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.
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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.
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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
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