HomeMy WebLinkAbout20071001 - VIII-B-2
VIII-B-2
Memo
To:
Mayor Hicks and City Council
From:
John Hinzman, Planning Director
Date:
October 1, 2007
Subject:
Presentation of Comprehensive Plan Concept Plan
REQUEST
Please find attached the draft Comprehensive Plan Concept Plan for your review and
comment. The Concept Plan outlines general goals and objectives and serves as the
framework for Comprehensive Plan. I will also present a brief summary of the plan at the
meeting.
BACKGROUND
On January 2, 2007 the City Council created a Comprehensive Plan Committee consisting
of over 20 people. Since February, the Committee has held monthly meetings with City
Staff and Planning Consultant Bill Weber. In August, a draft plan was released to the public
for review and comment.
OPEN HOUSE
Hastings and neighboring township residents were invited to an open house on September
1 ih to review the plan concepts. Approximately 25 members were in attendance. Most
comments were from neighboring township residents concerning future growth and
development; some were opposed, some welcomed it. Comments from Hastings residents
were minimal. Staff is pursuing additional avenues to get public input.
NEXT STEPS
The Comprehensive Plan Committee will continue to meet through 2008. A final draft plan
is anticipated in early 2008.
City of Hastings Comprehensive Plan
Concept Plan for Discussion
Open House - September 12, 2007
This draft Concept Plan is an overview of the main ideas that will guide the preparation
of the detailed plan elements for the Comprehensive Plan.
The intention of this document is to provide initial responses to the previously-identified
issues and receive direction from the Citizens of Hastings. All aspects of this document
are open to comment and revision.
The Concept Plan is based on the findings of the Analysis of Conditions and Issues and
the comments received from the 20 member Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC)
during meetings in February, March, April and May of2007. Major ideas from the 2000
plan have been incorporated to the extent that they remain viable.
The Concept Plan was reviewed by the CPC at their meetings in June and July, and the
Planning Commission in August. A public open house will be held on September 12,
2007 from 4:00 - 8:00 pm at Hastings City Hall to review the concept with the public.
Overall Goals
1. Small Town Character: Protect the look and feel of the older districts and seek to
extend traditional neighborhood design principles into new areas.
2. Fringe Growth: Adopt and follow a plan for growth and protect perimeter
locations for efficient, compact neighborhood expansion.
3. Neighborhood Protection and Improvement: Keep older neighborhood
attractive and vital through improved streets, parks and services, code enforcement,
design standards and selective redevelopment.
4. Natural Environment: Protect and enhance the major natural features of Hastings
such as wooded hillsides, wetlands, floodplains and waterfronts.
5. Circulation and Movement: Provide adequate motorized and non-motorized
movement within and through Hastings that supports other objectives of this plan.
6. Economic Development: Continue to work with county, state and private
organizations to diversify and expand the local economy while raising the standard
of living.
7. City Fiscal Health: Safeguard City fiscal conditions by keeping cost increases in
line with revenue growth.
23 August 2007
1
Concept Plan
Major Assumptions
1. Proactive local government is essential for creating a high-quality city.
2. It is critical to the long-term future of Hastings that it be able to grow efficiently on
its perimeter.
3. Collaborative growth management among Hastings, the adjacent townships and
Dakota County is possible and mutually beneficial.
4. All growth should be accommodated in sewered areas in and around Hastings.
5. Compact traditional neighborhood development is desirable.
6. Prosperity is enhanced if growth is planned and managed.
7. Redevelopment sometimes requires public assistance.
8. Environmental protection is desirable.
9. The vitality of the downtown and the older neighborhoods is important.
10. Existing neighborhoods should be protected.
2
23 August 2007
Concept Plan
~
_Commercial
_ Business Park
_ No Recommendation - Discuss Further
~1~lor Trail
Artefl~1 Road
Collector Road
July 27, 2007
Concept Plan
&act location. of future roads and
pi/shave yetta be determined
24 July 2007
3
Concept Plan
land Use
1. Extent of the Planning Area: Plan for and confine urban growth over the 2008-
2030 time period to the area bounded approximately by Jacob Avenue on the west,
I 70th Street on the south and potentially to the Glendale Road valley on the east.
2. Fringe Development Pattern: Regulate development to be compact and
efficient. Allow for mixtures both detached and attached forms of housing in
neighborhoods. Include parks and off-street bicycling paths consistent with the
Parks and Trails chapter of this plan.
