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AttachmentD the public that the proposed use is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. It has been suggested that the Comprehensive Plan limits “big box” and the proposed Wal-Mart store is inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan and therefore the use is not permitted since the Zoning Code is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. A Comprehensive Plan is a broad vision and general guide for cities to follow in achieving their desired goals, objectives, and policies. A comprehensive plan is not a document that is directly utilized to enforce the identified goals and objectives. Zoning Codes and other ordinances and City programs are utilized to implement the goals and objectives identified in the Comprehensive Plan. The overall Comprehensive Plan should not be construed as an enforcement mechanism for property development. In fact, Minnesota State Statutes recognizes this fact in Chapter 462.356 (2) and requires adoption of a zoning code to put the Comprehensive Plan into effect and the Comprehensive Plan includes a chapter on using the Plan to make progress towards achieving its goals. Therefore, it is clear that the Comprehensive Plan cannot be directly used to directly regulate development. The City Attorney has advised staff that to the extent that a zoning code is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan, the zoning code should be amended to reflect the comprehensive plan. Therefore staff has prepared an analysis reviewing the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Code. Staff’s analysis finds that the Roseville Zoning Code is consistent with Comprehensive Plan and therefore the regulations within the Zoning Code are enforceable. A. BSFL UILDING QUARE OOT IMITATIONS Before we get into the analysis, it would be worthwhile to do a quick review of the discussion around “big box” in the context of the Comprehensive Plan. Starting in 2008, a steering committee comprised of citizens, commission members and elected officials spent over a year preparing and reviewing the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. One of the most discussed topics of the steering committee was whether to include size limitations of buildings within the “Community Business” and “Regional Business” land use designations. By a slim vote of the Steering Committee, the size limitations were retained in the draft Comprehensive Plan forwarded to the Planning Commission and City Council. (See September 11, 2008 Steering Committee notes). At the Planning Commission on October 1, 2008, the Planning Commission removed the square footage limitations contained in the draft Comprehensive Plan. The City Council, at both its October 13, 2008 and January 26, 2009 meetings, agreed with the Planning Commission’s changes and did not reinsert square footage limitations in the Community Business and Regional Business land use categories. This is important to note given the persistence of the notion that there are prohibitions on having “big box” developments. While there was much discussion about limiting these types of uses, in the end, nothing was included in the Comprehensive Plan that had size limitations. Therefore, the lack of a guideline for sizes of buildings within the zoning districts demonstrates that the Zoning Code is no inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The Community Development Department finds that due to the exclusion of any square footage limitations regarding building size in the Comprehensive Plan, the Roseville Zoning Code is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and therefore the Wal-Mart project is permitted under the Comprehensive Plan. 5 Page5of27