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<br />devaluing his property. Mr. Hunt stated when the Brookfield property was being developed and <br />presented he did not have any objections. He said if they develop the way they should and put <br />the right outlets in for the property that is good; it is his land and he can develop it. But now all <br />of a sudden the housing market dies and he has a hard time selling his lots, so the City has to take <br />all this land off the market until some of those lots get sold. No one stepped in and bailed him <br />out when the market dropped a couple of years ago. He does not see why the City has to do that <br />for developers. They put their money in and they anticipate what the market is gong to be; when <br />it goes against them Ramsey should not step in and bail them out. It is a bit disingenuous to say <br />this is being done for the good of Ramsey; they are doing it for the good of Brookfield <br />Development. That should be clear and that is really not legal. Mr. Hunt stated it frustrates him <br />every time he sees the City put ordinances in place that change his property. There are people <br />with one acre lots all over the place. All of a sudden the City sees a nice meadow, and decides <br />they should isolate it and take it away from him so he can't do anything with it. That is his land. <br />The City keeps passing laws and micromanaging the whole place and they do not even have <br />enough policemen and inspectors to follow up on their laws. The intention of this is to take <br />property off the market and he thinks it is wrong. This devalues his property if he wants to sell it. <br /> <br />Mr. Steve Schminski, 17333 Wolverine, stated a 24 acre lot to the east of Gibbon and north of <br />173rd Avenue came into their family due to a death. Their intent is to sell this land, not to build <br />on it. He questioned whether this extension to 2008 will turn into 2009 and 2010. They want to <br />know what they can do with this land. To the west of the land there are people that live in homes <br />that may be interested in buying it. He questioned if that would be possible. Mr. Schminski <br />stated he has a real concern that this will get extended out. He does not want to have to sit on <br />this piece of property; he wants to be able to give someone that may want to buy it an answer. <br />They also have a 2 acre lot south of 173rd Avenue with a party interested in buying it, but he is <br />not sure they can sell it. <br /> <br />Associate Planner Geisler invited Mr. Schminski to meet with staff and talk specifically about his <br />property. She indicated the City is required by state law to update the Comprehensive Plan by <br />the end of 2008 date, so that is a firm date. <br /> <br />Commissioner Hunt noted many of the people are concerned about what the 2008 <br />Comprehensive Plan might be like in this area. If it is known whether the City is looking at <br />something other than 4 in 40, it may provide a better feel of what this gentleman can do with his <br />property. <br /> <br />Associate Planner Geisler indicated she hears there is a need for certainty and that property <br />owners want to know what the rules are. The Comprehensive Plan process is expected to begin <br />in the summer of 2007. At this point it is not known what will be put in place for the rural area, <br />but there are a lot of issues coming up tonight that illustrate many challenges. There is existing <br />rural development on one to two acre lots where people may not be supportive of the <br />development of adjacent larger parcels. There are property owners with large parcels looking to <br />develop. There are some bigger issues to work out with the Comprehensive Plan update, and <br />there will be many opportunities for property owners to participate. <br /> <br />Planning Commission/January 4, 2007 <br />Page 20 of 36 <br /> <br />P20 <br />