property and line the adjacent road up to provide them an option for future development (subdivision) if they ever wish to sell. Staff feels this is a very reasonable request to plan for future growth. The homeowner is also concerned about density transitioning, which the City can require on the shared property lines, and Staff supports requiring the density transitioning. The homeowner is also concerned about traffic in the area. Change.org Petition:A resident of Ramsey has created a Change.org petition as an advisory petition against the project with 325 signatures. The signatures from the petition are attached for reference as well as comments that some signers left. It does appear that the original petition page, which received over 100 signatures, was written as petitioning Low Density Residential to High Density Residential, which is not correct. The owner of the petition has since changed to accurately reflect the project. An advisory petition of this nature is not typical with these projects, but will likely become a more standard tool as the City practices social distancing measures. For future petitions, residents should sign with their names and addresses so that Staff can ensure they are Ramsey residents. Staff attempted to match names from the County GIS File. Staff would estimate that up to 25% of the responses came from non -Ramsey Residents. Staff has not been able to verify the address of nearly half of the signatures, although it is assumed that many, if not most are truly Ramsey Residents. Regardless, there appears to be a clear indication of a cluster of signatures along Variolite Street. In response, Staff suggests a City initiated survey to ensure proper data is provided in terms of existing vs. proposed conditions and ensure addresses are included in the response.