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From: Danielle Holder <br /> To: Brian McCann <br /> Cc: Ramsey Planning <br /> Subject: RE-zoning of the property located at Variolite and 161st Avenue please forward to the planning commission <br /> Date: Wednesday,February 23,2022 4:10:14 PM <br /> To whom it may concern: <br /> I am writing in opposition to the proposed rezoning at the corner of 161st Avenue and <br /> Variolite. There needs to be a significant amount of study into the impact of this rezoning to <br /> the community and the safety of that type of use. This request should be denied until this <br /> study has been done. <br /> This area is not typical of this type of use. It is non typical for school use because it is not safe <br /> for the users. Even though the applicant seems willing to accept the unsafe traffic conditions <br /> this presents to the people who need to get to and from the building every day, is the City of <br /> Ramsey and its taxpayers willing to accept playing catchup with the safety improvements in <br /> this intersection. No improvements suitable for this area are likely to make this area safe. Are <br /> we willing to accept a few crashes as the inevitable on this intersection or as the traffic drives <br /> though the residential road the parcel is accessed from. <br /> Do we have an idea what the cost is to the taxpayers that would not be needed but for this <br /> use? The current improvements planned for 161st avenue and variolite were not designed <br /> with this increased traffic in mind. When we are reacting to the safety concerns this traffic <br /> brings are we going to be assessing the applicant for those costs or all of the taxpayers of the <br /> City of Ramsey. <br /> Typically zoning is intended for reasonable transition from one type of area to another. It is <br /> meant to protect areas from non consistent use that disrupts the quiet enjoyment for at least <br /> the zoned use of their land. This is a completely different use and no other area rezoned to <br /> allow for school has such a striking difference. None of our schools are built in areas where <br /> there isn't direct access to a main road and do not exit onto a rural residential street. This is <br /> not consistent. Is it right that we should change how we transition zoning because we want <br /> this school? <br /> A school may be good for Ramsey but we need to consider is this a safe area for these <br /> students, staff and teachers to get in and out of the school. Is it safe for these residents, the <br /> adjoining neighborhoods. When considering the rezoning, I would urge you to determine the <br /> merits of this location and not the merits of a school in the community. Putting a school in an <br /> unsafe location means that we value a school above safety for that school. <br /> I am urging this commission to deny this application pending a full safety study on the effects <br /> of this traffic on Variolite and 161st Ave, a residential road and the roads in the adjoining <br />