05-27-26 EDC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 22, 2026 3 Community Development Director Reilly said the request is to add a line item in the work plan that addresses the Strategic Plan Direction, “Enhancing Our Identity & Strengthening Our Partnerships,” resulting in clear city boundaries through developing an approach for identifying “gateway” signs. The May or June agenda will contain information on the proposed sites for that discussion. There is $310,000 budgeted for these signs. Recommendation is requested no later than March of 2027. Staff will prepare information on the history, costs and right of way/location identification. Discussion ensued regarding sign regulations and if gateway signs need to follow current sign code. Commissioner Bonine recalls that this is a lot of money and we need to discuss what value they bring. The geographical area will be affected by RCC. What boundaries are we talking about? Will developers pay for gateway signs? Council Liaison Rousseau asked when the sign ordinance will be reviewed by Council. Community Development Director Reilly said staff would like signs to be their own chapter for ease of future review and revision. He hopes to get the sign code done even if the rest takes longer. He would like council to see it sooner rather than later and get the Planning Commission’s opinion. Commissioner Poelzer asked if someone can look into when we had flags on the light poles on County Road E. She said those flags faded in the sun. The technology has improved. She thinks we should discuss using flags to brand Arden Hills. Discussion ensued regarding the need for identifying Arden Hills similar to how Hugo does it. Flags could highlight businesses. Further discussion ensued that the EDA has some budget, but EDC does not currently have anything budgeted (from the EDA fund). Senior Planner Fransen said we are still on schedule to get everything back to Council. Community Development Director Reilly said it would move along faster if we amend the plan now to have that Work Plan item added. He thinks there are intern opportunities. We can adopt the work plan as the final, with the addition of the gateway sign discussion. A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Chair Murchie to approve the EDC Work Plan, as amended to include gateway signs. Motion passed unanimously. B. Arden Hills/Shoreview Business Connect Discussion Senior Planner Fransen said part of the work plan is to connect to the Arden Hills/Shoreview Business Connect. Each year, Arden Hills hosts two of the four quarterly meetings. They establish the date and time. The meeting is open to all. Senior Planner Fransen said the last meeting was on March 11 in Shoreview. Attendance was higher than the RSVP responses. A presenter provided an update on the headquarters for the fire department. EDC is being asked to consider how the EDC will be involved with this type of event moving forward. These are established events, vs. us trying to create our own event. We should think about how EDC can be involved when Arden Hills hosts the event. We can consider speakers