3. Development Staging: Adopt a plan for the sequential annexation of land and
the extension of City sewer and water lines. Attempt to gain agreement from each
affected Township on the growth staging plan. Approve annexation petitions that
are consistent with the general plan of staged and orderly development, limiting
annexation to property that will be developed in the near future, in order to
effectively manage perimeter growth to the mutual benefit of the City and the
Townships. Prepare and adopt criteria for evaluating annexation petitions.
4. Rate of Growth: Do not impose an annual limit on residential or commercial
growth at this time. Instead, guide and regulate the design of new development to
achieve consistency with the visual character principles enunciated in the Urban
Design chapter of this plan.
5. New Neighborhood Design: Allow developers to include a variety of housing
types, styles and price points in each major neighborhood. Adopt subdivision and
zoning regulations that mandate interconnected local streets, sidewalks on at least
one side of all local and collector streets, and trees along all streets. Require all
housing developers to reduce the visual impact of garage doors through setback,
color, windows and/or orientation. Use regulations and incentives to produce new
neighborhoods that are attractive, diverse and have lasting value.
6. Downtown: Continue to support downtown as the historic, social and
psychological heart of the city. Promote an environment that is walkable, dense,
diverse and in keeping with its historic architectural character. Expand the range of
housing options in and around the downtown, and improve the linkage between
downtown and the riverfront.
7. Riverfronts: Work to achieve a continuous band of public park land between
Jaycee Park and the City marina.
8. Highway 55 Corridor: Plan the Highway 55 corridor for an intensive variety of
retail, service, office, and governmental land uses flanked by mid- and high-density
housing.
9. Retail Commercial Growth: Concentrate retail business in the Highway 55
corridor, the Vermillion Street corridor and downtown.
4 23 August 2007
Concept Plan
10. Employment Centers: Plan for a second business park on the western side of the
community.
11. Redevelopment: Support redevelopment primarily by planning and zoning
certain sites for more intensive or different land uses than their present use. In
special circumstances, the City may use tools such as tax increment financing to
support redevelopment when it can be demonstrated that the monetary and other
benefits to the City justify the investment risk.
12. Glendale Road Valley Land Use: The issue of whether sewered residential
development should occur in the Glendale Road valley requires further public
discussion.
Municipal sanitary sewer and water lines are tentatively planned to be looped from
Spiral Boulevard to Ravenna Trail via Glendale Road to serve the future regional
wastewater treatment plant north of Ravenna Trail near the Glendale Road
intersection. The issue is whether part of the cost of those lines should be assessed
to benefiting landowners along Glendale Road and the zoning of those properties
changed from Agriculture to one or more of the urban residential districts.
13. Environmental Protection: Protect or restore through regulation ana/or City
investment sensitive or unique natural resources such as floodplains, steep slopes,
major wooded areas, major vistas, streams, wetlands, water quality, shorelines and
riverbanks.
14. Planning and Annexation Considerations: Consider factors such as the
following in the growth management plan:
Maintaining a compact and regular pattern of growth and boundaries
Minimizing infrastructure and service costs
Designing attractive neighborhoods
Preserving prime farmland and natural areas
Responding to market demands for development.
24 July 2007
5
Concept Plan
Existing Neighborhoods and Districts
1. Public Facilities: Continue to improve streets, sidewalks, parks and other public
facilities in established areas in order to promote private reinvestment in, housing
and business rehabilitation and confidence in those locations. (Refer also to the
policies on local streets, sidewalks and alleys under Transportation.)
2. Redevelopment: Assist redevelopment of small areas (either housing or
business) through plans and zoning and, when prudent and necessary, with public
works or direct financial assistance.
3. Design Guidelines: Continue to apply the Original Hastings Design Standards
adopted for the neighborhoods north of Tenth Street and east of Pine Street. Ensure
that infill and redevelopment buildings are compatible with nearby structures and
that they enhance rather than harm nearby investments. In future neighborhoods,
the City will allow developers to follow design guidelines for traditional
neighborhoods.
Circulation and Movement
1. Supportive Land Use Planning: Promote through the Land Use Plan increased
concentrations of jobs and housing in order to efficiently use existing transportation
infrastructure and provide for the viability of walking and bicycling.
2. All Modes of Movement: Provide safe systems for all users including motor
vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists.
3. New Arterial Roads: Continue to study the feasibility of building a new arterial
road (County or State jurisdiction) in the vicinity of I 70th Street, west of Redwing
Blvd to connect to Highway 55.
