Laserfiche WebLink
One of the policies in the Comprehensive Plan is to ensure that elected officials are <br /> informed of and understand the goals and strategies contained in the Comprehensive <br /> Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is an important document that forms a vision for the <br /> future of Pequot Lakes and lays the framework for all future land use decisions. It was <br /> created with broad input from the citizens of Pequot Lakes, and it represents their values. <br /> As the Planning Commission, we feel it is our responsibility to inform you of the goals <br /> and strategies in the plan as they related to the future expansion of Highway 371. <br /> Specifically,the City Council's decision to support the thru-town option is at odds with <br /> the following policies and actions in the Comprehensive Plan: <br /> COMMUNITY CHARACTER <br /> • Protect and enhance local businesses,landmarks, historic and archeological <br /> sites, social gathering places, and natural features in Pequot Lakes. Citizens <br /> of Pequot Lakes want the community character and small town feel to serve as the <br /> foundation for economic vitality and quality of life. The thru-town option will <br /> detract from the distinct community assets that put Pequot Lakes at an advantage <br /> over other communities. <br /> • Ensure that all new development complements and does not detract from the <br /> natural,scenic, and cultural amenities unique to Pequot Lakes. Citizens do <br /> not want to follow suburban development patterns that will make their community <br /> look like every other community, or that will degrade the unique appeal of the <br /> downtown district. All new development should incorporate Pequot Lakes' small <br /> town feel and cultural heritage in their layout. This goal will be impossible to <br /> achieve with a thru-town highway that is conducive to a suburban development <br /> model that is auto-oriented rather than people-oriented. <br /> • Prevent commercial development from sprawling along the roadways. <br /> Citizens would like to concentrate the commercial area around the existing <br /> downtown. A highway would make this strategy nearly impossible to achieve, <br /> and would instead encourage exactly what citizens don't want to see— <br /> commercial strip development. <br /> • Designate a rural, urban, and rural/urban transition zone in order to <br /> maintain the integrity of these distinct areas. Each zone should promote <br /> development that fits within the context of existing development. Downtown <br /> Pequot Lakes is urban in nature, featuring high density housing and shops and <br /> grid-pattern streets that encourage pedestrian activity. Residents want to retain <br /> that development pattern in downtown. A thru-town highway would disrupt this <br /> pattern altogether and impose a suburban pattern that does not fit. <br /> HOUSING <br /> • Expand high-density housing options close to downtown and in suitable areas <br /> of the rural/urban transition zone. Increased traffic congestion and noise on <br /> frontage and backage roads and loss of development space from the thru-town <br /> option make achieving this goal very difficult, especially near downtown. The <br /> plan also identifies one housing opportunity site at the intersection of Spruce and <br /> Sibley Streets that would be negatively impacted by the thru-town option. <br />