Commentary; Posted: 7/3/07
Broader metro planning region warranted
By Don Heinzman
How to coordinate land use planning in an expanded Metropolitan region is a key question for the future.
At a regional government planning conference last week, those attending said the region for planning and delivery of some services such as wastewater treatment needs to be expanded during the next 40 years. It’s estimated another million people will move into the counties where over half will commute to jobs outside their communities.
It’s suggested by some that the planning region of the Metropolitan Council should be expanded to 11 counties and maybe more, anticipating more people living outside the seven-county area but commuting to jobs in the immediate Twin Cities area.
The Metropolitan Council looked back on 40 years of sometimes controversial existence and agreed it had done some things right, such as having a comprehensive land use plan for some 150 units in the seven-county metropolitan area.
Other accomplishments were establishing and operating a wastewater treatment system, managing the metropolitan transit systems, developing and managing a regional park system and offering incentives that have resulted in more affordable housing and more livable cities.
In 1976, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Metropolitan Land Planning Act which requires local governments within the seven-county area to adopt and file comprehensive land use plans that fit the council’s regional development framework.
Most local officials in the seven counties are finding acceptable a Metropolitan Council that coordinates planning and runs regional transit, wastewater and parks systems. Such acceptance of an appointed council has not come easily and has succeeded in part because the council walks softly and doesn’t carry a big stick.
Not all communities, particularly those in the developing suburbs, like an appointed council telling them how to plan their communities. On the other hand they see the value of the council providing regional services they cannot individually afford.
The council is in no mood to move in with its planning power where it is not wanted, fearing political pressure particularly from conservatives who may cause the Legislature to abolish it.
Those attending a regional planning conference last week, however, urged the council to convene discussions and develop partnerships with officials in collar counties outside the seven-county area.
The central question will not go away. The need for coordinated planning among fast-growing communities outside the seven-county region is undeniable, based on the data which shows growth will continue for the next 20 years.
Today, planning for that growth is done at the incorporated city and county levels, with no reference to a regional planning framework. County planners confer on coordinating, but again there is no comprehensive land use play to go by.
The state no longer has a planning agency and is not involved in land use planning. There are six planning districts with weak powers.
The Minnesota Legislature would be wise to expand the metropolitan planning region with an appointed council to staggered terms and to have an opt-out provision for counties that don’t want to be part of the region.
The value of planning use of land in a coordinated way and providing regional services such as transit cannot be overstated. An appointed council, while not as accountable to the voters, takes the politics out of the decision-making but does subject the council to opposition.
Good planning steps on toes and that may be the trade-off for people who want to live quality lives in suburban communities and yet have the benefit of jobs and services in the Twin Cities area core communities.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605