Agenda - Planning Commission - 03/02/2006

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9.22 Mississippi River Overlay District A. Preamble. The City of Ramsey is located on the northern end of the state Mississippi River Critical Area Corridor, regulated by the State Critical Areas Act and Executive Order 79-19, and the southern end of a portion of the Mississippi River, regulated by the State Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. These two management areas intend to preserve and protect scenic, aesthetic, recreational, natural, historical, cultural, biological, ecological and other functions of the Mississippi River corridor while balancing use and development concerns. Ramsey is especially unique in that lands along the Mississippi River are regulated by both Acts. Although each act intends to protect the river corridor from degradation, they accomplish it through somewhat different approaches. The Metropolitan Council's Regional Development Framework guides Mississippi River Corridor lands for urban development. In addition, Ramsey's Comprehensive Plan identifies nearly all of the land within the corridor as being appropriate for urban development. Although policy directions provided by both documents support the preservation of corridor resources, they also promote a development pattern with greater density and intensity than Critical Areas and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act regulations. Minnesota Department of Natural Resource Shoreland Management regulations also have application to those lands immediately adjacent to the river. In order to provide a consistent regulatory approach to Mississippi River Corridor lands, policy implications of all guiding documents must be carefully balanced with existing corridor conditions to provide regulations that can be effectively administered. The Mississippi River Overlay District provides the regulatory means to combine the Critical Areas Act and Rules, Executive Order 79-19, the Minnesota Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and Rules for the Mississippi Wild and Scenic River into a single management district for lands designated under Executive Order 79-19 within the City of Ramsey. B. Findings. The City of Ramsey finds that the Mississippi River Corridor within the Metropolitan Area and the City is a unique and valuable local, state, regional and national resource. The river is an essential element in the local, regional, state and national transportation, sewer and water and recreational system and serves important biological and ecological functions. The prevention and mitigation of irreversible damage to this resource and the preservation and enhancement of its natural, aesthetic, cultural and historic values is in furtherance of the health, safety and general welfare of the City. C. Purpose and Intent. It is the purpose and intent of the Mississippi River Overlay District to protect and preserve a unique and valuable state and regional resource for the benefit of the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens for the state, region, and nation; prevent and mitigate irreversible damage to this unique state, local regional and national resource, to preserve and enhance its values to the public, protect and preserve the system as an essential element in the City's transportation, sewer and water and recreational systems, protect and preserve the biological and ecological functions of the Corridor in accordance with the following policies: The Mississippi River Corridor shall be managed as a multi-purpose public resource by continuing use of the river channel for transportation, conserving the scenic environmental, recreational, mineral, economic; cultural and historic resources and page l Mississippi River Overlay District Draft- Oct '05 89