Minutes - Council - 03/28/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Further discussion: Mayor Gamec commented Mr. Strandlund has been pretty agreeable to work with. The City may not have had itself all in line on this, and a lot of things have come up that made several of the councilmembers change their mind. At the same time, he feels maybe they should have thought about things more, rather than to put Shade Tree through all the things before they came up with this. The general feeling was that the cluster ordinance is right; problems came up that they did not think they would deal with. The cul-de-sac is a normal requirement. The Council is trying to improve this ordinance; he knows it is frustrating with all the work Shade Tree has done; he does not want it to be at a point where they are knocking each other and taking shots; they need to have respect of each other. Mr. Strandlund could be helpful in working with the Council to come up with a better ordinance. Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Councilmember Strommen, to adopt a resolution commissioning further study of the rural developing area and cluster ordinance within the City of Ramsey, Anoka County, Minnesota. Further discussion: Mayor Gamec commented generally items of this type are brought forward and discussed at a work session. He was not aware of anything like this coming forward; the whole Council should have been aware of this before the meeting. City Attorney Goodrich reviewed the resolution commissioning further study of the rural developing area and cluster ordinance within the City of Ramsey. Councilmember Olson stated even though the Council is just seeing this for the first time, it has been in the back of everyone's mind for a long time. They have the fight tool, but they need different options on that tool; seeing the ordinance in place, it is not working. City Attorney Goodrich advised this resolution would essentially implement what the Council discussed at work session where action is not taken. Councilmember Olson commented based on the crowd tonight and the 35 letters she has received, the Council needs to do work on this ordinance. Councilmember Elvig stated the pressure on this has become abundantly clear to him. The Council has wanted to get back to work session on this ordinance. They did not want 2-½ acre lot projects moving forward, so they moved on this ordinance quickly. The Council had hoped to address the issues and refine this ordinance, and that did not happen. A lot of people have made very intelligent comments about some of the concerns; some comments are about building in their back yard, and the Council needs to address that. A lot of this has to do with buffering, wetland, and greenspace. In looking at this and the action tonight, his concern was whether they were legal in doing so, and it took until today to be sure they had legal grounds to take this action. He understands the hardship that has been placed on a developer, and he would make a motion that the developer is reimbursed the dollars. The frustration is there with all of them, certainly with the 120 signers on the petition and the residents he has spoken with. They have the right tool; they need to protect future development. However, he does not think they have honed the tool properly to make it work correctly. This would be a one year moratorium; if they can get to this issue sooner and clear it up the moratorium can be released. Councilmember Jeffrey commented this is the first time he has seen this resolution as well. He sat on the Planning Commission during the development of the cluster ordinance, and he thinks it is the fight tool. At the time, the Planning Commission discussed things like preserving open space and creating the greenway corridor. He thinks the ordinance needs retooling and time to study the ordinance would be appropriate. Councilmember Pearson concurred. Councilmember Strommen stated the piece of the cluster ordinance that has bothered her is that it does not include provisions for permanent open space. City Council / March 28, 2006 Page 20 of 31