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COMMUNITYGROWTH <br /> 1 N S T 1 T U T E <br /> MEMO <br /> Date: September 27, 2006 <br /> To: Mayor and City Council <br /> From: Charles Marohn, City Planner <br /> Cc: Sandy Post, City Clerk <br /> Paul Sandelin, City Attorney <br /> Planning Commission <br /> Dan Couture <br /> David Landecker, Landecker and Associates <br /> Re: Couture Request to Rezone <br /> At the regular September meeting,the City Council took no action on the Dan Couture request to <br /> rezone his property from Forest Management to Commercial. The Council requested that the <br /> Staff have the City Attorney research the situation on the property and make a determination on <br /> the legal ramifications of one approach over another. <br /> The Planning Commission and the applicant made the same request subsequent to the July <br /> Planning Commission meeting. The emails received from the Attorney on this matter are <br /> attached, but can be summarized as follows: <br /> 1. The property is zoned Forest Management and,to be developed commercially, a <br /> rezoning is required. <br /> 2. The rezoning to Forest Management was done properly. <br /> 3. The City has the latitude to zone the property Commercial, if it so chooses. <br /> The Planning Commission discussed the City Attorney's input and also the stated objective of <br /> the City to not down-zone properties as part of the city-wide rezoning process. After lengthy <br /> discussion, the Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend that the rezoning be <br /> denied. That recommendation was based off of the following findings of fact: <br /> i. The rezoning to Commercial is not consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan and <br /> Future Land Use Map, which designates this area as a forest preservation area. At the <br /> time the Future Land Use Map was created, this parcel was a part of the surrounding <br /> properties, which were owned by a forestry company and were more than 50% wooded <br /> as a whole. <br /> 2. The parcel is bordered to the south by property zoned Agriculture and is otherwise <br /> entirely surrounded by properties zoned Forest Management. <br /> 3. Rezoning the property to Commercial would constitute spot zoning as there are not any <br /> other properties in the immediate vicinity of that, or a similar, zoning classification, and <br /> 14084 Baxter Drive, Suite 7 <br /> Baxter, MN 56425 <br /> (218) 828-3064 <br /> www.communitygrowth.com <br />