1982 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

goals. of maintaining a high quality natural.and man-made environment, it is possible that these would be permitted within. residentially designated portions of the community. However, for the purposes of this plan no major institutional uses are anticipated. 8. It is the policy of Gem Lake to maintain the present acreage of semi-public and_public o en spaces.. At present the only land within the: City which enjoys public access is the semi-public commercial golf course in the northeast corner of the community. At a minimum, this amount: of public open space acreage shall be maintained as the community reaches ultimate development. It is the intention of the City to acquire land of similar quality: which will permit more intensive public recreation activities as the community reaches ultimate development. The principal intention of this policy will be to permit development of recreational facilities of a. convenient neighborhood character. 9. It is the 2olicy of Gem Lake to preserve the environmental quality o.f the water body called "Gem Lake" and its attendant wetland areas: No construction or land alteration will be permitted within a 100 foot corridor extending back from the high water mark of this area without a special. council permit. 10. It is the .polices of Gem Lake to encourage a substantial imor_o_ vement in the housinc stock of the Citv.. Recognizing that a substantial portion of the uncommitted lands in Gem Lake. are in the interior portions of the City where the established development. character is of high quality, continuance of this. development pattern will be encouraged. Further recognizing that a substantial proportion of the existing housing stock of Gem Lake is below the norm for this sub -region of the metropolitan area and that maintenance standards have not been at a high level, it. is the intention of the. City to undertake strict code enforcement. 11. It is the ooliev of Gem Lake to accommodate its fair share :of low and moderate cost housing. While recognizing the urgent need in the greater metropolitan area to provide low and moderate cost housing, it is a policy of the community to discourage additional housing of this type within its corporate limits for the following reasons: (a) most of the vacant unplatted land of the community lies in the central portion of the City which already has a development character of very high residential quality at low density, (b) most of this vacant land has very high environmental qualities including wetlands, wooded areas, and steep topography which would best .be left in a natural setting, (c) existing and proposed public transportation access to principal places of employment, shopping, culture and education are rela- tively poor in Gem Lake. in relation to _other more developed .portions of this metropolitan sub -region, (d) the relatively small threshold population of the City mitigates against sophisticated public services which lower income housing units often require, (e) a substantial amount of moderate and low cost housing already exists in Gem Lake; specifically, according to the 1970 Census, of a total of 59 houses, 25 percent were in the low and moderate category by reason of cost and 21 percent by reason of rental level, (f) 33