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City of Woodbury
8301 Valley Creek Road Woodbury, MN 55125 (651) 714-3500 |
Commercial Comprehensive Plan Amendment Completed
At its April 11, 2007, meeting, the Woodbury City Council approved the Commercial Comprehensive Plan Amendment, placing it into effect. The amendment reconfigures land uses on 628 acres of vacant commercial-industrial land throughout the city.
The Comprehensive Plan amendment was the result of a study initiated by the city in 2005. The study examined the remaining vacant commercial and industrial land in Woodbury to determine if the land use designations needed to be changed. The review included an extensive public involvement process, alternative development plans, and analyses of the alternatives based on fiscal, market, and public infrastructure/service impacts.
The study was initiated in 2005 and originally included 1,409 acres in the study area. However, 781 acres were designated as future study areas and were not changed. For the remaining 628 acres of vacant commercial and industrial land, the following changes were made:
| Land Use Designation | Pre Comprehensive Plan Amendment | Post Comprehensive Plan Amendment |
| Places to Work | 532 acres | 136 acres |
| Places to Shop | 26 acres | 63 acres |
| Urban Mixed Residential | 0 | 297 acres |
| High Density Residential | 40 acres | 20 acres |
| Mixed Use | 30 acres | 37 acres |
| Gateway | 0 | 75 acres |
| Total | 628 acres | 628 acres |
A comprehensive approach
Since approving the comprehensive plan in 2000, the City of Woodbury has received several requests from commercial developers to modify the land use plan in order to allow more retail or mixed use development in areas set aside for office or industrial development.
Rather than responding to these requests on a case by case basis, the City Council decided to take a comprehensive look at the city's commercial land inventory and update the land use plan. The city hired a professional planning firm, DSU, to assist with the process and appointed an advisory task force to serve as a sounding board for potential land use changes and to make recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council.
Public input
An extensive public process was undertaken to review the commercial comprehensive plan amendment. The task force, appointed in March 2005, included citizens who were members of the Planning, Economic Development, and Parks and Recreation Commissions, as well as the city's Economic Development Authority. In addition, there were two representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and two residents serving at-large. City Council member Paul Rebholz was the Council liaison to the task force.
The task force completed its review in August 2006, with the Planning Commission holding a pubic hearing on the matter in September 2006 and recommending the final changes on November 13, 2006. The City Council held two public hearings on the matter on September 27, 2006, and November 29, 2006, approving changes to the comprehensive land use map and authorizing the Commercial Comprehensive Plan Amendment to be submitted to the Metropolitan Council for formal review. The Metropolitan Council approved the amendment at its March 28, 2007, meeting, allowing the city to place the changes into effect with no modifications required. The City Council adopted the final plan amendment and placed the plan into effect on April 11, 2007.
Commercial Comprehensive Plan Amendment Final Report
- 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update is Under Way
- Commercial Comprehensive Plan Amendment Completed
- What is a Comprehensive Plan?
- Comprehensive Plan Summary (2000-2020)
- Land Use Map/Staging Map for Future Growth (PDF)
- Zoning Map (PDF)
- 2000 Comprehensive Plan Document (by chapter)