May 5, 2009 City Council packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Date: 5/5/09 Regular Item: ITEM: Adopt Lake Elmo Village Area Final AUAR REQUESTED BY: Planning Department SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Klatt, Planning Director REVIEWED BY: Craig Dawson, Interim City Administrator Ciara Schlichting, Bonestroo SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUESTED The City Council is being asked to adopt the Lake Elmo Village Area Final Alternative Urban Areawide Review and Mitigation Plan. This action would signify the conclusion of the lengthy environmental review process related to proposed development alternatives in the City's village planning area, and would allow the City to proceed with the next steps in the overall planning process to implement the Village Master Plan. Should the City Council decide to move forward with implementation of one of the four scenarios studied as part of the AUAR (which includes the current Comprehensive Plan), future development will need to be consistent with this document. The final Mitigation Plan is a key part of the document that clearly states the City's commitment to address the environmental issues identified throughout this process. The City received five comments related to the Final AUAR and did not receive any objections to the final document. The City's planning consultant has provided the Council with a summary of the comments received, along with a response when warranted. In cases were modifications to the Final AUAR would be beneficial based on the stated concerns, minor revisions to the document have been proposed. Please note that an AUAR is intentioned to assess the environmental impacts of a proposed development, and the scope of the current study does not take into account other factors that will also be important to address during the implementation of the Village Master Plan. For instance, the AUAR does not make any specific judgments concerning the design standards that might be necessary to ensure future development in the Village Area is consistent with the character of Lake Elmo. The completion of the AUAR process is one of the many steps that are necessary before development will occur in the Village. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The exact language from the Minnesota Environmental Review Program Rules for adoption of an AUAR (Section 4410.3610 Subp. 5,E) reads as follows: E. Unless an objection is filed in accordance with item D, the RGU shall adopt the revised environmental analysis document, including and the plan for mitigation, at its first regularly scheduled meeting held 15 or more days after the distribution of the revised document. The RGU shall submit evidence of the adoption of the document and plan for mitigation to the EQB staff and all agencies that have stated that they wish to be informed of any future projects within the area as