City plans to have a plan

Talk about it

The city of Two Harbors is seeking a new comprehensive plan and it needs your help.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Two Harbors Community Center, city residents can voice their opinion about the future vision of the area with the Two Harbors Planning Commission. The city is also working with other planners from the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission to help with the process.

“The last time we had a full update was 1999,” said Josh Bergstad, of Arrowhead. “It’s been long enough. Enough has changed in the city.”

He said among the topics Tuesday will be whether or not the city wants to be like others along the designated “scenic” Highway 61 and allow for a gap to “no billboard” rules. The Two Harbors Chamber of Commerce got burned because the city has no such allowance and is being forced by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to take down a promotional sign on the west end of the city.

Other issues to discuss involve zoning. Bergstad offered the following examples:

- Do we have the right mix of zoning?

- Do we need more commercial land?

- Is industrial land in the right place?

“A lot of open land is residential,” Bergstad said. He said he wants to talk about whether that will be the case in the future.

He said there could also be a discussion about the proposed marina and its relationship between commercial and residential properties.

City attorney Steve Over-om said he wishes he could discuss the land near the marina but it involves the ongoing “negotiations” with developer Sam Cave. Overom refused to offer any information about those talks but many people involved in the marina projects and the comprehensive plan have said they could go no further until ownership issues were resolved.

A call to Cave seeking an update on “negotiations” was not returned.

For more information on the comprehensive plan, contact Bergstad by calling 834-5631 at city hall on Tuesdays or 529-7516 at his ARDC office; or by email at jbergstad @ardc.org.

Economic development

The Two Harbors City Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Monday in Council Chambers to consider creating an economic development authority for the city of Two Harbors.

The commission would be governed by seven members. Two members of the city council would be board members and the mayor would appoint the other board members with the approval of the council.

An EDA would be used to develop infrastructure and tout city assets to bring in and retain business.

Tags: two harbors, news, city planning, marina