May 5, 2009 City Council packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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part of their comments on the draft environmental analysis document. The EQB shall publish a notice of the adoption of the documents and the completion of the review process in the EQB Monitor. Upon adoption of the environmental analysis document, including and the plan for mitigation, residential, commercial, warehousing, and light industrial projects and associated infrastructure within the area that are consistent with the assumptions of the document and that comply with the plan for mitigation are exempt from review under parts 4410.1100 to 4410.1700 and 44102100 to 4410.2800. This language indirectly specifies that development could occur that is inconsistent with the AUAR, but would not be exempt from the environmental review process (and would need to conduct a separate EAW or EIS). One of the benefits of conducting an AUAR is that it allowed the City to examine the cumulative impacts of the proposed Village Master Plan (and existing Comprehensive Plan) rather than dealing with individual development projects as they were brought forward. Any future development in the AUAR will need to comply with the Mitigation Plan, which again provides a more holistic analysis of the mitigation strategies that will be necessary to implement the Village plan. From a planning perspective, the document provides a thorough overview of the environmental issues within the Village planning area and will be a useful tool for making decisions in the future. The Final AUAR establishes that future development in the Village Area will need to meet a very high threshold for environmental protection, especially as it relates to storm water management and the protection of key natural areas that were identified in the study area. These standards need to be implemented by the City in part through amendments to existing ordinances, and will be considered during the review of individual projects. With this framework in place, the City can begin to work on the next steps of the Village planning process. The City Council has not been provided with a complete copy of the final draft; instead the attached memorandum from the City's planning consult highlights the minor revisions proposed to address the final comments to the document. The full version of the Final AUAR is available on the City's web site, and previous versions have been distributed to the Council in electronic format. A final copy will be printed once final action is taken by the Council to adopt the AUAR. NEXT STEPS: Once the Final AUAR document is adopted by the City, the Council may then begin the process of identifying a preferred development scenario to implement. As part of this process, the Council intends to study all or some of the development scenarios for financial feasibility. Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan will be necessary to move forward with any scenario that differs from the City's existing land use plan. Some of the City's ongoing work related to the 2030 Comprehensive Plan project addresses a few of the issues identified in the AUAR. Fully implementing any of the scenarios studied under the AUAR will require additional Comprehensive Plan Amendments, zoning ordinance revisions, and other steps that may be necessary to comply with the Mitigation Plan. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 2009-019 adopting the Lake Elmo Village Area Final Alternative Urban Areawide Review. ORDER OF BUSINESS: - Introduction................................................... Craig Dawson, Interim City Administrator