04/23/2001 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • Mr. John Powell, City Engineer City of Lino Lakes 600 Town Center Parkway Lino Lakes, MN 55014 March 29, 2001 Dear Mr. ell: Calt orpe Associates has been retained by the City of Lino Lakes as master planners for areas surrounding the Lake Drive —1-35 interchange. Calthorpe Associates is recognized nationally for encouraging "smart growth," where complementary land uses and pedestrian- supportive development make walking and transit viable, and reduce dependence on the car. Furthermore, Calthorpe Associates has extensive experience with developers and requirements that must be addressed for full implementation. The City of Lino Lakes is poised to create a Town Center, which is transit- supportive, pedestrian- friendly, and minimizes the community's reliance on the car. A compact Town Center with complementary land uses cannot be achieved without the creation of a new ingress point at the end of the northbound off -ramp. A rationale is offered here. East of Lake Drive — I -35W interchange, a retail "main street" is proposed to become the "heart" of Lino Lakes. Vibrant shopping opportunities are critical to this vision, but to function, the main street must be supported by major retail tenants. Unencumbered access directly from the interchange will be necessary to attract retail tenants to this location. Without these retail tenants, expectations for housing types that support walking and transit will be greatly diminished. Furthermore, the existing City Hall, police station and School District learning center, and a planned YMCA, would be "stand- alone" elements within Lino Lakes — with little relationship to other destinations for the community. There are also long -term prospects to create a regional transit node in Lino Lakes' Town Center. 'The retail and community services expected in the Town Center have been shown to help boost transit ridership. However, to keep buses moving quickly, transit agencies generally prefer to have bus stops along highways, and are reluctant to have bus stops be embedded within town center environments. Direct access from the interchange is needed to bring transit into the Town Center by offering an easy way for express buses to exit and return to I -35W. So you can see how direct access from the interchange is crucial to the success of not only the Town Center concept, but also to optimizing each part of the Town Center. I would appreciate an opportunity to discuss this further if the need for direct interchange access remains in doubt. Sincerely, Matthew Taecker AICP Principal c: Mary Alice Divine, City of Lino Lakes 739 ALLSTON WAY BERKELEY, CA 94710 510.548.6800 510.548.6848 FAX PETER CALTHORPE JOSEPH SCANGA MATTHEW TAECKER