08/08/1979 P&Z Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 3 Planning and Zoning Commission August 8, 1979 quality. He,felt this was an important consideration for buyers of new homes, but as development took place in Lino Lakes the situation would • improve. The tax levels would also drop as development took place, although again the amount of,non-taxable land was a factor. Mr.iGourley asked what the City could do to lower taxes :that was not being done. Mr. Gotwald suggested the P $ Z put more emphasis on commercial and industrial develop- ment; that right now Lino,Lakes was a bedroom community.He noted that Circle Pines and Shoreview were already developed communitiesand any further development would take place in Blaine or Lino Lakes. He thought the city should not worry about sewer service,to the one acre lots, but try to get those services along Highway 8, and that most of the industrial and commercial growth would take place west of the lines of freeways. Mr. Reinert felt that the City was 'limited due to the lack of sewer and water services, and that industrial development would move'to cities where This was available. ,Mr. Gotwald suggested that in the land use plan certain areas should be targeted for this growth. He pointed out that there are types of industry that do not require sanitary sewer service and for which a good on site system would be sufficient. He indicated there were sewer services available from Blaine in the area that would develop in an industrial way, and if there were an industry that wanted to come in this could be extended. Mr. Reinert felt that industries might stay our because of the high taxes; Mr. Johnson brought up the 5 year moratorium on taxes for businesses in downtown St. Paul. Mr. Gourley felt that therewere things that would off- set taxes if there were water and,sewer.services available, for example, excellent transportation services. Mr. Gotwald commented that good in- dustrial zoned land could,be bought for a'minimal amount even compared to Roseville or Shoreview and that land costs often have more of an impact on some businesses than actual taxes, depending on the type of building. Mr. Gourley noted that some concerns raised by potential business were lack of motels and restaurant facilities for employees and customers, which is again related to sewer and water services, which seemed to be the basic problem. Mr. Gotwald noted that financing is often difficult without these types of services, and also insurance rates would be high without the proper fire protection or water services. Under the section of the list marked "other," the first item, schools,. was felt to be dependent on tax dollars, and that initally most of themoney went into the structure. The general feeling was that the quality was not that high, but this would. improve in the future. Mr. Gotwald noted that the type of people moving into the community was mostly young professional. people who would support increased servises. Mr. Gourley asked how the City judged when to quit contracting for fire services and develop something of its own. Mr. Gotwald said there was no real formulafor that, but mentioned some communities who started their own at about the 5,000 popula- tion level, which Lino Lakes is just about at now. When 7,000-10,000 plus population is reached, the City -would need a full-time engineer, -a recreation director, etc., and the City's own fire department than with a contracted fire service. Mr Gotwald answered that in most cases cities have volunteer fire departments, which are paid a certain amount per month and have retirement and so on, but that there were no:suburban areas that he knew of with a full-time professional fire department. He noted that the biggest cost the City would face in the future would be the police depart- ment. He felt these services would be feasible when there was a large enough tax base to pay' for them. Mr. Reinert asked if the planner or en-