Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/17/2023 - Special

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CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION CITY OF RAMSEY ANOKA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA The Ramsey City Council conducted a City Council Special Work Session on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at the Ramsey Municipal Center, 7550 Sunwood Drive NW, Ramsey, Minnesota. Members Present: Mayor Mark Kuzma Councilmember Chelsee Howell Councilmember Debra Musgrove Councilmember Michael Olson Councilmember Chris Riley Councilmember Dan Specht Councilmember Matt Woestehoff Also Present: City Administrator Brian Hagen Planning Manager Todd Larson Community Development Director Stephanie Hanson 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kuzma called the City Council Work Session to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 2.01: Zoning Code Update Planning Manager Larson reviewed the Staff report concerning the zoning code and zoning map updates. Councilmember Riley stated that he does not approve of this map as he does not approve of less than 80 feet lots. He noted that it seems like they are going about this the wrong way. He shared that he would be in favor of changing the Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Kuzma asked how this would work with the Met Council. Planning Manager Larson reviewed the Comprehensive Plan map. He shared that every 10 years the Met Council puts together their system statement which is basically a vision for the entire Twin Cities area. He explained that they look at growth and other factors and divvy up the growth amongst all communities and every city is allocated a number of how many units they should anticipate over the next 20 years. He noted that it is then up to the cities to figure out what they would like to do with these units. He stated that the City set aside very little land for higher density housing and because of this, a lot of the units that were allocated fell onto the low density category. He explained that if more spots were set aside for higher densities then there would be less spots City Council Special Work Session/ October 17, 2023 Page 1 of 16