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_________________________________________________________________________________________ City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting for April 9, 2014 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2014\PC 14-001 - Zoning Code Amendment - Parks and Open Space District Rezoning\Memos_14-001 Page 2 of 4 Summary of Proposed Rezoning AHATS is comprised of a total of eight separate parcels. Staff has identified four of these parcels as being appropriate for rezoning as Conservation District at this time (Attachment A). These parcels approximately cover the area bound by County Road I on the north, Lexington Avenue on the east, Highway 96 on the south, and on the west, by a line extending directly north from Snelling Avenue North to County Road I. The remaining four parcels are located on the western half of AHATS, adjacent to the TCAAP redevelopment site and the Rice Creek North Regional Trail. The Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Department is currently working with the federal government to have additional land on these four parcels transferred to the County to be incorporated into their park system. Specifically, these acquisitions would expand the existing boundaries of the Rice Creek North Regional Trail property and add a wildlife corridor along the eastern boundary of the TCAAP site extending south to Highway 96. These additional lands were identified in the Amendment to the Rice Creek Regional Trail Master Plan, which was approved by the City Council on June 24, 2013. Following the completion of the land transfer, the City will work with Ramsey County to rezone the property acquired by the County as Parks and Open Space District. That land remaining under federal ownership would be rezoned Conservation District at that time as well. Included in Attachment B is a map that provides an approximate illustration of what this future rezoning will look like. In 1999, the City amended the Zoning Code to include a new Civic Center District located along the north side of Highway 96, between Snelling and Lexington Avenue. When the zoning map was amended, the Civic Center classification was extended beyond the property boundaries for Arden Hills City Hall and the Ramsey County Public Works Department to partially include a portion of one of the AHATS parcels. The proposed amendment would rezone that area of this parcel now zoned Civic Center as Conservation District. Consistency with the Arden Hills Comprehensive Plan In September of 2009, the City Council adopted the Arden Hills 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The plan outlines general vision and goals, which are intended to guide the City’s policies and strategies. The adopted Future Land Use Map designates 1,449 acres on AHATS as Park Preserve (Attachment C). This land use is defined in the Comprehensive Plan as “areas designated as natural or scenic areas that are to be preserved for public use or open space.” A majority of the AHATS site is now zoned R-1 single-family residential. Minnesota State law mandates that local zoning codes are consistent with adopted comprehensive plans. The