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Memo to Mayor and City Council <br />December 15, 2003 <br />Page 4 <br /> <br />This option would allow continued development at either 10-acre minimums or under the <br />cluster rules should a property owner desire to move forward with some form of <br />development. Of the two options presented, treating all lands north of County Road 33 <br />consistently appeared to be the best option given the fact that the parcels available for <br />development are similar in topographic and biologic characteristics and City services (police <br />and fire) have already been "stretched" by the approval of the cluster developments Ridges <br />of Rice Lake and Rolling Hills. <br /> <br />2. Ufflize a Development Moratorium <br /> <br />A. City-wide; or <br />B. For lands north of CountyRoad 33 only. <br /> <br />A development moratorium would prohibit development of any sort except those activities <br />that were specifically exempted from the moratorium. A moratorium would allow the above <br />planning activities to occur without competition for time by land use applications. In <br />addition, some land use applications may be in conflict with the studies that would occur <br />during the moratorium. <br /> <br />Conclusion and Recommendation <br /> <br />The Commissions thoroughly reviewed and discussed the various options as noted above <br />that the Council could consider in order to implement the Comprehensive Plan. Of key <br />importance is to protect the process while the City is evaluating ways to best implement the <br />Plan to achieve the long-term vision expressed in the Plan. Both Commissions voted <br />unanimously to recommend that the Council adopt the Comprehensive Plan as presented <br />and immediately implement a development moratorium on the creation of new lots in all <br />zoning districts Citywide with the following exceptions: <br /> <br />A. Building permits for new construction or expansion of existing buildings on existing lots <br /> would be allowed in all zoning districts. <br />B. Existing applications that have been accepted would be allowed to nm their course. <br />C. Additional phases or further subdivision of lots within development areas that have been <br /> platted and have appropriate zoning, whether Commercial, Industrial, Business Park, or <br /> Planned Unit Development, would be allowed (for example, additional phases of Elk <br /> River Station or the subdivision to create lots in Elk Path Business Center). <br />D. Expansions of existing churches, schools, and government buildings that would require <br /> conditional use permits. <br /> <br />The initial moratorium period by statute will be for 12 months, however, the Commissions <br />believe that the moratorium could ultimately last up to 2 ~,5 years. They suggested that the <br />moratorium language be drafted such that the process be evaluated at six month intervals to <br />determine if additional parcels can be exempted from the moratorium process, if <br />appropriate. <br /> <br />S:~PLANNING\Comp Plan\12 15 03 memo implementation.doc <br /> <br /> <br />