08-22-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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515 Little Canada Road. Little Canada, MN 55117-1600 (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766 -4048 www.ci.litt1e-canada.inn.us MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener & Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: August 7, 2007 RE: Redevelopment Considerations Bill Blesener COUNCIL Rick Montour Barbara +Ulan .John :cots Michael McGraw ADA'IINIS7R aTCR Joel R. Hanson Attached is the action plan we adopted for our 2007 goal entitled "Focus on Redevelopment ". As you know, redevelopment became much more difficult and uncertain with the changes in the eminent domain law. One of the more crucial aspects of the new law was to prohibit the taking of property for economic development. The exception to this provision deals with "blight" remediation. (I have attached an article written by Steve Grittman that talks about the changes in the eminent domain law.) Based on the new law, redevelopment of blighted properties is possible, but we must also deal with the new uncertainties associated with relocation benefits, value differences and payment of attorney's fees, and taking of an "on -going business concern". There are a number of potential areas for us to consider, the feasibility of which will depend on the specifics of each area. The listing I have compiled is as follows: Viking Drive Re- alignment Area: This project is well underway and should be our first priority to complete. We will have two parcels that will be available for sale. The first is about 40,000 square feet and is made up of the remaining Oasis site plus the former Viking Drive roadway. The other is about a 15,000 square foot piece that is in the vicinity of 85 Viking Drive West and will be on the west side of the new Viking Drive. Strong interest has been shown by two parties in these parcels. (RJ Marco and Larry Abdo) However, we have some issues to resolve before redevelopment can proceed. They are: MnDot needs to correct legal description of Viking Drive turnback in order to give us the full roadway width that was originally contemplated. The City Engineer has been working with MnDot to resolve this problem and we hope that it will be completed in the next few weeks.