05/05/2004 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • MEMORANDUM To: Mayor and Council From: Mary Divine Date: 05/03/04 Re: Benchmark Community Builder Collaborative Master Planning Process cc: Mike Grochala John Feges of Benchmark Community Builder Collaborative met with city council and citizen advisory boards at a special work session on April 29 regarding the 360 -acre site north of County Road 14 and west of 35E. His goal at that meeting was to explain his approach to master planning the site by involving all interested stakeholders in a community planning process. At its April meeting, EDAC recommended that the city move forward with this type of planning process. It is staff's sense that those attending last week's meeting were also in favor of this planning approach. Staff is seeking direction from the council regarding whether they should move ahead with Mr. Feges on this process. The next step would entail Benchmark Community Builder Collaborative working with city staff to brainstorm all of the many stakeholders and identify all key audiences. From there, an action plan will be created to seek input and buy -in from these groups. This input is likely to come from a combination of face -to -face meetings with individuals, focus groups, charettes, written surveys, task forces and listening sessions. If the council directs staff to move forward, the city can apply for a Metropolitan Council Opportunity Grant to enlarge the scope of this master planning process to include the greater 35E corridor within Lino Lakes. These funds are available for preparing master plans, conducting design workshops, developing zoning and land use implementation tools, environmental reviews, etc. Because the city has already been collaborating with neighboring cities and the counties on transportation planning, we should have a strong application. The application deadline is June 2. s -S