06-20-2002 Planning Commission Meeting

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11. The necessity to preserve and restore certain areas having significant historical or ecological value. 12. Conflicts between land uses and impacts of commercial uses or higher densities on adjacent properties. 13. Alternatives available for desired land use. 14. Prevention of spot zoning. 15. Conformance to the City of Pequot Lakes Comprehensive Plan. Staff Findings: We find that the property is not incorrectly zoned. The current zoning is consistent with the current land use. The future land use map developed as part of the Comprehensive Plan(which the city of Pequot Lakes has adopted) shows this area remaining as forest. Simply stated, a change in zoning classification would not be consistent with the comprehensive growth plan. The Comprehensive Plan outlines some of the natural limitations of the site as a woodland resource. The Plan also discusses reasons for avoiding the negative effects of "leap frog" development. The plan accommodates projected growth in areas more favorable to development. There are no indications that the plan is not working and is in need of reconsideration. Planning Commission Direction: The Planning Commission has in its discretion to approve or deny any request, or to table a request to obtain additional information. Your recommendation in this instance should have a broad consensus as a broad consensus is what is needed to obtain City Council approval. Staff Recommendation: It is very important to stay consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The plan outlines growth areas within the City to accommodate projected growth. These growth areas have attributes that more favor development than other areas. Having designated growth areas helps the City focus economic resources and leads to more efficient government spending on costly infrastructure improvements. Speculative land purchases in the Brainerd Lakes Area have historically been successful for speculators. This is because the lack of thorough planning has diminished the effectiveness of arguments against upzoning requests. In the City of Pequot Lakes, with the adoption of a well-developed Comprehensive Plan for the Sibley Township area, a speculator only needs to read the plan to know how the property they are evaluating fits into the growth strategy. There are no surprises here. We recommend that the Commission find that the parcel is properly zoned consistent with both the current and future land use outlined in the City's Comprehensive Plan and that a change in zoning to Residential and Commercial would not be consistent with the long-range planning strategies outlined in the Comprehensive Plan. We recommend, based on these findings, that the request for a rezoning be denied.