The Metropolitan Council is the regional organization that is charged with coordinating the plans.  They start the process by looking at big-picture regional growth trends.  For example, when a large manufacturer opens in Coon Rapids or Rogers, there will be housing demand from it in Ramsey and other area communities.   They prepare "system statements" for each community, which are documents that allocate each community's share of the regional growth based on those regional growth trends.  Ramsey's system statement is attached to this case and staff will discuss it more in-depth this evening.  Staff has reviewed the document and does not have concerns with the requirements set forth by the Met Council. 

 

The currently-adopted 2040 plan, in Staff's opinion, is a very good start.  Staff is proposing to take the 2040 Plan and update it with current data and make updates, as needed.  There are portions of the 2040 Plan, however, that will need in-depth discussion; mainly the Land Use and Housing sections.   The traffic, sanitary sewer, and surface water management sections are also planned to be done in-house, though these portions are dependent upon decisions made in the Land Use chapter.  Staff is applying for a grant to help cover our expenses.  

This planning cycle, the Metropolitan Council provided a detailed tailored checklist of all the items that we need to address in our Plan (https://handbook.metrocouncil.org/required-plan-elements/) 

 

The 2040 Plan, appendices, and amendments can be found here: https://www.cityoframseymn.gov/business-development/planning-and-development/future-plans-studies/2040-comprehensive-plan-update/

Property Owner Focused Conversations
Staff has been meeting with the larger landowners in Ramsey to hear what they would like for their properties along with the anticipated timeline to make it happen.  Staff still has more meetings to schedule.  Some of the conversation so far yielded minor changes to either the map or the staging plan (anticipated development date).  

Land Use Categories
The current Comprehensive Plan has various broad categories of land.  We will keep most of those categories, modify some, and add at least one new category.  The following are some of the anticipated changes:

Riverfront Low Density Residential — This would be a new land use category that would allow for a residential density lower than the 2.25-4.00 units per acre range currently required in Low Density Residential (LDR) for properties directly adjacent to the Mississippi and Rum Rivers.  Currently, the challenge with those properties is that they have different mandated protection overlays that require more open space and natural resource protection than what can be achieved in the LDR range. 

Mixed Use — Right now, Mixed Use (MU) is designated as three levels (Low, Medium, and High) in the text, but not mapped accordingly.  Because of that, all MU areas are assumed at the lowest level (5 units/acre).  Most of the MU land is in the COR and has developed at higher densities.  Staff is proposing to map what was built as one of the other non-MU designations (Commercial, MDR, etc.) and leave the properly described MU for the sites that have residential and commercial uses integrated (right now, only The Residences, Skyline on Sunwood, and Roers) as well as for the undeveloped sites that likely will have a residential component.  This will help our density numbers.  

Medium and High Density Residential — These categories currently have ranges of 4.00-8.00 (MDR) and 8.00-15.00 (HDR) units per acre.  Staff is proposing to adjust the breakpoint to 12 units per acre while extending the upper end to match projects that have been constructed.  This way, the number of units yielded in HDR could be counted for Ramsey's affordable housing allocation, even though the City is not obligated to construct it.  At 12 units per acre, that allows for market conduciveness to construct it.  Going with a lower number will require the City to commit to polices that put money towards enough projects to meet our allocation.   At 12 units per acre, to meet our allocation of 561 units, we will need to identify 46.75 acres, though having a better described and mapped MU-Medium and MU-High designation, as noted above, can reduce the need for that much HDR.  
 

N/A

Please ask questions, though we will have more in-depth discussions on various topics in the future.  Staff would like to start working with the Planning Commission and Council on getting the Land Use Map updated this fall/early winter so that the traffic and sewer studies can begin in early 2027.