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and time again that they need to clean up the image of Ramsey along Highway 10. He stated that <br />the highway project was redesigned and very few of those properties will go away so the City now <br />needs to determine what to do. He stated that minimum standards have been put in place for auto <br />sales and therefore that will be the most impacted industry. He stated that those businesses could <br />fix up their existing building, repair the parking lot and operate as they do today, but could not add <br />licenses or expand the use. <br />Commissioner Heineman asked if those businesses would be required to rehab the building, or <br />whether they would simply be allowed to do so. <br />Planning Manager Larson replied that the businesses would be allowed to do that but would not <br />be required to do so. <br />Commissioner Heineman noted that there are some properties previously marked as PUD that <br />would now be labeled as parks and open space, one of which is Rum River Hills Golf Course. He <br />stated that it is his understanding that if the golf course were to sell the property, under the current <br />zoning it would be allowed to develop as residential, but under the new zoning that would not be <br />allowed. <br />Planning Manager Larson replied that in the case of Rum River Hills, there is a piece of property <br />that it has been eyeing for residential development and that is marked as urban reserve. He noted <br />that only the course itself would be proposed to change to parks/open space. He stated that if they <br />wanted to redevelop the golf course, a rezoning could be requested. <br />Commissioner Heineman commented that it would seem the proposed zoning would negatively <br />impact the property owner if they wanted to sell and develop homes. <br />Planning Manager Larson replied that the current PUD for that property is for the golf course, <br />therefore if they wanted to build homes on that property, they would still need to come forward to <br />amend the PUD or request a PUD which would be the same process of rezoning. <br />Commissioner Heineman commented that he supports the golf course as he lives in that area but <br />just wanted to ensure that the course was represented and aware of the changes. <br />Commissioner Peters referenced the auto dealerships and statement that they could improve the <br />existing buildings and asked if additional square footage could be added or whether the building <br />could be torn down and a new building constructed. <br />Planning Manager Larson replied that in his previous experience the determination of the City <br />Attorney was that the building could be expanded because the area proposed for expansion was <br />over the current sales lot and therefore the essential use was not changing, as the vehicle was still <br />for sale in that location, just inside instead of outside. He stated that they would still work with <br />anyone that wanted to improve their property and work with reasonable requests with the input of <br />the City Attorney. <br />Planning Commission/ July 27, 2023 <br />Page 3 of 18 <br />