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Association of Metropolitan Municipalities Page 1 of2 AMM FAX NEWS FAX NEWS ARCHIVES April 15 -19, 2002 Met Council Considers New MUSA Policy As part of their work on the new regional blueprint, the Metropolitan Council is considering a new MUSA policy that will focus on MUSA cities rather than a MUSA line. A MUSA city is defined as any city that currently lies partially or wholly within the 2020 MUSA. Between now and 2008, the proposed policy would allow these cities to locate growth and development anywhere within their jurisdiction as long as regional systems will be available and adequate. According to Met Council staff, the idea is to place more emphasis on how communities grow and less emphasis on where. The proposed policy is likely to have the greatest impact on cities that currently have a significant portion of their land supply outside the MUSA. For example, Hugo, Forest Lake, Cottage Grove, Inver Grove Heights, Rosemount and Shakopee are all likely to be impacted by the new policy. The proposed policy is the result of an analysis of MUS A land supplies and emerging development trends using preliminary region-wide 2000 land use data and the most recent Council growth forecasts. Met Council staffhas stated that the proposed MUSA policy is based on the following conclusions drawn from that analysis: . "The currently designated 2020 MUSA does not have enough serviceable, potentially developable land to accommodate the latest 2020 residential growth forecast. Newly developing communities will need to expand the MUSA sometime during the planning period, depending on the circumstances in individual cities." . "In cities where the 2020 MUSA already splits the community, adding the remaining land within those cities to the MUSA would make the regional land supply just adequate to accommodate forecasted 2030 growth." . "Changes in key residential development variables such as housing mix, density, and infil1Iredevelopment amounts can have a significant effect on how long MUSA land supplies last.." Council staffhas suggested that the new policy will allow for more qualitative decisions regarding the provision of metropolitan services and more individua1ized solutions to cities' development issues. Under the proposed policy, MUSA cities would essentially be allowed to "stage" their own MUSA and would be encouraged to "plan for their entire jurisdiction, taking into account http://www.arnmI45.orglnewsfux.htm 511102