01-20-04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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INVITATION DRAFT/Cover letter ............................. Words like "sprawl" and "smart growth" have gained currency, but development pressure within the Twin Cities has still not left us with enough good examples of sensitive development initiatives. In a small way, we hope to remedy this imbalance. We propose to apply conservation design principles on a particularly sensitive 335 acre site on the Mississippi River within the city limits of Hastings. As a stakeholder, we seek your participation on January 28, 2004 for a design charette/stakeholder workshop. The workshop goals are to determine site opportunities and review initiatives -' by government agencies or NGOs concemed about impacts to the river corridor. For instance, we can learn from work already published by the Friends of the Mississippi, such as their report titled "Restoration & Management Recommendations for Hastings River Flats." The Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization - established by Dakota and Scott Counties - is charged with managing the watershed, which the site impacts. Other entities have similar interests. The stakeholder workshop will be an opportunity to access the site, identify key challenges and impact thinking about potential development, dedication of land resources for public, recreational or conservation use and establish sustainable goals for the development. Input from stakeholders will inform the development design. For example, we are considering design targets for site runoff and onsite filtration, energy consumption and generation as well as development density. Other critical issues include habitat, historic and cultural preservation and strategies for transportation and circulation. The Site As with many Minnesota municipalities, much of Hastings' waterfront in the past supported industrial uses and was otherwise environmentally despoiled or degraded. This parcel - called the Freitag site - is no different. It is bisected by a power transmission line, and bordered by an adjacent rail line. The 335 acre site is poised on a Mississippi River bend near the confluence of the Mississippi and Vermillion Rivers, but while portions are heavily wooded, not all areas are considered ecologically significant. The site poses singular challenges and opportunities. The proximity to existing infrastructure, either crossing the site or stubbed to its boundaries, and Downtown Hastings offers advantages, and will help limit the sprawl so common in other outlying metropolitan areas. The site's natural amenities also pose potential - for habitat, recreation and conservation - especially since the majority of the site is within the FEMA 100 floodway and is not developable with permanent structures. Because of its adjacency to an existing marina, there are implications as to the potential for expansion of the Marina and riparian access to residents of the development. In addition the Army Corps of Engineers has established at least one fill site on this property.