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City Council Minutes 06-24-1997 SpecialMINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL/MONTICELLO TOWNSHIP BOARD Tuesday, June 24, 1997 - 7 p.m. Monticello City Hall City Council Committee Members Present: Brian Stumpf, Clint Herbst, Roger Carlson Township Board Committee Members Present: Charles Holthaus, Ken Scadden, Ted Kopff Also Present: Steve Grittman, City Planner; Rick Wolfsteller, City Administrator A special joint committee meeting of the City Council and Monticello Township Board was held for the purpose of discussing the urban service area boundaries and orderly annexation area (OAA). City Administrator Rick Wolfsteller explained that the OAA boundaries were established by the Minnesota Municipal Board in the late 1960's and early 1970'x. In addition, in 1990 an urbanization area agreement was created between the City and the Township, which designated an urban service area to help with smooth transition of development of some areas. Although the OAA boundaries haven't changed in the last 25 years, most of the parcels in the urbanization area have been developed and annexed with the exception of some property to the west. Wolfsteller suggested that since most of the urban service area has been developed, perhaps the urbanization plan is no longer necessary and the City and Township should go back to using the OAA agreement and boundaries that were originally established. The City Administrator also noted that development to the west has been limited because services must be extended across the freeway in order for major development to occur, which would cost approximately $325,000; however, it was his view that development will likely occur in this area within the not-too-distant future. City Planner Steve Grittman added that once the Highway 25 improvement project is completed, access will be much more convenient and will add to the interest in developing the property to the west. Township Board Member Ken Scadden stated that if the city continues to expand to the south, the area to the west will never develop. It was his view that there is plenty of land in the OAA that xhould be developed before boundary lines are extended. Page 1 Special Council Minutes - 6/24/97 Council members noted their concern that if the boundaries are not extended at this time, the City and Township will soon be meeting again to discuss annexation when the property to the west develops. It was their view that extension of the boundaries should be discussed now to avoid continued meetings regarding annexation. Councilmember Herbst asked the City Planner for his view regarding allowing development to occur to the south or whether the City should push for development to the west. Steve Grittman noted that the main issue is capacity, which is available in the southeast area. Although it isn't necessary to use all of the capacity in the southeast area, artificially restricting access to land could depress the market and raise housing cost. Grittman noted that the city has seen pretty dramatic development in the last five years with the River Mill and HIein Farms subdivisions. A common formula used by cities is to maintain a 5-10 year supply of developable land. The City Administrator noted that with 327 available lots in Monticello, the City has only a 3-year or less supply of developable land. Since the City knows more now about where development is occurring than it did 25 years ago, he suggested that the area to the east along the river be removed from the OAA and that amount of acreage be applied to another area where development is more likely to occur. Steve Grittman estimated that the OAA probably includes about 1400 acres, with a total absorption rate of about 100 acres per year, of which about 60 acres per year is absorbed as residential development. However, not all of the estimated 1400 acres would be developable, as there are existing mobile home parks and developments already existing within that acreage. Township Board members noted that a precedent would be set if development is allowed to occur outside of the OAA. It was also their view that since there was still approximately 200 acres of undeveloped property in the southwest area of the urban service area, the City should look at expanding the boundaries only after that area is developed. Councilmember Roger Carlson noted that when considering the size of the core city 25 years ago and the large amount of land included in the OAA at that time, the amount of land being discussed for annexation and development today is reasonable. He stated that this is an opportunity to plan ahead and avoid continued annexation meetings between the City and Township. Ken Scadden asked the Council to show the Township Board members on the map where they would like to expand the boundaries. Page 2 Special Council Minutes - 6/24/97 Councilmember Brian Stumpf suggested that the OAA boundary on the east be moved to coincide with the urban service area boundary and that the urban service boundary be extended to the south and west to coincide with the OAA boundary. In addition, he noted that he was apposed to development occurring outside of the OAA boundary. It was the consensus of the group that if the urban service lines were re-established as suggested by Councilmember Brian Stumpf, it was agreed that development should not be allowed to occur outside of the OAA boundary. Councilmember Stumpf then requested feedback from the Township Board members regarding moving the urban service boundary to match the OAA boundary to the south and west. Ted Kopff and Ken Scadden stated that it was too much land to include in the urban service area and asked if the City wanted to develop that fast. The City Administrator explained that the criteria would remain the same as in the past; and if property meets the criteria, then it should be acceptable for annexation and development. Councilmember Herbst suggested that the Township Board discuss the proposed change to the urban service boundary lines at their next Board meeting and forward their decision to the City Council for discussion at their July 14 meeting. The City Administrator also suggested that the committees may want to find out who the property owners are at the proposed urban service boundaries to avoid future situations where farms purchased for development are located half inside and half autside of the OAA. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. ,Qti r n Doty Office Manager Page 3