5.7 ITEM 5. 7.
(
MEMORANDUM
tyof /
lkRiverTO: Planning Commission
FROM: Scott Harlicker, Planning Assistan 44,
DATE: April 22, 1997
SUBJECT: City of Elk River Request for
Ordinance Amendment Relating to
Sale of Firearms as Permitted Use in
the Cl Zoning District, Public Hearing
Case No. OA 97-6
Request
Consider a request by the City of Elk River for an Ordinance amendment
establishing the sale of firearms as a permitted use in the Cl (Central
Commercial) district and the C3 (Highway Commercial) district.
Attachments
• • Ordinance No. 97 -
Background
The sale of firearms is currently classified as retail sales and is allowed in
whatever district retail shops and stores are allowed, subject to state and
federal licensing and regulations. Zoning districts in which retail shops and
stores are allowed include the following:
• Cl (Central Commercial)
• C3 (Highway Commercial)
The proposed ordinance would specifically list the sale of firearms as a
permitted use in the Cl and C3 districts thereby eliminating any confusion
as to whether the sale of firearms is classified a retail use or a separate
classification. The proposed ordinance would also make it clear that the sale
of firearms is not allowed in the C4 (Neighborhood Commercial) district. If, in
the future, the city considers allowing retail shops and stores in any other
districts, under this amendment the sale of firearms would not be allowed
unless specifically listed.
•
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\scott\oa97-6.doc
13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425
Memo to the Planning Commission/OA 97-6 Page 2
April 22, 1997
1111 Staff is not proposing setback distances from public facilities such as schools
or government buildings. However, the Commission could recommend that
the amendment include setback distances from public facilities.
Recommendation
It is recommended the Planning Commission recommend approval of
proposed ordinance amendment establishing the sale of firearms as a
permitted use in the Cl and C3 districts.
•
•
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\scott\oa97-6.doc
• ORDINANCE 97-
CITY OF ELK RIVER
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 900.12 OF THE CITY OF ELK
RIVER CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO PERMITTED USES
IN THE Cl AND C3 ZONING DISTRICTS
CASE NO. OA 97-6
The City Council of the City of Elk River does hereby ordain as follows:
Section 1. Sections 900.12(10) and Section 900.12(12) of the City of Elk
River Code of Ordinances titled "Permitted, Accessory, and Conditional Uses"
are hereby amended to add the following permitted use:
10. Cl - Central Business District
A. Permitted Uses
ix. Sale of Firearms
12. C3 - Highway Commercial District
A. Permitted Uses
x. Sale of Firearms
Section 2. That this Ordinance shall take effect and be in full force from
and after the date of its publication.
Passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Elk River this day
of , 1997.
Henry A. Duitsman, Mayor
ATTEST:
Sandra A. Thackeray, City Clerk
•
\\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\document\ordinanc\oa97-G.doc
INFORMATION �� r,e.A. 7 _
BEING REASONABLE ON GROWTH
. A recent letter by Marilyn Bujalski, who wrote a legislative up-
date for the Citizen and has lobbied at the Capitol for United We 3/2 i.(77
Stand America, was far off the mark in regard to my statewide land /
tanning bill.
e rapid growth of the St. Cloud region and the unabated sprawl boundaries by"leapfrogging into adjacent counties that are outside of
of the Twin Cities have become two of the most critical and contro- the council's jurisdiction. There is growing recognition among the
versial public policy issues we face in Central Minnesota. At stake is public and lawmakers the the council needs to be more aggressive in
the desire to retain our community's identity and independence from its efforts to limit sprawl within the seven county metro area, but the
that of the Twin Cities region,a desire on which broad consensus ex- council says it is reluctant to do so because of its fears of leapfrog-
ists within the region and among Central Minnesota legislators. ging.The Council is hoping that the counties that lie outside its juris-
•
What House File 217,the bill I have authored attempts to address diction will impose restrictions on unplanned growth so that orderly
is the fact that policies currently pursued by the state, regional and growth can be focused within the met Council's urban boundary.
