2001 Correspondence - Laserfiche WebLink

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AUG -24 -2001 14:50 HAMLINE LAID SCHOOL 5232236 P.. 03/05 4) Council agreed that it should develop its comprehensive plan in light of the city's needs and should not be controlled by Metropolitan Council guidelines. The Council members believe that Metropolitan Council guidelines will be met by good city planning and final compliance with Metropolitan Council standards is possible and likely to occur. 5) The Council is not in agreement with the proper mix of residential and industrial/commercial land use for the City of Ramsey. During the discussion several proposals were considered. One proposal included approximately 200 additional acres of industrial /commercial land. Some Council members desire more land for industrial/commercial purposes and other Council members are comfortable with the current land use allocation. 6) Council members have different views regarding mixed use (residential and industrial/commercial land use for the city). Some Council members have concerns regarding the proper distribution of residential property within mixed use areas and other Council members are concerned with the tax revenues generated by mixed use property. In general, Council members are not opposed to mixed use development if proper standards can be established, such as planning overlays and limits on the number and density of residential units. Several ideas related to industrial /commercial and residential use were addressed during Council discussions. 7) The Council seems to have reached an impasse on the issue of the town center, its location and land uses within the center. Disagreement exists regarding the town center, Section 28, and the amount of industrial /commercial property compared to the amoturt and location of residential units. The Council will need to revisit this issue to clarify land use within Section 28 and to address the issues of the location of commercial/retail facilities, the location of the railroad station and the amount of residential units allocated within the center area. However, some positive discussion occurred among Council members regarding mixed use within the center. Discussion among the Council members generated some agreement regarding the use of overlay development techniques, conditions and policies for development within town square and some positive suggestions were made regarding residential density. One suggestion made regarding residential unit density within the town center proposed a density of 12 units per acre for the area. This suggestion also included the idea that an overlay could be made to establish the location of the residential units within the arca. However, the Council has not yet reached an agreement on this issue. Guidelines for section 28 might eventually result from the initial discussion and resolution of this issue is essential before any comprehensive plan can be adopted. 8) The Council did not agree to a specific density transition plan, but several very useful ideas or principles were proposed and some agreement transition plan concepts occurred. The Council agreed that Mallard Pond was a successful development and might be used as a model in developing density transition principles in the future. . The Council seeks gradual change between land uses and the Council believes parks, linear space, buffering, free space and gradual change in density can protect property owners. Council also believes that the unique character of each property proposed for development will dictate the exact transition plan, but the Council wants basic density transition principles to apply to each proposed development. The city staff has been asked to draft a new density transition plan for Council consideration. The Council suggests using the principles from earlier proposals and to include language, which reflects its