01-08-2025 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Local officials identified concerns with the submission and review processes for 2018 local plans including requests for information beyond what should be necessary for the Metropolitan Council to review local plans for consistency with regional systems, regional requirements that evolved as local plans were prepared and finalized and finding plans to be incomplete or requiring detailed information on items of a local rather than regional nature, among others. The Metropolitan Council must work with Metro Cities and local officials to address challenges and concerns identified with the 2018 comprehensive planning and review processes and undertake any necessary improvements in advance of the next comprehensive planning cycle. This work should be conducted with opportunities for input and consultation with local officials as any modifications to comprehensive planning review processes are considered, including but not limited to a recently established regional planning advisory group that includes Metro Cities and municipal officials. This work shall include reviewing processes for comprehensive plan amendments and identifying areas for improvement. In reviewing local comprehensive plans and plan amendments, the Metropolitan Council should: •Recognize that its role is to review and comment, unless it is found that the local plan is more likely than not to have a substantial impact on or contain a substantial departure from one of the four system plans; •Be aware of statutory time constraints imposed by the Legislature on plan amendments and development applications; •Provide for immediate effectuation of plan amendments that have no potential for substantial impact on systems plans; •Require the information needed for the Metropolitan Council to complete its review, but not prescribe additional content or format beyond that which is required by the Metropolitan Land Use Planning Act (LUPA); •Work in a cooperative and timely manner toward the resolution of outstanding issues. When a city’s local comprehensive plan is deemed incompatible with the Metropolitan Council’s systems plans, Metro Cities supports a formal appeal process that includes a peer review. Metro Cities opposes the imposition of sanctions or monetary penalties when a city’s local comprehensive plan is deemed incompatible with the Metropolitan Council’s systems plans or the plan fails to meet a statutory deadline when the city has made legitimate, good faith efforts to meet Metropolitan Council requirements; •Work with affected cities and other organizations such as the Pollution Control Agency, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Health, and other MA-7 REVIEW OF LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE PLANS 65