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Rural Use Policy. <br />Prior to January 1, 1990, the policy of the City was to <br />limit development outside of the MUSA to one lot per 10 <br />acres of remaining undeveloped property with a minimum lot <br />size of 2.5 acres. Table 5 indicates that 3,687 acres of <br />land in the "rural" area would be undeveloped (approximately <br />25 %). Also indicated on Table 5 is the existing development <br />density of the "rural" area which lot per 1.9 acres. <br />With the City's 2.5 acre minimum lot size applied to <br />remaining undeveloped land, that density can be reduced to 1 <br />lot per 2.8 acres. As a contrast with the implementation of <br />"four in forty" zoning on the remaining developable land, <br />the lowest average overall density that can be achieved is 1 <br />lot in 3.6 acres. <br />The City of Ramsey adopted Ordinance 89 - 33 to implement "4 <br />in 40" land use density for remaining undeveloped parcels <br />outside of the designated MUSA. The Ordinance is in <br />compliance with regional goals for rural density with <br />recognition of development rights associated with parcels of <br />record as of January 1, 1990. The Ordinance does not and <br />cannot reverse the development pattern of past years but <br />does create land use zones which will allow future public <br />service expansion into the City's urban reserve area. In <br />addition, the Ordinance provides for a diversity of living <br />styles in the community by assuring long term rural areas <br />that development will be restricted to compatible uses and <br />densities appropriate to rural areas. <br />Implementation of 4/40 Zoning <br />Numerous subdivisions were proposed and entered into the <br />City's subdivision review process while the City was <br />considering adoption of MC's 4/40 rural use policy. City <br />staff worked with MC staff to provide an orderly transition <br />period such that all plats or PUD's which received the City <br />Council's preliminary approval prior to January 1, 1990 (the <br />anticipated effective date of adoption for 4/40 zoning) <br />would be allowed to develop under the then current ordinance <br />(2.5 acre lots). This provided slightly less than a six <br />month transition process to convert from 2.5 acre density to <br />4/40. Figure 6 illustrates the subdivision locations which <br />received approvals prior to January 1, 1990. Ordinance <br />89 -33 further allows development of existing lots of record <br />as of January 1, 1990. <br />14 <br />