Ramsey Resident - 2006 - June - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Development ~ Looking for Ways to Track Development Activity in the Community? In many instances, State statutes require Cities to conduct public hear- ings regarding various land use issues. Notice of these public hear- ings are required to be published in the official city newspaper; usually at least 10 days, but not more than 30 days, before the hearing is scheduled to occur. Ramsey's official newspaper is Anoka County Union newspaper. In some cases, the statutes also require that copies of the public hear- ing notice be mailed to persons owning property within 350 feet of the property that is the subj ect of the land use application. However, statutes also state that failure to give notice or a defect in the notice does not invalidate the proceedings if a bona fide attempt was made. In all types of cases, Ramsey's City Code requirements for public notification are more stringent than State statutes. For instance, State statute does not require the developer of a residential plat to submit a sl(etch plan. Ramsey's City Code requires the developer to submit a sl(etch plan and that residents within 700 feet of the subject property are to be notified of the sketch plan propos- al and of the preliminary plat hearing. State statute requires a pub- lic hearing at the time of preliminary plat and that residents within 350 feet of the subj ect property receive notice of the hearing. Neither State statutes nor City Code requires public notifi- cation of final plat applications. The Community Development Department recently implemented stamping "Public Hearing Notice" in red inl( on the mailing envelopes for these types of mailings. When the city is preparing to send out notices, Staff utilizes the services of the Anoka County GIS Department to assemble a list of properties to be notified. Property records are updated quarterly, and therefore, the mailing list is not always 100% accurate. For that rea- son, the city began placing "Land Use Application" signs on the subject parcels to promote better communi- cation with the public. This is an example of the city's attempt to better inform the public of pending devel- opments or land use applications. The land use application may be some- thing as simple as a variance to the side yard setback for a garage or as significant as a newly proposed resi- dential neighborhood or commercial building. Residents can also access the city's website at www.ci.ramsey.mn.us to view and/or subscribe to receive email notifica- tions of upcoming City Council, Commission and Board agendas as a way to tracl( development activity in the community. In addition, residents and property owners can sub- scribe on -line to receive an email regarding public hearing notices. Within the Community Development Department pages of the website, there is a list and a map of pending commercial and residential developments. Often we receive inquires as to why the Ramsey Resident newsletter is not utilized to distribute informa- tion regarding proposed developments. This newsletter is pub- lished every other month and most often the agendas for the various Council, Boards and Commissions are not finalized until two to three weeks before the meeting occurs. City Staff will continue to worl( at finding ways to better use the newsletter for this purpose. In summary, there are several ways that residents can keep up to date on development activity in the community: · Subscribe to the Anoka County Union (ABC Newspapers) · Watch for city notices in the mail · Check the website periodically and/ or subscribe to receive email notifications · Call the city for information regarding Land Use Application sIgns. www.ci.ramsey.mn.us 3