Minutes - Council - 03/13/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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investment. Our City Council will guide the land development during the plat approval process. I want to address the fear of Central Planning Area becoming sewered in the near future. We have not come even close to filling up the available residential areas that are already surrounded with services. Add to that, the foreseen expansion out to the west on Highway #10 towards Northfork and I cannot see how we will or can even consider expanding services north of the existing MUSA line. Coupled with the laws we have fight now governing optional sewer hook up by residents, I don't see where we as a city would want to invest in infrastructure that would not be utilized by a majority of the homeowners So I will not be convinced that there is fear of sewer expansion because of the Central Planning Area. It is a good compromise for our City and an excellent opportunity for many of our rural citizens. Density Transition. I have read the Density Transition Language that was drafted on January 25, 2001. I assume that this is the most up to date version. I find I can agree with most of the language in that draft and will vote for a plan with that language in it. It seems reasonable and does guard against the many fears that residents have regarding new development next to existing development. Land Use Map/Classifications. Regarding designating all industrial use on Highway 10, I want to express a serious concern. At the present time, we have three buildings in our industrial park that are not being utilized. Listul Industries on Sunfish Lake Boulevard, north of the tracks and the Mate Punch and Die building just to the north of Listul Industries are vacant. The Amcom Properties across the street from Listal have been completed for over two years and only has a handful of tenants. As a Councilperson, these examples trouble me greatly. It is my understanding that the Ramsey Industrial Park is not yet sold out. Riverdale along Highway #10 in Coon Rapids, is an example of the market in action. Companies are not interested in what that area has to offer. The piece by piece purchasing and developing is not where the investors are looking to put their money. I am reluctant to take the chance of that happening in our City when we have investors waiting to build our Town Center, with our citizens input, and make it a viable reality. Empty buildings are not healthy for Ramsey. We.have to take a look at the market and plan our city accordingly. The market drives development. We as a city guide that development. I do not believe, with my knowledge of the market, that our tax base will be in jeopardy. I have gone on record stating my opinion on commercial / industrial tax base, but the long and short of it is that we can have a strong growing community with a significant tax base that will enable Ramsey to prosper m~d grow in the most beneficial way to all, by having the diversity necessary to maintain its strength. When talking about the opportunities we have within our grasp, the Smart Growth Grant is just the tip of the iceberg. The multimodal station, the Town Center and the bridge crossing is vital to the health of this community. I am in strong support of all those items and I want a Comprehensive Plan in place that will allow us to attain these goals. We as a City Council have enormous control over how our City is built and how it grows. I want the future generations to look back at what we plan here today and be proud of our foresight and efforts. Even though I don't agree with everything in this Comprehensive Plan, I am in favor of sending it down for approval. I want to see our tax dollars come back to us through the grants the Metropolitan Council, the State, the County and Federal governments have to offer. We are long over due. If the numbers of households meet the criteria of the Metropolitan Council, I do not have a problem of how and where the plan is placing the different residential uses. The area between the landfill and Sunfish Lake Boulevard is assigned medium density (7 units per acre). There are no services directly available to that parcel at this time. However, I feel we are under City Council/March 13, 2001 Page 28 of 31