In This Issue:
- Metro Regional Meeting/Metro Cities Policy Adoption Meeting is Next Week!
- 2020 Draft Legislative Policies
- Metropolitan Council Releases 2018 Plat Monitoring Report
- 2018 Agricultural Preserves Report Now Available
Metro Regional Meeting/Metro Cities Policy Adoption Meeting is Next Week!
Join your colleagues for the Metro Regional Meeting and Metro Cities’ Policy Adoption Meeting on Thursday, November 14, 2019 in Minnetonka! The Metro Regional Meeting is jointly hosted by LMC and Metro Cities. Metro Cities membership also meets to approve the 2020 Legislative Policies. The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Minneapolis West in Minnetonka. Several state agency commissioners will present at the regional meeting. The afternoon concludes with a networking social hour.
A membership quorum is required for the adoption of Metro Cities’ policies, so each member city should make sure to have a representative present. Click here for more information and to register. We look forward to seeing you there!
2020 Draft Legislative Policies
Metro Cities’ Draft 2020 Legislative Policies are now online for review. The draft policies were recommended by members through Metro Cities’ four policy committees and were approved by the Metro Cities Board of Directors at their October meeting.
A memo, link to the draft policies and Metro Cities’ policy adoption protocol has been mailed to city administrators/managers. The policies will be adopted by Metro Cities’ membership at the Policy Adoption Meeting on Thursday, November 14, 2019. Please be sure to mark your calendar and plan to attend! Click here to read the agenda and register.
Each member city has one vote, with one additional vote for each 50,000 population above the initial 50,000. Once the policies are adopted, they will serve as the framework for Metro Cities’ work at the Legislature and Metropolitan Council in 2020.
We hope to see you next Thursday! Comments or questions on the proposed policies should be directed to [email protected] or 651-215-4000.
Metropolitan Council Releases 2018 Plat Monitoring Report
An updated 2018 report on platting activity in cities across the metropolitan region was released by the Metropolitan Council and discussed at the November 4 Community Development Committee meeting. This annual report tracks development patterns in developing communities. The plat monitoring program currently includes 44 participating cities and one township, up from the 12 participating communities when the program started in 2001.
The report shows 45 participating communities approved 131 plats on over 1,900 acres of developable land. 68 percent of platted units were single family while the remaining 32 percent were multifamily units resulting in a net density of 3.1 units per acre.
Council staff explained the annual report tracks data not available anywhere else. Platting activity takes place before building permits are issued. Thus the report can show the intent of cities and where they are preparing for residential development, whether the private market builds housing or not. The report can be found on the Council website.
2018 Agricultural Preserves Report Now Available
The Metropolitan Council’s 2018 annual report on metropolitan land enrolled in the metropolitan agricultural preserves program was presented at the November 4 Community Development Committee meeting.
The program, in existence since 1980, encourages and preserves areas planned and zoned for long-term agricultural use. Enrollment eligible land must reflect agricultural land use with a maximum density of one unit per 40 acres on the Future Land Use Map.
The 2018 report showed steady enrollment, with minimal changes in overall enrolled acreage. Six of the seven metro counties have enrolled properties, while Ramsey County does not due to it being fully developed. The maps and tables in the report show enrollment trends as well as where the preserved properties are located.
One program change not included in the 2018 report but impacting the program in future years, was made by the 2019 legislature. The 2019 tax bill, signed into law, allows for early termination by a landowner (with a majority vote of the applicable zoning authority) for land located in a metropolitan agricultural preserve. The land must be enrolled for at least eight years and notice to the authority with a property description and desired date of termination must be provided.