|
City of Wyoming approves comp plan draft |
|
|
|
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
Alice Pickering
Wyoming Reporter
Wyoming City Council has approved the draft comprehensive plan and set Thursday, Feb. 28 as the date for an open house for review and public comment. Council members got a first good look at the information on Feb. 6.
The draft comprehensive plan was prepared by McCombs Frank Roos Associates, Inc. William Weber, director of community planning, made the presentation.
The planners have met eight times. The focus of their work was to look at land use, roads, and parks. The goal was to keep the rural character and feel of the area, while addressing the need for a variety of housing, and development of a stronger city center. Protecting and sustaining the environment is important as 41 percent of the city is in conservation zones or has protected flood plains.
Other parts of the planning include water, sewer, and storm water development. WSB, the city’s engineering consultants, will work on this part of the plan.
The draft plan was illustrated by a color-coded map identifying proposed areas of semi-rural housing, low-density housing, median and higher density neighborhoods. Suggested zones for commercial, rural research areas, office and health care, light industrial, general business, and mixed use areas were proposed. The view was for development for the next 20 to 30 years.
Most main roads through this section of Chisago County take traffic east and west. Weber anticipates at least one new street might be built or extended in the eastern part of the township, to provide another north-south road.
Residents are invited to take a look at the plans and ask questions. Hours for the open house were set for 4-8 p.m. Copies of the information are also to be posted on the city and Wyoming Township websites, according to Weber.
Public hearings are to be scheduled sometime after the open house. Approval was unanimous, 4-0. Mayor Sheldon Anderson did not attend.
Aerial mapping
Council authorized the purchase of aerial mapping of the city from Chisago County at a cost of $1088 per square mile. The total cost for the city is for 3.8 square miles or $4134. The vote was 4-0.
The impetus for the request came from Engineer Mark Erichson. Included as a part of his report for many months, he urged participation in the aerial survey because it will help the city gain important and accurate information about the land inside its boundaries.
The information will very accurate, with elevations well defined. Since the city is in the midst of developing a comprehensive plan, the detailed information will be helpful. The city will be saving money since it will not be hiring survey crews.
Council member Gary Menne wanted to know which part of the city budget would pay for these maps. Administrator Craig Mattson explained that the costs will be recovered later from developers who wish to use the information. Erichson explained the city and county become the owners of the maps.
Erichson told the council that the information is “most useful now” while the comprehensive plan is being developed. Wyoming Township authorized purchase of the portions of the survey that cover the township. Chisago County is preparing the rate at which it would sell the information, which would be higher than the city is paying.
Once the city makes the purchase, it owns the maps and can recoup some of the costs by selling information to developers. While the information will be available late, the cost will be higher.
Menne reported that residents have been calling him, asking when the city will be making street improvements. He wanted to know when some repairs will be made.
Erichson said the inventory of the streets and their conditions has been completed. He is working on the utilities comp plan.
Priorities can be given to projects, based on when new utilities lines are installed. The streets should not be repaired in time for contractors to come along and tear them up to replace a planned sewer or water main expansion.
|
