FRINGE LAND USE GUIDE AND STREET PLAN

Abstract

The Fringe Land Use Guide and Transportation Plan has been developed over the past two years by the F-M Metropolitan Council of Governments. One of the primary purposes of the project was to extend arterial and collector street planning beyond city limits, and even beyond the two mile extraterritorial area, to allow Cass County to more effectively plan for the future urban characteristics of the area. Another effort of the study was to identify and resolve issues of incompatible land uses in the areas where Fargo, North Dakota and West Fargo, North Dakota are growing together. The study included portions of Cass County, to address areas outside the city limits where a significant amount of rural development is occurring. This study is also part of larger effort to help policy makers understand that there is a strong relationship between transportation and land use planning. The combined population of Fargo and West Fargo, North Dakota is approximately 97,000. There is no physical separation between the two communities, such as a river or highway, so in many areas the two cities are growing together and only a city limit line separates them. This has caused problems between the two communities related to the approval of incompatible land uses across city limit lines and varying philosophies/policies regarding the function and location of arterial and collector streets. Further complicating these issues is the fact that the extraterritorial of the two cities overlap, and there is some competition for new growth areas. Techniques which could be applied in other Metropolitan Areas include the following: 1) Formulation of recommendations for future ROW acquisition and access management along corridors identified as future arterial roadways - Adoption of the study provides a guideline for the County and townships with regard to ROW requirements and limited access policies that should be implemented, even if they are decades in advance of urban development in the area. 2) Formation of a review process for future land use and transportation changes in the defined as the fringe area - Planners from all three jurisdictions and the MPO will convene to discuss the effects of proposed land use or roadway changes in the areas, where they have the greatest potential to effect the other two jurisdictions. Input from the group will be provided to the Planning Commissions considering the proposed changes. A process for this was set up in the study. 3) Incorporated land use and transportation plans of all three jurisdictions onto a single map - The map then became a tool for review and discussion of incompatible land use combinations and transportation planning issues. As a result of the review process described above, the map will be updated and refined on a regular basis. 4) Development of a map showing likely first and second tier of future urban development - Projected annual acreage of urbanization was calculated, resulting in moderate and high development scenarios for the metropolitan area.