MINUTES EDA 08.15.23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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UPDATE ON HIGHWAY 61 VISIONING STUDY Washington County Staff along with City Staff would like to hold a joint workshop to discuss the Highway 61 Visioning Study with the EDA and Planning Commission. The workshop was scheduled on Thursday, August 24th, 2023 at 7:30 PM. Commissioner Puleo asks why we should consider the feel of the highway without knowing the end width of the highway, and ahead of development on the north side of the City. Juba says that those items are all interconnected, including the layout and transit issues. Commissioner Klein comments that the feel of the road shouldn’t matter if the surroundings are unpleasant. President Weidt comments that County Road 8 has a certain feel that’s different from 61. Bear states a common theme from residents since he’s been with the City of Hugo is that 61 can be better. Access has always been restricted on the west side of the highway, and with a change in access capabilities the west side of the highway could feel very different. Commissioner Puleo comments that the visioning process doesn’t makes sense without development interest in the northern part of the community. Bear states that a complete rethinking of the corridor vastly re-opens options for development and access along the whole corridor if the process is handled correctly. Bear explains the process that White Bear Lake went through to oppose the purple line, and how the Met Council routed the corridor away from the City of White Bear Lake, removing the transit corridor for Hugo. Commissioner Chrun asks if White Bear Lake could reverse their decision. Bear says that it was not White Bear Lake’s decision to make. President Weidt comments that the Premier Bank project corridor would feel very different without the 100 feet of transit right of way. UPDATE ON 2023 GOALS Juba highlights the goals adopted by the EDA in January, one of which to be reviewing commercial land uses and the review of approaching apartments. Staff will be starting the process of evaluating these uses including mixed use as a zoning district. This process will be the next step in these goals. Commissioner Klein asks about whether there has been outside pressure to develop affordable and workforce housing. Juba says right now the Met Council requires 3 units per acre over the MUSA, as well as having affordable housing goals that we plan for but aren’t required. Bear says that there is a new sales tax in the metro geared toward affordable housing, and each City is allocated an amount of that sales tax for the purposes of affordable housing. UPDATE ON DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT Juba states that staff is continuing to work with Denny Trooien and DNR on changing the plan for Downtown Hugo on the City-owned property on Egg Lake. The DNR hasn’t aproved the way that staff calculated the average setback from the OHWL, along with a new requirement of a 30 foot setback from the lake. Mr. Trooien is working on a new plan but the 30 foot mark is difficult to reach. Staff is still of the opinion that the plan approved by the City Council does a good job of improving the water