Receive Update on Highway 47 Land Use Plan

This case is a repeat of the 9/11 City Council Work Session Case. At the request of the City Council, this presentation is being brought back to the Regular City Council Meeting for public presentation.

Background
Staff held two public workshops on July 26 and 27th. Staff has since analyzed the comments from the meeting into an excel spreadsheet, sorted the comments in different methods, and summarized the five key outcomes from public comment.

Key Priorities
Staff is looking for feedback from the City Council on the following items, which were the key items raised by residents at the meeting. The map created by the residents and attendees of the meeting is attached.

1. Increasing aesthetics along Highway 47  [20 comments]
2. Increasing safety along Highway 47  [17 comments]
3. Decreasing noise along Highway 47  [7 comments]
4. Trail plan along Highway 47 - including connections to parks [7 comments]
5. Supporting businesses along Highway 47 [5 comments]

Key Nodes
During the kickoff meeting, Staff felt it was important to receive feedback on each intersection along Highway 47. From this feedback, City Staff gathered that there are three key areas of focus for the Highway 47 plan, including:

• Bunker Lake Blvd and Highway 47
• Elmcrest Node [167th Ave NW and Highway 47]
• North End [near Green Valley Road and north]

Intermediate Outcomes

• Code Enforcement: Staff is also working on ongoing code enforcement cases along Highway 47, which were raised again by attendees at the kickoff meetings. Staff does not currently have updates on the code enforcement cases, but will be discussing three large-scale code enforcement cases with the City Attorney.
• Branding: Based on feedback from residents at the kickoff meeting, Staff has decided to rebrand the 167/47 node as the Elmcrest District Elmcrest Node in order to connect back to the excellent park system, which is difficult to see from Highway 47, but close to the commercial district. The branding effort has been carried into the Comprehensive Plan Draft.
• Landscaping: Staff met with the MnDOT in order to discuss the landscaping project along the existing sound wall. MN DOT landscape architects are creating a proposal for new landscaping based on the feedback from the meeting, namely that there needs to be additional landscaping, dead trees need to be removed, and that the landscaping should reflect the rural character of the community and utilize native plant species.
• Signage: Staff discussed signage options with two businesses at the Elmcrest Node.
• Signage: WSB is bringing forward signage options for a new City of Ramsey sign at the SuperAmerica Site.

Next Steps

• Create plan for each key topic area, separated by node
• Continue working with MN DOT on landscaping plan
• Choose Welcome sign design, purchase, and install
• Host public meeting to determine if any key focus areas were missing

No notification required.

Staff is handling this in our normal duties.

No action required at this time.

No action required at this time.