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REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION <br /> Date: 9-15-14 <br /> Item No.: 14.d <br />Department Approval City Manager Approval <br />Item Description: Discussion on Guidance for Waiving the Mandatory EAW Requirement <br />B <br />ACKGROUND <br />1 <br />The City Council has a policy that all developments in the Twin Lakes area should be required to <br />2 <br />prepare an EAW discretionary review under the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) guidelines <br />3 <br />or seek a waiver from the City Council. <br />4 <br />The Planning Division proposed including language codifying that policy in the proposed text <br />5 <br />amendments so that landowners and applicants could be better alerted to the requirement. <br />6 <br />Currently, it would be difficult for a new developer to realize it was a requirement without <br />7 <br />discussing the issue with Staff and new developers do not always call the City before negotiating <br />8 <br />purchase agreements that set timelines and budgets which could be impacted by the EAW <br />9 <br />requirement. <br />10 <br />Staff has recently received a request for an EAW waiver. The applicant has indicated the time <br />11 <br />necessary for preparing and completing the EAW process will interfere with the desired <br />12 <br />development timeline. <br />13 <br />One issue that has become apparent through this request is that Staff does not have a sufficient <br />14 <br />understanding of the policy to be able to provide guidance to applicants as to whether they are <br />15 <br />likely to receive a positive determination from the City Council when they seek a waiver. <br />16 <br />The EQB has several detailed documents that may be useful for additional background on the <br />17 <br />mandatory and discretionary EAW process and timelines if so desired. These documents can be <br />18 <br />located at the following locations: <br />19 <br />EAW Guidelines <br />20 <br />https://www.eqb.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/documents/EAW%20guidelines%202013%20revi <br />21 <br />sion.pdf <br />22 <br />Guide to Minnesota Environmental Review Rules <br />23 <br />http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/pdf/rulguid3.pdf <br />24 <br />Office of the Legislative Auditor Evaluation Report of Environmental Review and <br />25 <br />Permitting <br />26 <br />http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/envir.pdf <br />27 <br />PO <br />OLICYBJECTIVE <br />28 <br />Staff is seeking policy clarification regarding when EAW waivers may be considered in order to <br />29 <br />provide better guidance to potential applicants. <br />30 <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />