Lino P&Z Board Tables Comp Plan Amendment
After more than two years of work on the Hodgson Road/ County Road J Master Planning Study and a three-hour meeting on December 13, the Lino Lakes Planning and Zoning Board stopped short of a decision on recommending approval of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment incorporating the study.
Board members cited comments and information presented by audience members during the public hearing as a reason to delay action, and set a workshop date for January 4 to review that information. Action on the Comprehensive Plan Amendment was formally tabled until the board's regularly scheduled meeting of Jan. 10.
Jeff Smyser, Lino Lakes city planner, and Carolyn Krall of Landform, the city's planning consultant, presented the Master Planning Study to the board members and about 40 audience members in the city council chambers. Those in attendance included citizens, property owners, business owners and land developers.
If adopted, the plan will guide development as it occurs within the roughly 60 acres of land in the southwest part of Lino Lakes. The study area borders County Road J (Ash Street) on the south and continues a quarter mile north along Hodgson Road. Twenty acres or so lie west of Hodgson; to the east, approximately 40 acres extend as far as Ware Road.
The planning process was begun in 2004, focusing attention on an intersection that already has high traffic levels.
According to traffic studies, congestion levels will only increase, Smyser said. Some drivers are using side roads that run through adjacent neighborhoods in Shoreview to avoid the intersection, he said.
"The intersection at County Road J and Hodgson Road functions very, very poorly," Smyser said.
The plan calls for the installation of a traffi c signal and additional lanes to improve traffic flows through the intersection.
Smyser also emphasized the visual impacts of the area. "The visual appearance of the entrance to Lino Lakes should be an important part of how this area develops," he said.
County Road J defines the boundary between Anoka and Ramsey counties and the cities of Shoreview and Lino Lakes.
All four groups will likely be involved in decision-making and cost-sharing, Smyser said. Local businesses are involved, too. A garden center, used car lot, car repair business, a closed restaurant, an insurance office, a liquor store, and several single family homes lie within the study area. Bordering the area are several existing neighborhoods.
A critical element of the plan is accommodating the various needs of existing property owners, both business and residential, who have very different plans for the future. Some want to continue using their property the way they are now, with possible future development. Others are ready to develop now. And some do not want to develop at all. Smyser said that this isn't a problem.
"Things can happen without it all happening." Smyser said. "We have no intention of chasing existing businesses out of the area."
The plan, while detailed, is conceptual. It includes the construction of parks and trails, while preserving wetlands.
It recommends some zoning changes. Public water and sewer would be constructed to serve the area. Along with the new lanes and the signals at County Road J and Hodgson, the plan proposes new roads and new access points along both main roads to accommodate local traffic.
Also in the plan is the vision of new commercial buildings with parking lots tucked behind. According to Krall, this would offer a more visually pleasing view of the entrance to the city than the parking lots that dominate the intersection at the present time.
At the public hearing, business owner Greg Ganyo said, "I think it's a great thing and I want to see it go forward. I want to see our city prosper, but I want to see it done in a fair and equitable way."
"This plan ought to be worked out with all the stakeholders involved," said resident Steve Thompson. "This project has demonstrated a lack of cooperation."
Peter Coyle, an attorney for CORE Development Group, which submitted a development application earlier in the day for a grocery store on the west side of Hodgson, asked that the board not make any decisions or recommendations yet because there was more to consider.
"We want to compliment your staff for providing you a helpful framework, but respectfully, we disagree with some conclusions and we think there is an opportunity to do more and something a little bit better if we can work together," he said.
City staff objected to the consideration of specific proposals because the plan itself isn't specific.
"I think it's the responsibility of the city to look at the big picture," Smyser said.
In order for the county to agree to fund road and signal improvements, Smyser said the city must move ahead on the location of significant access points in the study area.
After taking public comment, however, board members hesitated to recommend approval, citing the specific proposals made by developers as an issue worth considering further.
"We need to educate ourselves so we can make an educated decision. I'm going to be looking at it for twenty years, so it better look good," said Chairman Paul Tralle.