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• Background: CONSIDER ADOPTION OF RAMSEY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN By: James E. Norman, City Administrator CASE #: The City has been working on the 2020 Comprehensive Plan for over four years. The formal Plan review began on October 4, 2000. The formal review of the Comprehensive Plan was made by the Metropolitan Council on March 28, 2001. A public hearing was held by the Planning Commission on June 21, 2001, and the Planning Commission reviewed the comments and recommended adoption during the meeting of November 5, 2001. The submittal of the Comprehensive Plan to the Metropolitan Council was also followed by facilitator -led discussions concerning proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan. Those discussions were completed in a work session held on November 26, 2001. The Council requested the Planning Commission hold a public hearing to consider the changes and a public hearing has been scheduled for January 24, 2002. The City has received correspondence from the Metropolitan Council concerning the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan dated December 10, 2001, (attached to case). It reminds the City that State law requires a community to adopt a Plan within nine months from the date of the Council action. Final action by the Ramsey City Council is therefore required by December 28, 2001. If the changes to the Comprehensive Plan that the City is currently contemplating and submitted after December 28, 2001, the City will appear to be in violation of State law and would therefore be required to begin the full Comprehensive Plan process again. The Metropolitan Council has proposed that the City simply adopt the Plan approved by the Metropolitan Council on March 28, 2001, on or before December 28, 2001, which would satisfy the State law requirement for Plan approval. The changes currently under consideration would then be handled as simple plan amendments. The Metropolitan Council procedures for Plan amendments allow staff to administratively handle amendments under 40 acres. Usually the Metropolitan Council completes such reviews in 10 days or less. Amendments over 40 acres are taken to the Council for action, but are also handled on a faster track than full Comprehensive Plan reviews. The City Council discussed the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan during their December 11, 2001, meeting. The City Council asked that a case be prepared and the action be placed on the Council agenda of December 18. The Council suggested including the language adopted by the City Council on September 25, 2001, which changed the Central Planning Area to Central Rural Preserve Area. Staff has made the changes as directed by the Council. Staff is therefore recommending that the City Council adopt the Comprehensive Plan submitted and reviewed by the Metropolitan Council on March 28, 2001. Subsequently, the City will continue its process on the amendments to the March 28, 2001 draft and hold the public hearing for those changes as scheduled on January 24, 2002, and submit those amendments to the Metropolitan Council sometime in February 2002.