HomeMy WebLinkAboutComp Plan Worksession
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MEMORANDUM
DATE:
April 28, 2008
Work Session
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: James Lehnhoff, City Planne~
SUBJECT: 2008 Comprehensive Plan
Draft of the Vision, Policies, and Strategies by Chapter
Update
This special work session is a continuation of the Comprehensive Plan update discussion from the April 21,
2008, work session, The Council will be working from the same documents provided at the April 21, 2008,
work session. The information provided below is unchanged from the April 2 I, 2008, work session
memorandum.
Requested Action
Staff requests feedback on the goals, policies, and content in the draft 2008 Comprehensive Plan. Staff also
requests a review of the overall City vision statement, which has been slightly revised.
A draft of the Plan was sent to the City Council via email on April 16, 2008, Changes made to the draft Plan
since that date is noted in the attached document.
Backl!round
Although there are a number of important projects currently underway at the City, work on the 2008
Comprehensive Plan update has continued to move forward. The information collected at the community
meetings; City Council, Planning Commission, PTRC, and EDC work sessions; previous City plans; and
requirements set by the Metropolitan Council and State Statutes have formed the basis of the draft document.
Since much of the 1998 Comprehensive Plan is still applicable today, portions of that Plan have been
reformatted and included in the draft 2008 Comprehensive Plan.
In order to keep the process moving forward in a productive manner, Staff is requesting that the City Council
review and provide feedback on the draft vision, goals, policies, and content for each chapter of the
Comprehensive Plan. The work session is meant to focus on providing feedback on the overall substance in
the draft Plan. This is a working draft, and Staff recognizes the language will need to be reviewed and
revised as the process continues to ensure that it is meeting the full intent and goals of the City, If you do
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notice grammar or punctuation errors, please mark them in your copy of the document and provide your copy
to Staff for review, This will help us be more efficient with our time so we can focus on the content of the
document. Your copy can be returned to you upon request.
The 2008 Comprehensive Plan is divided into the following chapters (the organization of the chapters may
be modified in the final version of the Plan):
1. Introduction
2. Community Profile*
3. City Vision
4. Active Living (based on the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Grant)
5, TCAAP
6, Land Use*
7. Housing*
8. Economic Development and Redevelopment
9. Parks and Recreation *
10. Protected Resources*
11. Transportation*
12. Environmental Conservation and Sustainability
13. Public Facilities, Infrastructure, and Services*
14. lnIplementation (is partially integrated into each chapter)*
*Required by the Metropolitan Council and State Statutes
Chapters 4- I 3 include a goal statement that is intended to be somewhat of a general, positive, and, for the
most part, uncontroversial statement. Each goal statement is then supported by a series of policies and
background data that are designed to advance the goal statement and the overall City vision, The policies
can be specific or general; short-term or long-term; easy or difficult; and may in some instances be
controversial. Not all policies or ideas may have unanimous support. Some of the policies will require a
great deal of research and effort to fully implement, and, ultimately, some may not be workable. Since the
Plan is meant to guide the City through 2030, it is not necessary to fully evaluate the potential or possibility
of each goal or policy at this time, However, each statement should have a desirable result and be within the
realm of possibility.
If you have a specific idea that you think should be in the Comprehensive Plan, please either mention it at the
meeting or let me mow. The document is not limited to its current content. However, when making a
request for an item to be in the Comprehensive Plan, it is helpful to take a step back to see what the ultimate
goal of the request is and how it advances the vision statement and goals within the Plan.
It is important to remember that while a Comprehensive Plan is meant to take a long-term look at the
community, it should not be a static document. The City should work to implement the Comprehensive Plan
over time; however, this Plan does not exclude the possibility of exploring new projects, goals, policies,
priorities, and strategies down the road if new opportunities or issues arise, Although the Plan is intended to
go 2030, all cities in the metropolitan area will review their comprehensive plans again in 2018,
When reviewing the document, you may notice some topics or sections that do not seem to apply to Arden
Hills or appear unnecessary. There are a number of items that the Metropolitan Council requires a City to
address, even if the item is ultimately not applicable to Arden Hills. The Metropolitan Council's Local
Planning Handbook includes many of the items that a City is required to address in the Comprehensive Plan,
This handbook can be viewed online at htto:ffwww.metrocouncil.orgfolanning/LPH/handbook.htm.
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Discussion Points
Although much of the Comprehensive Plan is not controversial, there are sections and potential policies that
will require discussion. While it is not necessary to come to a solution at the work session, Staff does request
input from the Council. In addition to the vision and goals in each chapter, Staff suggests spending some
time on the following chapters and pages for discussion purposes:
. City Vision: Page 3
. Community Profile:
o Page 8: Population
. Active Living:
o Page 17: Active Living Principles
. TCAAP:
o Pages 21-23
. Land Use:
o Page 29: Future Land Uses (undetermined future land uses, see map)
o Page 3 I: Future land use of the former city hall/public works property
o Page 3 I: Future land use of the manufactured home community
. Housing:
o Page 44: Future Opportunities
. Protected Resources:
o Page 71: Natural Resources Inventory
. Transportation: Full Chapter
. Environmental Conservation and Sustainability: Full chapter
The above list is not all-inclusive, If there are other policies or areas of concern, those concems can be
discussed.
Work Pro!!ress
While much of the Plan is drafted, there are portions that need to be fInished or refIned, Additionally, most
of the maps have not yet been created. All tables, graphs, pictures, and formatting will be standardized
throughout the Plan and all maps will be prepared before the Planning Commission and City Council are
asked to take any formal action.
The Metropolitan Council also requires the City to complete a water supply, stormwater, and sanitary sewer
plans. The City already has these plans in place; however, minor updates are needed before submitting them
to the Metropolitan Council. The City's engineering staff is working on updating these plans, which will be
included as appendices since they are largely technical documents.
Chapter 8, Economic Development and Redevelopment is under review by the Economic Development
Commission (EDe) and was not included with this report. Chapter 14, Implementation, is still in the process
of being written.
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Review Process and Schedule
The Planning Commission held a work session on March 20, 2008, to review the draft Comprehensive Plan
and provide comments. The EDC is in the process of reviewing the Economic Development and
Redevelopment Chapter. The PTRC reviewed the Active Living, Parks & Recreation, and Protected
Resources chapters at their February and April meetings,
Depending on the results of the Council's work session, the Plan will be uploaded to the website for public
review and a final public open house will be scheduled for the middle part of May to publicly review the
draft and solicit public comment. A notice will be sent to all households in the City to inform them of the
meeting date, and attendees will be able to comment and provide input on the draft Plan prior to any official
approval.
The Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled to officially review the final draft of the Comprehensive
Plan in June. If the City Council gives approval of the draft at the end of June, it will be sent to adjacent
cities, the watershed district, and the school districts for review as required by Statute. After those agencies
complete their review and provide comments, the City can then officially approve the Plan and send it to the
Metropolitan Council for approval. All cities are required to submit their comprehensive plans by the end of
2008,
Public comment can be provided until the Plan is sent to the Metropolitan Council for review, However, the
City's official public process will essentially be [mished by the end of June. If needed, the process can be
extended to ensure there is sufficient time for public comment.
If you have additional comments after tonight's meeting, you will still have time to submit them to me, This
is not your last chance to participate.
Attachments
Please refer to the attachments from the April 21, 2008, memorandum to the City Council for the
attachments.
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