local levels, if left unchanged, will inevitably lead us to a future in If current trends continue, Sherburne County will see an increase
which my home town of St. Cloud and other Central Minnesota corn- in its population from 41,945 in 1990 to 72,100 in 2020, a whopping
munities will be part of one undifferentiated urban metropolitan area 72 percent increase. In effect, Twin Cities and St. Cloud growth are
stretching from St. Cloud through the Twin Cities to Rochester. going to spill into counties like Sherburne, Chisago, Benton and
This prediction is easily inferred from recent growth estimates Isanti. If local governments do not make some difficult decisions re-
showing that the St. Cloud region will increase by 107,000 residents garding planning, we will see'urban sprawl on an unprecedented
within the next 15 years. This is the equivalent of taking the•popula-. scale.
tion of Duluth and imposing it on top of the four county,-St;Cloud Most county governments that border the Twin Cities and St.
region. ' . cloud metro area are aware of these issues, but have been unable or
�"`a 'n unwillingto address them adequately. County commissioners are of-
To me, the most sensible course of action appears to be one in eq
which municipalities take the lead in addressing this issue at the local ten under immense pressure—all to often from landowners seeking to
level.However, if the local governments, both inside and outside the make a windfall profit from the sale of their property to allow devel-
seven county metropolitan region, fail to come to grips with urban opment in rural areas.
sprawl, then the state should assert itself; because all Minnesotan Without the state stepping into coordinate and enforce locally cre-
have a stake in this issue. ated planning efforts, I believe that piecemeal and unplanned growth
One antidote to the spectre of increasing urban sprawl is the es- is likely to continue on the peripherty of the seven county metro area.
tablishment of strict urban growth boundaries. An urban growth - n my opinion, each municipality in these areas should determine
boundary is a defined line around an urban area within which a corn- for itself the likely growth of its community over the next 20 to 40
munity can meet its future needs in light of expected increases in years in order to maintain open space between the metro area and
population and the corresponding need for urban services such as surrounding communities.
sewer,water and roads. They need to establish strict density goals, so that the true costs
The idea is that within urban growth boundaries, higher popula- of extendir3 services within the urban growth boundaries are consis-
tensities are encouraged, resulting in less expensive infrastruc- , tent with the tax baseof th new residential and business properties.
tep more affordable and convenient public transportation and other 1 As a result, average lot sizes within a municipality's urban growth
civic cultural amenities desirable in an urban center. . . area would likely need to be limited. This does not mean that some
Outside of urban growth boundaries, the idea goes, land use con- lots could not be large, but that the average lot should be of a size
trols limit development and protect agricultural and forested areas.. that urban services can be provided without imposing excessive taxes
the aim is to keep residential density in these rural areas low;perhaps on taxing current residents.
one household per 40 or 80 acres. Under such a scheme,valuable ag- Most of us living in the communities outside the Twin Cities do
riculture resources is protected from creeping development,and open • riot want to be a part of the ever-increasing sprawl of the Twin Cit-
spaces such as parks, trails and forests are preserved for all of a ies. the only way to prevent such a scenario is to limit growth be-
given region's population. The rural culture in the area outside the ::! tween the urban center of the seven county metropolitan area and
boundaries is also protected. "- neighboring cities. the adoption of urban growth boundaries by
Currently, in the rapidly urbanizing counties outside the Twin • towns and cities would be an important step in protecting the pocket i-
Cities.metro, area, land use policies promote urban sprawl by books of taxpayers, the environment and our more rural way of life
allowing individuals to purchase and build lots in agriculture areas, .- in Central Minnesota. _ ..
frequently in small plots of one or two acres. As a result,large tracts ' -
of valuable productive farm land and open spaces are being filled in Author of House F le 21 resentatJoe OaState ive
with development. . i.
-.i Many problems arise from this situation. First, economically vi- v
able agricultural land is permanently displaced. second, the area's
taxpayers are called upon to pay for extending urban services to
these new housing developments, usually at an extremely high cost.
third,.the space between small communities outside the metro area:;`
and the Twin Cities continues to be filled with development, creating,.x
a large,'sprawling area._. 4;: _..._ -' t
*= The raptdl growing Twin Cities'metropolitan area exacerbates-t r
' the problem of urban sprawl in Central Minnesota.The Metropolitan
,.council, in its most recent planning document,raised concerns about t'
('so-called leapfrog development,that bypasses the council's set urban�-.s$::
.,-7 i its. ..:.. ..y . .. .....
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