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It tit Creative Solutions for Land Planning and Design Decernberl6,1997. Hoisington Koegler Group Inc. 11I11 (gO Guy Peterson Dick Thompson Metropolitan Council Mears Park Centre 230 East Fifth Street St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-1634 Re: Ramsey Comprehensive Plan Dear Guy and Dick: I would like to take a moment to reiterate some of the questions I raised at our December 15 meeting at . Ramsey City Hall. The answers to these questions could be important to the resolution of the issues cunently facing Ramsey. Question 1 -Is it the Metropolitan Council's intent to require sanitary sewer service to areas in Ramsey that are now substantially large-lot and rural in nature? H the answer to this question is yes, we will have a battle of unprecedented portions. If the answer is no we will have gone a longways to resolve the issue residents seem most concerned about. Question 2 - Might we he abk to think in terms of a permanent rural area located approximately between MUSA and Trott Brook? This generally correlates with the Metropolitan Council's proposed urban reserve. Might we expect to have lot sizes that are based on their ability to support on-site utilities (i.e. two drain fields)? Question 3 - Might we think in terms of aggregating publit: open space in greenways along drainageways and around wetlands rather than have it be private and randomly located based on the whims of landowners? There seems to be a great deal of value in creating a connected system of open. spaces rather than privately held open spaces that correlate with peoples' backyards in 4/40 fashion. Private open spaces will do very little to create connections or preserve the rural character. You asked if we could live with 5,200 additional households between now and 20201 I indicated that we would try to accommodate that number but in looking at existing conditions and the probable future MUSA, a substantial portion of it is covered by shoreland zoning which means that wban densities will, of necessity, be relatively low. While we will try to acbieve 5,200 new households, it may be virtually impossible to reach that target without going almost exclusively to multi-family housing within MUSA, a scenario that will essentially stop development in Ramsey. There are some very critical issues that we are hoping to resolve as part of our current Focus Group . process. Your answers to these questions could help us resolve them short of litigation. H you have any ques~ons, please give me a call. Sincerely, ~ Hoisington, A1CP FLH:jrj 123 North Third Street, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1659 Ph (612) 338-0800 Fx (612) 338-6838