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amendments to the City Council. Any amendments to the Comprehensive Plan beyond an editorial level will be executed only after a public hearing which is duly advertised in the officially designated newspaper of the municipality at least ten days prior to the hearing. Any amendments to the plan can be accomplished by a % majority vote (of the members of the City Council). All amendments will be placed on file with the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities Area as well as with all governmental units with boundaries contiguous to Gem Lake. 3.0 Community Development Trends and Determinants There are many phenomenons that should be considered as a basis for developing a Comprehensive Plan for the City of Gem Lake. Perhaps most significantly, it should be noted that the City is only a small part of the Minneapolis -St. Paul metropolitan area. The nature of physical development within Gem Lake, its natural resource base, its people, its economy, and its governmental plan must all be placed in context with what is happening in the larger metropolitan area and, more specifically, that portion of the metropolitan area in the immediate vicinity of Gem Lake. The primary purpose of this chapter of the plan is to examine those trends that are most apt to act as determinants of the Comprehensive Municipal Plan proposals. 3.1 Creation of Gem Lake The City of Gem Lake was created through a referendum conducted in 1957. The City was one of several municipal jurisdictions which incorporated during the 1950s in response to a rapid increase in urbanization pressures during that time. In addition to Gem Lake, the municipalities of Little Canada, Maplewood, North Oaks, Shoreview, and Vadnais Heights, all within a five mile radius, were incorporated in that same time. 3.2 Geographical Setting The City of Gem Lake encompasses a land area of approximately 725 acres in the north central portion of Ramsey County. The City is located approximately seven miles north of the central business district of St. Paul and approximately 11 miles northeast of the central business district of Minneapolis (see Figure 1). Gem Lake is bounded on the north by the Town of White Bear. The City of White Bear Lake generally bounds the City on the east. Vadnais Heights bounds the City partially on the east, entirely on the south and west, and partially on the north (see Figure 2). The northern and eastern boundaries of the City are well defined by the rights -of -way of the Burlington Northern Railroad. Most of the southern boundary of the City is County Road E. The western border of the City is Labore Road. In close proximity to the City's western border is Interstate Highway 35E. U.S. Highway 61 cuts through the southeastern portion of the City. Lwompreriensive Plan A-GEMLK9501.00 Gem Lake, Minnesota Page 4