See all posts in the Mayor & Cities Corner series
(Mayor’s Corner is a regular feature where Carver County mayors share updates, insights, and messages with their communities. Carver Mayor Courtney Johnson is providing this week’s edition.)
March is here and I’m hoping it will bring warmer spring weather, in addition to longer days. This month I’ve got a short laundry list of updates to share with you, so here goes!
2050 population estimate
Last month the Metropolitan Council released their preliminary 2050 population estimates. These forecasts describe expectations of regional growth based on real estate dynamics, location characteristics and amenities, activity patterns, and accessibility of travel within the region.
According to the Metropolitan Council, Carver’s population is projected to nearly triple from 2020 to 2050. The City of Carver will use this projection as we start the process of working on our 2050 Comprehensive Plan, which will begin next year. Our 2050 Comprehensive Plan will build off the “Design Carver” 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which identifies important local goals and objectives which guide future growth and development through 2040. The plan also directs investments in city services such as transportation, water and sewer, parks and more.
Growth
As the Metropolitan Council’s population estimates demonstrate, Carver is going to continue to grow. With that, I want to share information about how our community expects to grow and what that process looks like.
The City of Carver has an orderly annexation agreement with Dahlgren Township which has been in place for decades. This means that when a landowner is ready to sell their property to a developer, the parcel will then be annexed into the City of Carver and will become part of our community. The city’s role in this process is to assist and advise landowners and developers to ensure their plans are in line with the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The city is not involved in decisions regarding whether or when a landowner sells their property. In other words, we don’t determine which areas develop and when. If you’re curious about how much room Carver has to grow, or if you’re wondering what a certain parcel will be zoned when it’s annexed into the City of Carver, check out the Future Land Use map in the 2040 Design Carver Comprehensive Plan.
Public Services space study
At the Work Session on March 3 (5:30 p.m. in the Rapids Room at City Hall), the Council and I will be seeing the results of the updated Public Services space study. The study will provide a concept that would facilitate indoor storage for vehicles, equipment and supplies for the Public Services department and share cost projections and give us a better idea of how much square footage is needed.
Parking ordinances
At the March 3 City Council meeting (7 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall), we’ll be discussing three new proposed ordinances which all have to do with parking regulations: Long-term street parking restrictions, cul-de-sac parking restrictions and city lot overnight parking restrictions. If you have thoughts on this topic, please plan to attend the City Council meeting on March 3 or email Brent Mareck, city manager, at bmareck@cityofcarver.com before March 3.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about anything that’s going on in our community, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Stay connected, stay informed and get involved!
(Mayor Courtney Johnson can be reached at CJohnson@CityOfCarver.com; Cell: 612.702.7703; Facebook.com/CarverMayorCourtney ; Instagram.com/Carver_Mayor_Courtney.)
