2040 Comprehensive Plan

For details of each of the Comprehensive Plan Meetings held, please check the web-site Planning Commission Meeting Minutes.
 

In response to the 2040 issuance of the regional system statements by the Metropolitan Council and in accordance with the Land Use Planning Act, the City of Independence is required to update its local comprehensive plan every ten (10) years. The comprehensive plan update ensures that the City of Independence is planned in accordance with the most recently adopted regional plans and policies.  The Comprehensive Plan guides the City’s land use through the year 2040. Due to changes in population forecasts, growth, and housing trends, it is imperative that the City evaluate its past and ensure that it is prepared to secure its future.

The City’s Comprehensive Plan consists of many different focuses, that when combined, provide the City with a map which will guide future development. There are several key aspects of the plan that are most often referenced and applied during consideration of new development/redevelopment within the community. The portion of the plan that is most widely used and or referenced by the City on a day to day basis is the Land Use Plan.  There are several key aspects of the City’s plan that should be noted as follows:

The City is divided by a north south line (eastern 1/3 of City and western 2/3 of City – blue line on map) that distinguishes land that is guided for long-term agriculture and land that is guided for residential or rural residential development.

The plan was designed to concentrate residential development in locations directly adjacent to Maple Plain where existing utilities can potentially support growth and can most economically be provided (see brown, orange and yellow areas on map).

• The City will limit and concentrate commercial and industrial development to key areas.  Commercial development is not permitted outside of these strategic locations and is intended to diversify the local tax base where feasible, but not at the peril of Independence’s high quality and rural character. There is an existing “Commercial Light Industrial” area located at the intersection of Highway 12 and County Road 90 and an “Urban Commercial” area at the intersection of Highway 12 and County Line Road, adjacent to Delano’s commercial district (see pink and red areas on map).
• The plan will also facilitate the following goals:
  • Establish a visual identity in harmony with the physical context that reflects and respects the City of Independence’s rural characteristics, historical past, and future with design solutions that are innovative, efficient, durable, beautiful and economically viable.
  • Foster a harmonious, convenient, compatible, workable relationship among a balance of all land uses and local supporting services within the community.
  • Preserve and enhance local property values. Maintain local land use controls to ensure that the City can grow and develop in accordance with the unique qualities of this community.