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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 10, 2002 TENTATIVE AGENDA CITY OF SHAKOPEE ADJ. REGULAR SESSION SHAKO PEE, MINNESOTA DECEMBER 10, 2002 LOCATION: 129 Holmes Street South Mayor William Mars presiding 1 ] Roll Call at 6:00 p.m. 2] Approval of Agenda 3] Discussion: Natural Resources Inventory 4] Other Business 5] Adjourn to Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. CITY OF SHAKOPEE MEMORANDUM To: Mayor and City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator From: Mark McQuillan, Natural Resource Director Subject: Natural Resources Inventory Presentation Date: December 4, 2002 INTRODUCTION Peter MacDonagh of the Kestrel Design Group will be presenting the results of the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) at a City Council Work Session on Tuesday, December 10 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City hall. Mr. MacDonagh will use power point to present his information. You are encouraged to ask questions anytime during the presentation. The presentation will last about a half hour. BACKGROUND As you may recall, Peter MacDonagh and I met with the City Council and Township Boards in February of 2001 seeking your support for a Metro Greenways Planning Grant to help fund the NRI. Thanks to your support, we received a grant to cover 50% of the costs. The total cost of the project was $50,000. The Natural Resources Inventory includes all of Jackson Township, Louisville Township and the City of Shakopee. With the high number of color graphics and maps, it was too expensive to provide everyone a full copy of the report. For those not receiving the full document, there is an Executive Summary of the NRI attached. Mark J. McQuillan Natural Resource Director Chapter 1 - Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1wift Otion �+ 7- County 1.0 Introduction Minnesota Metro Area Northern Scott County has experienced astounding m growth over the last couple of decades. The rate of C L this sprawling growth from the core of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area has recently been escalated by the sha pe p completion of the Highway 169 bi- ass through this ]a will Twp 3 1 P 9 Y P 9 Luiusvilll Twp area in 1996. Figure 1.01 shows the relation of the project area to expanse of metro development and Scott County the "intended" growth strategy for the area. Presently ` Scott County is the fastest growing county in the state of Minnesota and one of the fastest in the country 0 5 Miles M Due to this rapid development pace many residents, ® N regulatory and planning officials are concerned about -- the loss of valuable natural resources in the community Figure 1.00 - Project location within the Twin Cities and the effects of increasing development pressures 7- County Metropolitan Area. Project area - 32 ,551 on the health of the area acres These passionate concerns have lead to the culmination of this project: "Land Cover of Northern Scott County, inventory has identified the type, location, size and to A Natural Resources Inventory of the City of Shakopee, some extent the quality of the remaining natural Louisville and Jackson Townships ". This baseline resources in the community. This information will now 'i Jackson Moka Twp Washlnpto 1 = louisville >_ Metropolitan Council 2040 a Regional Growth Strategy Ramsey ' ,, Illustrative 2020 MUSA* PermanentAg. Area Carver Henna n A " Permanent Rural Area Rural Growth Centers Urban Area Urban Core Urban Reserve Dakota t 2 0 2 N Figure 1.01 - Metropolitan Council 2040 Regional Growth Strategy 1 Land Cover of Northern Scott County be used to efficiently and effectively guide planning in Table 3.20 and preservation efforts in the protection, restoration and connection of the remaining critical natural While a large percentage of the native communities of resources. this area were cleared for agriculture in the mid to late 1800's and development pressures continue to consume While the first necessary step has been completed, it farmland and undisturbed parcels, a large portion of is imperative that planning and protection efforts follow the area is still covered by a significant amount of shortly as the remaining critical resources are rapidly natural areas. To date there are 14,648 acres (45% being replaced and impacted by the consumption and of the project area), that have yet to be consumed for pollution of sprawl. agriculture or development uses. Although this is a promising fact it is a bit misleading in that a large percentage of these remaining natural areas are: 1) 1.1 Land Cover Classification highly fragmented, 2) located in one area, along the Minnesota River; 3) of low quality. The 32,551 acres of the City of Shakopee, Jackson As expected some of the findings of this project are and Louisville Townships were scoured and analyzed disheartening, but many exciting opportunities have to identify the remaining natural resources amongst been identified by this work. Remnant large, intact, the past and present developments in these high quality natural areas have been identified communities. throughout the project area and greenway connection The primary objective of this project was to classify opportunities have become apparent. the land cover of the entire 32,551 acres of the project area. The Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS) was used to complete this objective. The product of this land cover classification was the primary tool used to identify the remaining natural resources and potential greenway connections. The land cover of the entire project area, both cultural and natural areas, was classified to the fifth level of the MLCCS. Over 4,000 polygons (land cover parcels) were inventoried for this project, resulting in 135+ unique land cover classifications of 2,080 polygons. Table 1.10 summarizes the level 1 MLCCS.findings for the project. The individual summaries of the City of Shakopee, Jackson Township and Louisville Township can be found Northern Scott County MLCCS Acres % of Coverage Level 1 Summa — Summer 2002 10,000's — Artificial surfaces & associated vegetation 10,428 32.0 65.0 20,000's — Planted or cultivated vegetation 10,749 33.0 30,000's — Forest 3,849 11.8 40,000's — Woodland 956 3.0 50,000's — Shrubland 372 1.1 60,000'8 — Herbaceous Vegetation 3,642 11.2 35.0 70,000's — Nonvascular 0 0.0 80,000'8 -- Sparse Vegetation 83 0.3 90,000's -w Open Water 2,472 7.6 32,551 Table 1.10 - Level 1 MLCCS Summary for Northern Scott County 2