Ramsey Resident - 2007 - March/April

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~ Development RaIDsey3 Please join us! We are a group of Ramsey citizens who almost two years ago began meeting to discuss the city's future. This diverse group focused on how to preserve what is good about our city. Over the next year, the group explored what was happening in other cities, learning about ideas such as the New Urbanism, form-based codes, and walkability. Many communities that had applied these con- cepts evoked the small towns some of us remelllbered growing up in. When the group outlined some of these ideas to the City Coun- cil and staff a year ago, their positive response resulted in the award of a grant from the McKnight Foundation. We call the process Ramsey3. It seeks to involve the entire community in a three-part visioning process, not merely a slllall group. Ramsey 1 consists of four public forums and staff/council workshops with nationally-renowned experts in transporta- tion, innovative zoning, regional intersections and community ecology. Ramsey2 is an innovative community-wide visioning meeting. Ramsey3 will prepare the working document that will guide the new comprehen- sive plan based on the vision articulated by Ramsey2. Rl: Critical Issues Forums 7:00 pm - Alexander Ramsey Room Dates Listed Below Ramsey Municipal Center 7550 Sunwood Drive NW Sessions on Regional Intersections and Community Ecology were held earlier in February. Tune into QCTV Channel 16 for the replay. March 29, 2007, Forum Three: Innovative Zoning. What are alternatives to traditional zoning codes that have been success- fully used in other COllllllunities? Sveaker: Leslie Oberholtzer. Farr and Associates. Chicago. IL April 12, 2007, Forum Four: Transportation Alternatives. How can we incorporate a variety of transportation choices in- cluding biking and walking trails as well as mass transit a com- munity transportation systelll. Sveaker: Dan Burden. Glatting JacksonlWalkable Communities. Orlando. FL R3 Steerin~ Committee Ralph Brauer, Planning Commission Joe McDilda, Environmental Policy Board Sarah Strommen, Ramsey City Council Will Thompsen, Town Center Task Force Patrick Trudgeon, City of Ramsey R2: Open Space Technology (OST) We invite you, your friends and neigh- bors to a community gathering on the evening of May 4 and all day Saturday May 5 at the Ralllsey Municipal Center. For this session, we will use the responses about the best of Ramsey to generate a vision of Ramsey's future. People around the world have used the OST process, which allows participants to create their own agenda and decide the results. Ramsey3 marks the first time it has been used by a city in the Twin Cities area. So not only will we be pioneering a new vision for Ramsey but also a new way of em- powering all citizens. We invite you to join us and your neighbors in starting the process by identifying what YOU think are thefive best things about Ramsey, the things that Ramsey should always be, always have, always do. They could be organizations, policies, places, ideas, events, institu- tions like schools, even your favorite place in the city to eat, shop or just take a walk. If you would write them down and send them or do this through the website, www. ramsey3.org, (which also will post results) and through the R3 suggestion box in the new municipal center. We urge you to get your friends and neighbors involved in this effort, as more public involvement means a more successful process. R3: Outlining the New Comprehensive Plan The fralllework for the city's future de- velopment will follow the recomlllendations made during the Open Space sessions. The alternatives outlined during the forums will provide the com- munity with innovative ways to implelllent this vi- slon. Please go to www.ramsey3.org and register to participate in the forums and list your 5 favorite things about Ramsev! www.ci.ramsey.mn.us 3