1.B Preparation for TCAAP Public Sale

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MEMORANDUM Item 1.11 DATE: October 28, 2009 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Ron Moorse, City Administrator SUBJECT: Preparation for TCAAP Public Sale At the October 20 joint work session with the Ramsey County Board, the board reconfirmed their interest in accepting the Wildlife Corridor and indicated a possible interest in the primer tracer area. However, the Board indicated it was not interested in acquiring the majority of the property for a regional park use. Based on their response, the public sale of the property is likely to move forward; since the GSA has suggested the Wildlife Corridor, and possibly the primer tracer area, can be transferred as part of the auction process The next significant step in the public sale process is the bidders' conference scheduled for November 18, at which potential buyers will be looking for direction from the City regarding the type of development desired on the property. Also, since the property will be sold by public auction rather than through a negotiated sale with a pre -approved master development plan, the City's control over the development of the property will be based on the land use controls that are in place at the time of the sale, particularly the Comprehensive Plan., zoning regulations, and design standards. The foundation of the City's direction to potential buyers at the bidders' conference, and the basis for any amendments to the City's Comprehensive Plan and zoning regulations, is a shared broad vision for the reuse of the property. Ideally, an outline of the key elements of this vision would be available for the November 18 bidders' conference. In an effort to meet that timeline, staff will prepare a working outline for a draft vision for Council review and discussion at the November 9 TCAAP work session. The outline will be based on staff s understanding of the Council's views of the reuse of the property, and staff s thoughts about how best to build those views into a vital, viable development concept. The focus of the November 9 TCAAP work session would then be a process of discussing the working outline for the draft vision, and working toward agreement on an outline of the key elements of the vision.