8. SR 12-11-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comprehensive Plan December 11, 1995 Page 3 • III. What Are the Costs Associated With Development? Attached to this memo are summaries from reports along with articles that discuss the costs and revenues associated with development. The following sources of information are included for the Council's review: • Executive Summary - A summary of a report by Resource Management Consultants, Inc., entitled: "Development in Wright County - The Revenue /Cost Relationship "; • Article by Lee Ronning of the Land Stewardship Project - "Farm Land's Top Yield Isn't Residential Taxes "; • Excerpt from a report by the Environmental Quality Board, entitled: "A Question of Balance and Managing Growth in the Environment "; • Excerpt from a book by Randall Arendt, entitled: " Rural By Design "; • An Executive Summary along with Impact Analysis for each zoning district from a study done by the City of Lakeville, entitled: "Growth Management Strategies for the City of Lakeville ". • In summarizing these articles, the following points should be highlighted: • The costs of growth for low density development are higher than growth at a higher density. • Quote: "It is fiscally sound to concentrate growth around areas with existing infrastructure and discourage growth on large lots and farming areas." • Relatively high density development close to existing urban infrastructure provides less expense locally and to the state over the long term. Residential projects that consume large amounts of land often costs communities more than they give back in property taxes. • The small clusters of one and two acre residential lots interspersed with agricultural areas have contributed to uncontrolled development and imposes a significant financial and environmental problem for Otsego. • Large lot residential zoning, often enacted by communities that would like to preserve open space such as wood land and farm land is to a large part responsible for the high levels of land consumption experienced by communities. s:council:Complan