6.0. SR 05-13-1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Elk River Planning Commission The Elk River City Council FROM: Bob Minton DATE: April 21, 1996 SUBJECT: The 1996 APA Conference The National Planning Conference, presented by the American Planning Association, is always a huge affair. This year, the participants numbered about 3800, and they came from all over the U. S. and twelve foreign countries, including China, The Fiji Islands and Australia. Locally, I met participants from Bloomington, Coon Rapids, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, Cambridge and Duluth. A Walt Disney Hotel may not be the most ideal place for a conference of this kind. The Dolphin was certainly grand, with very adequate meeting rooms and sound systems. The architecture and all the decor were playful, and evoked that sense of fun and fantasy, right down to the small signs in front of the building promising that if you park there, "your car will magically disappear. ~ On the other hand, the facility is out in the country, near Epcot, and nothing is within walking distance. Without a car, participants were captive to in-house businesses, and especially to their restaurants with exorbitant prices and poor service. What we needed was some good fast food competition right around the corner. ~OME TIDBITS In the meetings arranged for planning commissioners and elected officials, a lot of attention was devoted to being on the losing side of some very expensive lawsuits in an increasingly litigious society, especially in two areas, takings and procedure. A. Takings The risk in takings was presented as being somewhat overblown. An Action Guide on this subject was prepared by an APA Task Force and presented at the conference, and is attached to this memo. In general, if the government is promoting a clear benefit, and if there is a clear connection (rational nexus) between the benefit and your action, you are probably on vex3' safe ground. Mostly, it is a matter of common sense and fairness.