Minutes - Planning Commission - 04/01/1997 - Public Hearing @ 8:36

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Mark Commers Carole McNaughton-Commets 16201 Wolfram St NW Ramsey MN 55303 March 8, 1997 Ramsey C~ty Council and Ramsey Planning Commission Dear City Representatives: We would like to express our concerns regarding the proposed subdivision of homes, "Apple Ridge", on Highway 47/St Francis Blvd. We have been tr3,in~g to keep updated on the_pro~gr~ess of-this development:, unfortunately, we have not had the opportunity to attend any of the meetings which we have seen on cable television. Please accept this'letter in lieu ofpresenee at the meeting, Hopefully we wilt be ableto attend future hearings. ' Our concerns with the proposal are #1) the number of homes ~ approximately 12t-143 as we understand it. This concern is directly related to our concern #2) traffic and safety of Highway 47/St Francis Btv&. With two cars per household, that is a dramatic increase in the number of cars attempting to pull out onto 47 and merge into 55 mile per hour traffic, as well as merge onto-47 from the Highway 5 connection. #3) we are opposed to the idea of funneling the neighborhoodtraffic~onto t6ot~tty-access~7for similar reasons to the above. In addition, 160th Lane is busy as a main accessforXhehomes ulYto One mille west of 47, which is where we are located. Finally, #4) we believe the quality and value of the area would be diminished by the smaller lots and. number of homes.withlessgreen space. When4ve explored the areaas a possible residence five years ago, we were willing to go farther north to have the space and feeling of being more removed from the city-lotot_y~pe of houses and subdivisionslhat are jammed intomost areas of Coon Rapids, Andover, Maple Grove, and others. All of these things considered, we believe that a development here would be acceptable-at atower number of residences with a minimum of one acre lots. This would help to maintain the quality of life that residents and visitors have come to enjo3, and expect of this area while still allowing controlled development. We also believe that there are numerous people tike us who Wilt come to thisarea and pay a higher price to.get that quality and that feeling. We hope you will consider these concerns when making your upcoming decisions regarding "Apple Ridge" so the community of Ramsey does not become another area that people are moving out of to "get away from it all" when this is the place that people used to come to for that reason. Thank you!