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Planning Commission Page 6 October 22, 2019 ----------------------------- well as the affects further into Ramsey and Anoka, and to his knowledge at this time it’s unknown if and when those improvements will occur. Chair Johnson opened the public hearing. Thomas Price – 17533 US Highway 10 – stated he has owned his property since 1978 and is a former assistant Sherburne County attorney. He explained the history of this area near his property along US Highway 10 and asked the Planning Commission to look to the future of this location and its land use, already guided by the FAST plan, and keeps those parameters by not allowing a car sales lot. There being no one else to speak, Chair Johnson closed the public hearing. Chair Johnson stated he was present during the time period when the FAST study and Comprehensive Plan were developed and has a good understanding of why this area was guided to high density residential due to the access points and river location. He stated he didn’t want to stray away from those guidelines. Commissioner Rydberg echoed Chair Johnson’s thoughts and Mr. Price’s comments and stated he is also not in support of straying away from the FAST study guidance. Councilmember Ovall stated he’ll play devil’s advocate and feels indifferent about the lack of action to date and current status of the property. He felt the building’s infrastructure, walls, decking, and parking lot all need work but in the end, the building is still there and sitting empty. He stated if this ordinance was amended to allow car sales, it would open the building back up to what it was originally and would create a rehabbed property. In doing so, he stated the building would be maintained and updated, generating traffic to the area, allowing economic activity by adding jobs and bringing the property back onto the tax rolls. He discussed the challenges of guiding this property to high density housing and requirements of needing TIF funds, and asked the commission to look at it from that angle. Chair Johnson stated while he appreciates that thought process, he felt the appropriate way to handle this approach would be to rezone the entire area rather than adding an ordinance amending this particular parcel, which in turn would make it more of a mixed use area. He stated he isn’t in favor of amending the ordinance now if the city is reviewing the Comprehensive Plan in 2020. Councilmember Ovall stated he couldn’t speak to the traffic volumes and not an expert on that. He did appreciate the comments of Mr. Price and would have liked to have heard from the area homeowners of what they would like to see. Chair Johnson indicated in the past, neighboring homeowners were not in favor of commercial uses in that area. Commissioner Larson-Vito wasn’t in favor of spot zoning and band aid fixing a particular property with the current and future goals of high density housing. She stated she did understand the concerns with this property’s condition but in keeping