01-14-2003 CC MIN - SPECIAL-JOINT

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City Council Minutes January 14, 2003 ............................. Page 3 Director of Economic Development Cathy Mehelich asked for clarification on the "mixed use" land use designation noted for the City-owned property on the east side. Mr. Scheib explained that use as a combination of live-work residential and other employment opportunities for that area. Utilities Manager Bryan Adams asked how much influence the City truly had on MN/DOT's transportation plans. Mr. Scheib and Mr. Fifield noted that the City can facilitate implementation by taking the lead on identified projects, or chose to ignore the proposed plans, which would slow down MN/DOT's implementation. However, there is a danger in to ignoring MN/DOT's plans, as the City could create two islands of Elk River divided by Highway 169. Planning Commissioner Dana Anderson stated that the difference between the plans is a reactive or proactive position. He noted that the key to the land use plan is transportation. MN/DOT is getting pressure from everywhere in the Metro area to move people through Elk River in a timely manner so that they can access the lakes area north of the City. He stated that the Guided Growth plan with its noted transportation corridors is good, but felt that more roads need to be identified on the plan. Commissioner Anderson stated he objected to the County Road 33-County Road 44 connection through Woodland Trails and the Elk River Golf Course and felt that it should not be included on the plan. Task Force Member Jim Stanley noted that more discussion needs to occur regarding the land use designations and what they mean. He stated that the City could take a proactive approach with MN/DOT to create the east-west corridors that are needed and to leverage MN/DOT funds. Councilmember Kuester stated that she has questions regarding the build-out based on the sanitary sewer capacity. She did not understand how much of any of the plans could serviced by sanitary sewer and felt that the sewer system could not handle all of the growth noted on the Guided Growth plan, especially in terms of industrial development. She also stated that she had concerns about the lack of space for high density housing in the future. Task Force member Kendra Lindahl stated that she hoped that once the plan was adopted, it would be used on a regular basis to evaluate land use proposals. She stated that there is too much industrial identified on the Guided Growth plan and that the City would not be able to build that much industrial. She stated that she liked the expansion of downtown into a larger town center. Ms. Lindahl noted that there will need to be political will to support the identified transportation corridors and to make them a reality. Task Force member Pat Dwyer stated that the Economic Development Authority supports identification of more industrial land that may be needed, due to the fact that this will be the last opportunity for the next 20 years to create space for industrial development. Once lands have been identified and utilized for residential development, it is difficult to create space for industrial uses. Task Force member Ron Halpaus stated that he would like the public to know what the public meeting will be for and to also understand that none of the plans are "cast in stone" and they do not have to pick one, and that they could discard each of the plans or select parts of plans for inclusion into the future land use plan. Councilmember Dan Tveite stated that he would like to see a discussion on the consequences of the decisions that are made. For instance, the transportation corridors or the expansion of sewer and water into various areas of the community will have a public cost to them, and that discussion needs to occur with the public as part of the selection of a land use plan. Mr. Fifield and Mr. Scheib noted