4. New Collector Streets: Extend the established pattern of collector streets into
new neighborhoods through the platting process.
5. Minor Residential Streets: Design and maintain local streets for land access
while making them less attractive to sub-regional and regional traffic through the
use of traffic calming techniques. Decrease the width of new local (minor)
residential streets from cun-ent standards. Fully interconnect new local residential
streets and minimize the number of cul-de-sacs. Also reduce rebuilt residential
streets in width to the extent that on-street parking and other demands allow.
6. Sub-Regional and Regional Facilities: Continue to work with Dakota County
and Mn/DOT to enhance safety and improve traffic flow on sub-regional and
regional facilities. Focus on access control and the separation of regional and local
traffic. Play an active role in helping Dakota County and the Metropolitan Council
formulate transportation plans affecting Hastings.
7. Access Management: Manage access on major streets to improve traffic flow
and road capacity, always with a concern for neighborhood livability.
6 n~~~
Concept Plan
8. Bailly Parkway: Create "Bailly Parkway" as proposed in the 2003 plan,
"Improving on the Original," incorporating the vacated railroad corridor and
returning Ramsey and Tyler Streets to two-way traffic.
9. Commuter Transit: Continue to plan for the long-term possibility of commuter
rail service with a terminal at the former railroad depot in downtown. Lobby for
commuter bus service to downtown St. Paul as a "starter system."
10. Bicyding: Build a city-wide network of interconnected off-street bicycle paths and
on-street lanes serving both recreational and transportation functions. Require that
on-street bicycle lanes be installed with most new arterial or collector roads.
Coordinate with Dakota County to create off-road bicycle paths along the
Mississippi River to the west, along the abandoned railroad corridor to the southeast
and along the Vermillion River basin to the southwest.
11. Walking: Install public sidewalks along at least one side of each new or
reconstructed local street and both sides of collector streets. Exceptions to this
sidewalk policy may be granted to protect major natural features or short cul-de-sac
streets.
12. Street Reconstruction: Continue the program of assessing the surface condition
of local streets and budgeting for their systematic maintenance and periodic
reconstruction.
13. Alley Reconstruction: Consider enhancing the program for reconstructing alleys.
Economic Development
1. Business and Industrial Parks: Maintain a balanced and competitive inventory
of business and industrial sites with excellent infrastructure, telecommunications
capacity and transportation access.
Maintain the Municipal Industrial Park along Spiral Boulevard with higher
standards for buildings on the few remaining lots.
Create a new business park with higher requirements for architecture, landscaping
and site planning along the County Road 46 cOITidor in the vicinity of Jacob
A venue
24 July 2007
7
Concept Plan
2. Vermillion Street Corridor: Support economic revitalization of the Vermillion
Street corridor.
3. Transportation and Telecommunications Infrastructure: Support and
facilitate strong telecommunications and transportation infrastructure to all local
centers of economic activity -- business, industrial and office areas.
4. Economic Development Services: Retain and expand existing industries and
major employers. Organize and update information on the local economy.
5. Changing Economy and Marketplace: Periodically review and update
economic development strategies, policies, investments, and programs to respond to
changing economic conditions and opportunities.
Parks, Open Space and Trails
1. Urban Form: Use parks, public open spaces and trails as a means of shaping the
form of the community.
2. Riverfront Greenways: Maximize the value of, and access to, natural and scenic
areas along the Mississippi River and other natural green way cOITidors defined by
the system plan. Improve public access to the river from Hastings Marina to the
Lock and Dam.
3. Trail System: Provide a system of attractive, connected trails that generate high
numbers of users for recreation, fitness / health and altemative transportation.
4. Trail Connections: Provide numerous connections between the local and regional
trail and parks systems so as to provide seamless and expansive service.
5. Neighborhood Parks: Meet neighborhood park needs with facilities designed in
response to the unique needs of each neighborhood. Plan to create six new
neighborhood parks. (See the plan map on page 3 for approximate locations.)
6. Athletic Fields: Ensure that City athletic facilities efficiently and effectively serve
the needs of the community in concert with other providers such as the school
district.
During the next 25 years, continue to build facilities for organized athletics at
Veterans' Park and a road link to E. 2151 Street. Long term, consider creating a
second community athletic field on the westem side of the city to accommodate
growth.
