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July 1st, 2017 City of Arden Hills Attention: City Planner, Ryan Streff, Planning Commission and City Council Re: County proposing to add food and waste collection, SSO at Arden Hills compost We live near the Arden Hills compost and have for 17 years. The County applied to do this in 2014 but it did not pass because the residents spoke and said, we don’t want this next to our homes and in our park. It is 2017 now and I still don’t want trash being stored in my backyard in my park. Since 2014, there are 6 other sites in Ramsey County that residents can bring their SSO to so we have plenty of options. We are highly against it being added to a park and residential area . We are highly against it being added to the Arden Hills Compost which is in a park and residential area for many reasons. 1) SMELL: We feel even though the county claims there will be minimal smell because all items are in a container. We do not agree. We think the smell when the container is open and closed and with winds will be carried a great distance including to all people enjoying the beach on Lake Johanna right next to the compost, as well as all of our backyards. We use to smell the compost and are happy to have that smell better now, we don’t want to add more stinky smells again. They claim that there hasn’t been complaints against smell at their other locations but that is because many of them are not in a residential area and I don’t believe any of them are in a park with high foot traffic with people that walk regularly around and through the areas. 2) TRAFFIC INCREASE AND YEAR ROUND: The traffic is already too great for people coming and going to drop off their leaves, trees and shrubs. The county reported over 50,000 visits to the site and remember the compost is currently open April to November for 5 days a week, adding in December to March would be a huge increase in traffic since it is currently closed during those months. We saw a large increase in traffic when they added in trees and shrub drop off. 3) PROPERY VALUES WILL DECREASE: Fact, no one wants to live next to trash, even when it is in a “container”. They wrote,’…that it is unlikely to significantly affect land values on neighboring properties’. My question is what does significant mean? I don’t want my property value to go down one dollar. This is an optional proposal that the Planning Commission and City Council can and should say NO to. According to the city, the compost on all 4 sides is either bordered by park or residential space. The reason the county has to apply for a conditional use permit to do this and they can’t just do it, is because it is in a residential area, specifically the R-2 Single and Two Family Home Residential District. 4) OTHER SITES ARE IN OPERATION: The Arden Hills residents have so many options currently in place that are close to take their SSO to, there is no reason to add this site. We feel that our compost should not be included because it is in a park, with trails in it and around it and in a residential area. We feel the other compost sites are better suited for this option. 5) ANIMALS: We are concerned about animals. Animals have an excellent sense of smell and more will be drawn to the area such as raccoons, coyotes, rats, mice, skunks. There will then be a danger to people on the trails and in their yards. Which is our concern, small dogs, small