06/11/2001 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 11, 2001 Donald Dunn, 6885 Black Duck Drive, stated he had worked hard on the Comprehensive Plan and wanted to see the Comprehensive Plan work. He indicated the Plan had to have a vision and rules for making the Plan work. He did not believe the Plan served the needs of the community. He asked with three of the Council Members possibly not being in office in a few months, how were they going to transfer their knowledge to the new Council. He indicated he agreed with the new proposed shopping center in Lino Lakes. He stated Lake Drive was a commercial street and should be built on. Mr. Dunn stated there was animosity among the Council as to what should go there and when. He asked where affordable housing was going to be located. He stated he believed they needed the wherewithal to provide the citizens with an affordable tax base that promoted the quality of life that was expected, such as parks, recreations, smooth traffic, clean air, and one that commanded the ability to provide excellent schools. He expected that from the Plan but he did not see it. Mr. Dunn stated at the next meeting he wanted to see, on an errata sheet, as to what had changed in the Plan so he knew the Council and City was listening to the citizens. Bart Rehbein, Centerville, stated he had a vested interest in the City because he had lived in this area his entire life. He expressed concern regarding the process and how long it had taken to get to this point. He stated they needed to get a Plan in place, especially with the expected growth. He stated his concern was lack of affordable housing and the number of homes being built. He stated there was not enough affordable housing being built and cities like Lino Lakes needed to be willing to create land for affordable housing. He stated if they did not provide affordable housing for the citizens, businesses would not come to the City because there would be no workers for their businesses. He stated economic growth required people to move into the City. Mr. Rehbein stated they needed more housing, not less housing. The growth was coming and it was time to do a good, positive job of meeting the demand of housing. He asked whatever Plan was approved, to take into consideration that the Metropolitan Council would also approve the Plan. Mike Trehus, 675 Shadow Court, indicated he had just received the letter from the City on Saturday and the public hearing was tonight. He indicated this came out of nowhere and he was surprised this was on the fast track. He stated because of the short notice, he had not had an opportunity to review the Plan. He indicated he could not accurately comment on not thoroughly reviewing the Plan. He stated most citizens would not even know there was a hearing tonight. He stated many citizens would not even know what a Comprehensive Plan was. He indicated a good Plan should be reflective of what the citizens wanted. He stated the citizens were not in favor of development and urbanization and asked the Council to minimize those impacts. He indicated while affordable housing was nice, the City needed to have a more balanced tax base, affordable housing would not fit into that tax base, and would not contribute enough to the tax base to make any difference. Mr. Trehus stated the City was already past the 2010 growth and asked why they were adding MUSA. He indicated there was no need to double the urban area. He asked how the City was going to enact an Ordinance that regulated growth when they could not agree on a tree Ordinance. He indicated he did not believe the Plan would be approved by the Metropolitan Council. He stated the residents and the environment were not getting a good deal with this Plan. He asked the Council to think about what they were doing and to take their time in looking at this and obtaining more advice from the Environmental Board.