8
23 August 2007
Concept Plan
Urban Design
1. New Residential Neighborhoods: Design newer neighborhoods to be attractive,
walkable and interesting with better streetscape, site planning, building architecture,
signage and lighting.
2. Established Residential Neighborhoods: Require infill and redevelopment
buildings to be designed with sensitivity to their context, including features such as
land use type, building height, bulk and placement, architectural details, parking,
landscaping and lighting.
3. Major Natural Features: Protect or enhance the appearance of the major natural
features of Hastings such as steep slopes, floodplains, wetlands and the river edges
as important elements in the appearance of the community and nearby
neighborhoods.
4. New Industrial and Business Park Development: Prepare and adopt design
guidelines for the next business / industrial park that will ensure lasting value and a
relatively high level of investment in exterior materials and site improvements.
5. Zoning: Improve and apply the site design provisions of the zoning ordinance to
gradually create more attractive multi-family and commercial areas.
6. Design Guidelines: Prepare and adopt into the zoning ordinance guidelines for
the design of multiple-family housing and for site landscaping. Require infill and
redevelopment buildings to be designed with sensitivity to their context. Design
newer neighborhoods to be attractive, walkable and interesting with better
streetscape, site planning, building architecture, signage and lighting.
7. Public Infrastructure Set a high standard of design for new public infrastructure.
Require that new or rebuilt roads or bridges include aesthetic treatments beyond
those provided by MnDOT or the County. The appearance of the next Mississippi
River bridge will be velY important to the long-tenD image of Hastings.
8. Future Local Residential Streets: Interconnect most streets unless topography
or other factors prohibit such connections.
Require that trees be installed by land developers in the public right-of-way along
both sides of all new local and collector streets.
Require that public sidewalks be installed along at least one side of each new or
reconstructed local street and both side of collector streets. Exceptions to this
sidewalk policy may be granted to protect major natural features or short cul-de-sac
streets.
24 July 2007
9
Concept Plan
9. Multi-Use and Mixed-Use Development: Support and encourage through
zoning and this plan the creation of sites with two or more differing types of land
use (multi-use) as well as buildings with housing or offices above businesses
(mixed-use) in both established and new areas. Certain redevelopment projects
may be ideal candidates for mixed- and multi-use design. As always,
considerations will include context, site planning, building design and landscape
design.
10. Highway 55 Corridor: Prepare a plan and design guidelines for development
along Highway 55 west of River Street.
11. Lighting: Require a lighting plan as part of each commercial or industrial site plan.
Require that lighting elements not be visible from off the site and that light cut-off
features be used to control glare.
Housing
1. Assistance Programs: The City will continue to work with the Dakota County
Community Development Authority to receive housing assistance programs such as
rent assistance, homeownership, public housing and subsidized housing for the
elderly.
2. Variety: Neighborhoods shall have a variety of housing forms and types to create
a distinct character and eliminate monotony.
Historic Preservation
1. Protection: Follow the adopted Hastings Heritage Preservation Plan to protect
significant historical and architectural properties and districts.
2. Preservation Planning: Historic preservation shall be integrated into all relevant
aspects of comprehensive planning in Hastings, including land use, zoning,
housing, park and trails, and transportation planning.
3. Identification: Historical, architectural, cultural, and archaeological resource
survey data shall be collected, reviewed, and evaluated on a regular basis.
4. Public Education: Encourage the conservation of existing historic resources by
public education and, for locally designated historic properties and historic districts,
by design review of proposed exterior changes.
5. Public Works: Encourage the conservation and enhancement of traditional
streetscapes and of historic parks and landscapes throughout Hastings by
historically sensitive public works design.
10 23 August 2007
Concept Plan
Water and other Natural Resources
1. Protections: Wetlands, floodplains, shorelands and slopes in excess of20 percent
will be protected through the zoning and subdivision review process.
2. Urban Growth: Hastings will continue to grow toward the west and south to
reduce pressure on the sensitive resources on the eastern side of the community.
3. Riparian Open Space: The City will continue to work with private developers to
set aside or dedicate land along rivers and creeks for natural open space. Extending
public greenways along the Vermillion and Mississippi Rivers is a high priority.
4. Other Benefits: The natural environment, particularly the two rivers, will be
protected, showcased and used as an economic development incentive.
5. Studies: The City will conduct resource management studies in response to
problems or in conjunction with urban growth, and will update its plans or
regulations in response to the outcome of those studies.
24 July 2007
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