CCP 08-14-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I protests, well-spoken, reasoned opposition, expressions of environmental concern, and the developer not having I revised plans per previous commission direction, the plan was passed on to the City Council with a reco=endation for approval. It seems that City maps told two stories: the zoning map showed residential I zoning, but some land use maps indicated dedicated open space. Residents, having thought there was a commitment to keep the area wild, felt deceived and angry. They formed the Neighbors of Valentine Lake association and are fighting back. They feel their organized efforts encouraged the Environmental I Assessment Worksheet that the City Council has ordered. The neighbors hope for a "knockout punch" that will preserve the area, seen by many as a key wildlife/wetlands corridor. Dan Ogren insists he will develop the property, if not as townhomes as detached homes. Ogren has revised the original plans and resubmitted I them to the Planning Committee. The Environmental Assessment Worksheet is completed, and the 30 day public comment period has begun. Opponents feel the worksheet's fmdings are short-sighted and incomplete, and are marshalling forces to present, through written co=entary, what they feel are pressing concerns. Their I hope is to stop the development, or at least to force a more thorough investigation of the impacts. Next review at Planning Commission September 6. Stay tuned! County Road F, from Highway 35W to Old Snelling is being turned over to Arden I Paved with Hills by Ramsey County. The problem? The road has served as a torture test for any good intents? vehicles traveling this route. Ramsey County was willing to resurface, but engineers felt I this would be a short-term band-aid over a seriously deteriorated roadbed. A total reconstruction is in process. Residents along the road felt the cause of deterioration and benefactors of I reconstruction are primarily Ryder Transportation and Mounds View High School with their associated heavy vehicles and traffic, that the sidewalk and total road width proposed were unnecessary and unwanted, and the residential $31.95 per frontage foot assessment is inappropriate. City officials contend this is comparable to I similar road reconstruction in the city in recent years, and that the lion's share of the actual costs are being born by Ramsey County and State of Minnesota funding. THE RECONSTRUGrION IS A FIASCO, in the eyes of many local residents. City Administrator, Brian Fritsinger, drives the route to work each morning to see ifhe I can get through so he can judge the calls he will receive and need to make; Council Member Beverly Aplikowski has waded through calf-deep mud from her mired auto; at times there has been no access to a I neighborhood of 150 houses for any vehicles, even emergency vehicles, prompting complaint to the Sheriffs Department; individual homes have been without power, water, and access all at the same time. Let's hope the City Engineer, who is supposedly overseeing this project, gets his act together SQQll, especially with the Perry I Park project due to start! TCAAP Everyone seems to want a piece (or all!) of the old arsenal land. This property is I Land Rush? a part of Arden Hills, and the city is working to keep it that way. Arden Hills has hired a consultant, Camiros, Ltd., to help assure that Arden Hills continues to playa lead role in the disposition of the Twin City Army Ammunition Plant. The city is I advising Congressman Bruce Vento's committee, and has targeted September 1 for completion of a formal plan for the property. This will be just the start: the planning will become an on-going process .until there is I actual disposition of the property. (While the State has control over expansion of gambling sites and Arnie Carlson is Governor, there is little likelihood of a Casino. This could change if current proposal to give Federal Government jurisdiction over gambling is enacted.) It seems local consensus is that residents want more Arden I Hills as we know it: wooded areas and privacy but not huge parklands, appropriate light co=ercial and office to enhance the tax base but bufferred from homes, and more of the types of housing now in the co=unity. Next Task Force Meetings August 16 & 24. I I