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Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 of 8 May 27, 2025 or sign area on the subject properties. Motion carried 6-0. 5. GENERAL BUSINESS S. I Downtown Master Plan Mr. Carlton presented the staff report. He explained that the steering committee representing the council, multiple commissions, and the downtown business community has been working with Bolton and Menk to prepare a long-range vision for Elk River's downtown area. He noted that the plan identifies redevelopment opportunities on both public and privately -owned parcels and recommends a series of action steps to guide the city towards a shared vision. Plan highlights include development recommendations for key sites within the core downtown area - the King Avenue parking lot, the Elk River Lutheran Church site, and the block that includes Dare's Funeral Home. Redevelopment of these sites would largely be driven by property owners, and this plan is a tool the city has to guide the vision for the future of those properties. Mr. Carlton then discussed the plan's suggested substantial changes to Main Street and Jackson Ave within the core downtown area, including transitioning to parallel parking on both sides of the street and widening the sidewalks to improve the pedestrian areas in downtown. Changes include wider sidewalks, larger planters with trees and vegetation, and benches. This will result in the loss of 19 on - street parking stalls, which has been a concern of the steering committee. However, the plan also recommends partnering with downtown businesses to enter into shared parking agreements for the use of those lots during off-peak hours and considering time limits for the street parking to facilitate increased turnover. Mr. Carlton then reviewed the plan beyond the core downtown, identifying the area along Railroad Drive between Jackson and Gates Avenue as a larger redevelopment site referred to as Uptown. Much of this area is envisioned as a higher -density residential area with commercial uses to complement the additional growth. Mr. Carlton outlined a summary of the comments received when the plan was released and comments received at a public open house on April 22, 2025. Comments and concerns about tax increases and parking considerations dominated, with many residents expressing concerns about affordability, specific to property taxes, the timing of the plan, implementation steps, and density of the uptown area. In response to these concerns, the plan has been updated to remove the three- to four-story apartment buildings along Gates Ave, and additional considerations for downtown parking, as noted earlier, have been included. Mr. Carlton noted, with regard to costs and property tax implications, that nothing in this plan obligates the city to spend tax dollars purchasing and redeveloping private property. He stated the plan does provide a general vision for the city to evaluate proposed redevelopment opportunities as they are presented to the city. Most of these will be private developers who have already had conversations with landowners regarding the sale of their properties. The plans' recommendations for improvements to public assets, parking lots, and streets will be reviewed by the council in greater detail when those projects have been included in a city budget. Mr. Carlton asked the Planning Commission for their thoughts.