04-22-1996 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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To;Mayor Callahan City Council Members Ron Moorse. City Administrator From:Michael P. Gaffron, Asst. Planning & 2Joning Administrator Date;April 16, 1996 Subject:Builders Association Study - Urban Land Supply The news media in the last few days have been reporting on a study sponsored by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities entitled "The High Cost of Sprawl: A Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Urban Land Supply Analysis and Recommendations for Managing Grow th". Orono was one of 23 metro area urban fringe’ cities studied bv a team that included, among others. Dahleren. Shardlow & Uban and Bonestroo & Associates. The study makes a number of conclusions, among them the following: Within the 23 cities that make up the metro development fringe, there is insufficient undeveloped land within the current MUSA to accomodate projected growth over the next 25 years, and in fact it will be exhausted in 3 years. Infill development and redevelopment within the already developed urban core will not accomodate the expected growth, even with substantial local government efforts toward redevelopment. Met Council should expand the MUSA now and should adopt flexible, simplified procedures for approving MUSA expansions. 'Urban Transition Areas* , defined as urban reserve areas within the planned sewer service area, should be defined and preserved for future urbanization, i.e. for future development densities of 2 units per acre or greater. Unsewered large-lot development (similar to what we have in Orono and which is common at the current urban fringe) should be approved only in conjunction with a 'ghost plat' of future urban overlay to allow its future conversion to urban densities. The study seems to come to the same conclusion that we have experienced from Met Council staff, that Orono's 2-acre and 5-acre low density development is an inefficient use of land. It concludes that over 130,CKX) acres of land in the metro fringe between the current MUSA and the "Ultimate MUSA" (the area which can be served by existing or planned wastewater facilities) has been developed at low densities which will accomodate far fewer houses than if it had been developed at urban densities (2.5 units per acre). This has. per the report, "already added between $650 million and $1.33 billion to the cost of developing the remaining portions of the Ultimate MUSA." Attached is a copy of the Executive Summary of the report. I have the entire ISO-t* page report available if you would like to see it. A j>k..