Agenda - Council - 02/14/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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farmed and is currently under construction. As a result of the Ramsey Town Center project, the City feels it necessary to look at the surrounding land uses to determine its compatibility with the project andto identify potential synergies that may be gained w/th adjacent land uses and the Ramsey Town Center. In looking at the surrounding land uses, the City has determined that the land to the west of the Ramsey Town Center is most suited to benefit fi.om the Ramsey Town Center development but is also inconsistent with Ramsey Town Center uses in its current condition. This is based on looking at the land use patterns of the surrounding properties as described below. South of Ramsey Town Center: The land uses to the south are mostly a variety of highway orientated businesses and several underutilized parcels. The area contains a restaurant, veterinarian clinic, natural gas tank companies and used car sales and auto repair. These uses gain their access fi.om U.S. Highway 10 and are bordered on the north by the BNS&F raikoad. While these uses for the most part incompatible with the Ramsey Town Center, they are even more problematic for the Highway 10 corridor due to the multiple accesses they utilize. The Hwy. 10 Inter Regional Corridor Study identified the north site of the current highway as the future corridor of the Hwy. 10 when it is reconstructed as a freeway. While there has not been any decision on when the new Hwy. 10 will be constructed, it is clear that eventually the area south of the Ramsey Town Center will need to be acquired for highway purposes and therefore does not hold any development potential. East of Ramsey Town Center: Land use to the east of the Ramsey Town Center consists of several business parks (A.E.C. Energy Park, Gateway North Industrial Park). These business parks were developed within the last 10 years and contain a large employment base. Cormexus Energy (230 employees) has its headquarters located in this area~ Other larger employers include Anderson Daklen (160 employees), and Vision Ease (400 employees). These prope~ies were developed under zoning codes and covenants that required substantial investments in the buildings and improvements. For this reason, the area east of the Ramsey Town Center is utilized in an efficient manner, is compatible with the surrounding area and. provides a significant benefit (employment) for the area. Thus, the City finds that development or redevelopment of this area does not need to occur presently. North of Rarnsey Town Center: The area north of the Ramsey Town Center primarily consists of large-lot (greater than 1-acre) residential lots. This area is currently being studied, as required by the 2001 Ramsey Comprehensive Plan, for the suitability and feasibility of receiving City sewer and water for the residential parcels. While the study is currently being undertaken, it is reasonable to expect that the study will reveal that some areas should be redeveloped at greater residential density than currently exists. It is not expected that this study will identify any of the area north of the Ramey Town Center to be considered for future commercial/employment development. Therefore, the area north of the Ramsey Town Center is not an area that is desirable to have redeveloped as a commercial/retail/office node. West of Ramsey Town Center: The area immediately west oft_he Ramsey Town Center is comprised of a mixture of vacant land, industrial uses, outdoor storage, and 3 -235-