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<br />Memo <br />7550 Sunwood Drive NW Ramsey, MN 55303 <br />City Hall: 763.427.1410Fax: 763.427.5543 <br />www.cityoframsey.com <br />To:Chloe McGuire, Senior Planner <br />From:Sean Sullivan, Economic Development Manager <br />Date: 10/27/20 <br />RE:Rivenwick Village 4thAddition –Land Use <br />The City of Ramsey has been working hard to provide commercial/retail opportunities for Ramsey residents. <br />The City and private developers have had difficulty recruiting commercial/retail projects to Ramsey due to <br />area demographics and site issues. In theCOR, the City continues to hear developers and end users indicate <br />that the lack of visibility from Highway10. Traffic Counts range from 30,000 vehicle trips per day to 60,000 <br />vehicle trips per day on the corridor. Unfortunately, the vehicles (and subsequently potential retail shoppers) <br />and not directly accessed from Highway 10 and not easily visible. This diminishes their market potential. We <br />have worked with developers and end users to provide additional wayfinding signage,but it is no substitute <br />for having direct Highway 10 visibility. Other factors, such as Ramsey’s1 to 10 mile trade area populations, <br />provide challenges for certain restaurant, service and retail businesses. Although our numbers are improving <br />every year, we are not at the point where restaurants, service, and retail businesses are prioritizing Ramsey as <br />a retail ready site. We have to work hard for every commercial/industrial user we get to choose Ramsey. <br />Staff has reviewed the proposed development by Lennar at Rivenwick from an economic development <br />perspective. The development proposal is requesting that a portion of planned land use along Highway 10 <br />west of Suite Living be changed from a commercial to a residential use. Although Staff is excited about the <br />potential for additional “roof-tops” to help our community demographics from a retail perspective as well as <br />filling certain housing needs, the proposed used is not maximizing the development potential of this site. <br />There are not many undeveloped retail zoned sites along Highway 10 in Ramsey with development potential. <br />Based on the limited number of these viable commercial sites in the community, Staff would recommend that <br />landalong Highway 10 remain guided for commercial development. <br />It is our mission to work together to responsibly grow our community, and to provide quality, cost-effective and efficient government services. <br /> <br />