Staff recommends that the City Council approve the action requested.

The Planning Commission, by a 5-0 vote, recommended approval of this action at their October 8, 2020 meeting.

The City of Shakopee is proposing an annexation of 250 acres of land located within Jackson Township. The parcels are located south of Highway 169 and west and east of Old Brick Yard Road, generally near the intersection of Old Brick Yard Road and Colburn Drive (see attached 2020 annexation map). This application request is consistent with the Orderly Annexation Agreement (OAA) approved between Jackson Township and the City (Section IV, 1. Annual Area Limits), which states that within any given calendar year, the City shall be limited to a maximum area of 250 acres it may annex without property owner petitions. Should this annexation be approved, other conditions identified within this OAA document shall be applied (i.e., municipal reimbursement, etc.).

Additionally, the City is proposing to zone this property to Agricultural Preservation (AG) Zone and Highway Business (B-1) Zone (for the existing Commercial zoned parcel), in conjunction with the annexation to avoid creating un-zoned parcels of land within the City of Shakopee. When development is proposed for this land, the developer or owner will propose the final zoning, which should be consistent with the City’s approved 2040 Comprehensive Plan for the subject parcels.

Currently the properties within the proposed annexation area are used for agricultural purposes (and the accompanying single-family residences). There has been interest in developing some of this land, and annexation is the first necessary step. The City has initiated discussions on developing plans to extend city services to this area, and recently conducted an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) that analyzed utility, traffic and land use plans for this area, with this AUAR approved by the State Environmental Quality Board.

Rezoning Considerations
The City Council may grant a zoning ordinance amendment when annexing land into the city and the city matches as close to as possible the existing zoning in the County/Township.
 
The current zoning of the property is covered by the Scott County Zoning Ordinance and per the annexation process, this zoning designation remains until changed and approved by the City. The parcels are currently zoned Urban Business Reserve (UBR), Rural Residential Reserve and General Commercial. As previously mentioned and based on discussions between the City and Jackson Township at their August joint meeting, upon annexation the properties would initially be zoned AG (except that the existing Commercial zoned parcel will be zoned Highway Business Zone) and will be changed when development is proposed for this property, with that zoning to be consistent with the 2040 approved guiding.

The 2040 guiding for properties is Suburban Residential for the southeasterly parcel, Mixed Employment Center for the westerly parcel, and Mixed Employment Center/Mixed Use Center for the northeasterly parcel (as requested by the property owners).