Every five years, East Grand Forks develops a plan that looks 30 years into the future. On Tuesday, the East Grand Forks City Council approved its 2040 Land Use Plan.
The 78-page document is filled with "inside baseball" topics and recommendations in bureaucratic language. It's not a quick, breezy read.
But there are nuggets to be mined. Such as:
- New residential neighborhoods will be required to have sidewalks after several decades of sidewalk-free developments.
- New neighborhoods with grid streets will be encouraged -- but not mandated -- over cul-de-sacs. Grids make for shorter routes for travelers and easier street maintenance, but some homebuyers prefer cul-de-sacs because they mean less traffic and more privacy.
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- The plan is full of "green" recommendations because of federal mandates, including a preference for stormwater holding areas over curb and gutter.
- Another way to meet the "sustainability" goals established by federal agencies is to develop the city to make it convenient for residents to use mass transit. East Grand Forks has two bus routes.
- No land will need to be annexed to handle the anticipated growth in commercial and industrial properties through 2040.
- But to accommodate anticipated residential growth by 2040, 170 acres will need to be added to the city limits.
- From 2000 to 2009, the city's estimated population growth was 348 people.
- East Grand Forks is getting older (but aren't we all?). Its median age was 27 in 1980. This year's estimate is 36.
- After averaging 58 single-family dwellings being built per year from 2004 to 2007, only 12 were built in 2009.
- One-third of East Grand Forks' land falls into the "recreational/open space" category. That high percentage is mostly the result of the Greenway.
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- The area in and around East Grand Forks that is protected from flooding by the ring dike is about 12 square miles. The city limits are five square miles.
- At normal flow, the Red Lake River provides about 45 percent of the Red River's flow at its confluence.
- Because of increased water conservation by customers in the past several years, water demand has decreased significantly, delaying the need for water treatment plan expansion.
- The projected EGF population in 2040 is 12,088.
The land use plan is a guide for policy and ordinances. Much could change in five years.
"You get a new Congress, you get a new focus," said Nancy Ellis, East Grand Forks' planner.
Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com .
