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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/14/1994 Council Minutes1 1 1 COUNCIL WORK SESSION CITY OF LINO LAKES COUNCIL MINUTES MARCH 14, 1994 DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT : • • March 144 1994 5:35 P.M. 6:25 P.M. Reinert, Neal,, None Ruether: Elliott, Bergeson Staff members present: City Engineer, Darrell Schneider; City Consulting Planner, Al Brixius; Community Development Director, Brian Wessel; City Administrator, Randy Schumacher and Clerk - Treasurer Marilyn Anderson. The purpose of the Council work session was to discuss the current buildable lot inventory and the direction staff should pursue regarding expanding the MUSA. Mr. Schneider explained that this matter was discussed by the City Council on January 5, 1994, and February 2, 1994. Staff is asking the City Council to give direction as to how development to the year 2000 in this City should proceed. Mr. Schneider displayed a map which outlined the current MUSA which contains approximately 3700 acres. The map also identified acreage that could be developed within the MUSA. The acreage was identified after checking with GIS and identifying wetlands. Approximately 500 to 600 of actual developable acreage remain in in the MUSA in Lino Lakes. Much of this land has already been bought by developers and subdivisions are in the planning stages. Mr. Schumacher noted that Metropolitan Council (Metro) thinks that Lino Lakes still has about 2,000 developable acres in the MUSA. Staff would like to get some direction from the City Council regarding how many developable lots they would like to have available per year until the year 2000. The staff would then map out the logical areas for development and begin discussions with Metro regarding extending the MUSA. PAGE 1 112 COUNCIL WORK SESSION MARCH 14, 1994 Council Member Bergeson asked how many lots per acre after streets, ponds and other easements are taken out can be developed. Mr. Brixius explained that in the concept plat for Trapper's Crossing the figure is about 1.6 per acre. It was noted that most of the good and easy developable land has been developed and the plats with 100 lots per 40 acres are now a thing of the past. Mr. Schumacher explained that the biggest concern of the staff at this time is that building permits for new homes remain consistent each year. Staffing becomes a problem if there are 400 permits issued one year and then 75 the next. Budgeting will also be a problem if this situation is allowed to happen. Mr. Schneider noted that Metro feels that each municipality should have a 10 year supply of lots. At this time this City could not identify more than one to two years lot inventory. Mr. Brixius explained that the City Council should identify the rate of growth with which the City feels comfortable. Does the City want to develop 75 lots per year or 100 or 200? The current process identifies the MUSA area and the people in the MUSA area feel they have a right to develop although services may not yet be available. Additionally, these people are actually paying higher taxes and in effect purchasing rights in the MUSA area. If the City continues to develop by exchanging one MUSA area for another, the City is taking away a right from the people who are being dropped from the MUSA. This will cause conflict in the future. Mr. Brixius suggested that the City adopt a "land bank" concept. Although the concept is not popular with Metro it makes sense for Lino Lakes because of the many problems unique to Lino Lakes such as the City Charter, wetlands, physical divisions and the Anoka County policy of applying higher values to lands located within the MUSA. The "land bank" concept does not set the location of specific MUSA areas but rather a specific amount of MUSA acres is allocated to the City based on demand and the City determines where the MUSA lines will be extended by approval of subdivisions. Mayor Reinert noted that in effect the City does have a "land bank" on the west side of the City since there are many one acre lots with septic systems. Mr. Brixius said it would be appropriate to keep these lots in the MUSA because in the future there will be septic failures. He also noted that MUSA looks at these areas as developable however, they are not aware of the Lino Lakes City Charter and do not understand the effect of the Charter. Council Member Bergeson asked if other cities were "land banking". Mr. Brixius said that Lakeville has done this since 1981. They experienced some of the same problems as Lino Lakes is experiencing. Some plats were denied by Metro because the cost to PAGE 2 1 1 1 1 COUNCIL WORK SESSION MARCH 14, 1994 extend services was extreme. Mr. Wessel said that coming to some figure regarding residential unit starts was important to him. When prospective commercial developers talk to him, the questions most often asked are how many residential units per year is the City organized to respond to or what does the City expect to build per year for the next several years. Mayor Reinert expressed concern regarding how much income each residential unit would generate and how does each unit affect the community in terms of the need for additional schools, police and fire protection and public works expansion. At what point will the City need an additional officer, another fire station or additional administrative staff? Mr. Schumacher explained that there is no formula for answering these questions. Council Member Kuether noted that society also dictates what needs have to be met and at what level. Council Member Elliott noted that preparing a policy such as suggested by staff is a marketing tool and can be used by Mr. Wessel to secure commercial economic results to help residents finance the additional services. Mayor Reinert said he felt that 250 homes per year would be manageable. Mr. Schumacher felt that no more than 300 is manageable. Mr. Wessel said that commercial interests were very impressed by the 375 new home permits in Lino Lakes in 1993. He felt that 300 would be very comfortable for him. A plan identifying 300 new home starts per year would let a prospective commercial interest know that the 375 new starts in 1993 was not a "blip". Mr. Schneider said that he had spoken to Centennial School District Superintendent, John McClellan who had said he saw no need to limit population growth. Mr. Schumacher asked the City Council if they would feel comfortable with a projection of 250 new home permits per year. Mayor Reinert said that would project out to about 1500 to 2000 new homes in Lino Lakes by the year 2000 and a population of about 17,000 or 18,000. Mr. Brixius noted that Metro does not forecast population figures in the same manner as municipalities do. He suggested that staff prepare a plan which would include a history of what has happened in Lino Lakes and demonstrate a plan for 250 new homes per year. He noted that Metro does not want to see urban sprawl, and suggested that he be given some flexibility for negotiation and advised the City Council to go forward with a plan for 250 to 300 new homes per year. Council Member Kuether said she would like to see 300 new homes per year because of the economic development impact. Council Member Bergeson noted that the most developable PAGE 3 113 114 COUNCIL WORK SESSION MARCH 14, 1994 property has already been developed so that there is a "built in" limit. Council Member Elliott said she would favor 250 - 300 new homes per year. Mr. Schumacher restated the consensus of the City Council; 250 - 300 new home starts per year using the "land bank" system for extending the MUSA. He noted that this matter will be before the Planning and Zoning Board in April to keep them abreast of what is happening at the City Council level. Council Member Bergeson asked why other communities have not used the "land bank" system. Mr. Brixius explained that other cities have used it on a temporary basis. He will provide information to the City Council regarding how the "land bank" system worked in other cities. The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 P.M. These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular City Council meeting held on March 28, 1994. Marilyn. Anderson, Vernon F. Reinert, Clerk -Treasurer Mayor PAGE 4 1