06 - Planning and Zoning Monthly Report and 2006 Goals

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Notes: o City Staff is preparing preliminary guidelines regarding extra charges in violations and reimbursement to the City. Staff will submit these guidelines to the Council at the May meeting. o Dawn Bittner was on vacation March 30 and March 31. 0 2006 Planning Department Goals: The following items were worked on in 2005, but as of yet are not completed: • Re-institute building codes and develop a building inspection program to carry them to alleviate substandard housing and ensure new housing is built to last. (The Planning Commission met with state officials and researched options and recommended that the City not adopt the building code. The City Council has not moved to adopt the building code). • Partner with the Pequot Lakes HRA to create a long-term housing plan. (The City committed to assisting the HRA in hiring an intern to assemble this plan. The BRA was unable to come up with the funds for their part of the project. We will work on this again in 2006). • Provide opportunities for local businesses to leverage capital through the use of public funds such as through tax increment financing (TIF), revolving loans, or the installation of community development corporations. (We researched these items and utilized the resources of BLADC with the goal of creating an informational booklet we can distribute. The information has been compiled but the booklet is not completed.) • Develop an assessment policy for roadway improvements and create a petition process for those who would like to have their non-maintained roads adopted by the City. (We worked on this in conjunction with the plat at the north end of North Sluetter Road. The issues raised by this development makes this policy a priority for 2006). We intend to accomplish the following tasks in 2006 in conjunction with the Planning Commission: • Identify areas in the rura turban transition zone suitable for the expansion of utilities and high-density housing. • Encourage businesses in the professional/service sector to locate on the perimeter of the downtown in order to facilitate more space for retail directly in downtown. • To protect groundwater and the City's water supply, limit development in areas with shallow depth to the water table and sand over sand geological features. • Restrict development along slopes that have high erosion potential, requiring minimum setbacks from slope edges. • Retain and manage native vegetation cover in areas with high erosion potential. • Regulate boat canopies, boat lifts, and docks for the purpose of maintaining the natural appearance of the shoreline. Completed March 29, 2006 3