Rosemount council orders AUAR study for Dakota East; consent agenda approved

The Rosemount City Council voted to adopt a resolution ordering preparation of an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) for the Dakota East study area on the city’s far east side. Councilmember Freske moved the resolution; Councilmember Esler seconded. The motion carried on a roll call with all members present voting yes.

The AUAR begins a multi-step environmental review that will analyze several development scenarios and propose mitigation strategies. Steenberger, a city staff member presenting the item, described the AUAR as a hybrid environmental review process: “An AUAR stands for an alternative urban area wide review,” Steenberger said. He told the council the scoping document has been submitted and that comments received during the scoping period will be incorporated into the draft AUAR.

Why it matters: an AUAR evaluates impacts across a large planning area so future individual projects inside the study boundary typically do not require separate Environmental Assessment Worksheets or Environmental Impact Statements; however, Steenberger emphasized the AUAR does not replace ordinary city land-use approvals. “Before any construction or any development can occur on that site, they must go through, of course, all required approvals,” he said, listing site plans, plats and planned-unit developments as examples.

What the AUAR will cover and next steps Steenberger said the Dakota East AUAR will consider three development scenarios: one consistent with the city’s comprehensive land-use plan, one anticipating light industrial development and a third anticipating a technology park. The council was told the scoping document entered the required 30-day comment period in December and that comments were due Jan. 16. Those comments will be incorporated into the draft AUAR.

After the draft AUAR is prepared, the city will publish it in the Minnesota EQB (Environmental Quality Board) Monitor for a 30-day public and agency review, receive and respond to comments (including Dakota County, the state Department of Natural Resources and the Pollution Control Agency where applicable), and then publish final findings for a 10-day review before returning to the council for adoption.

Council action and consent items The AUAR order was taken as a separate vote after the council approved the remainder of the consent agenda. The council approved consent agenda items A through I with item E (the AUAR order) removed for separate consideration. The consent agenda included bill listings; minutes of the Jan. 21, 2025, regular meeting; a resolution and consent order imposing civil penalties for liquor and tobacco violations; a renewal of a consumption and display permit; an application to conduct off-site gambling for Rosemount Area Hockey Association on March 1; a community center on-sale license; an approved right-of-way easement for Amber Fields Commercial Road; and a second and final plat request by Maplewood Development for Amber Fields 2nd Final Plat.

Votes at a glance - Resolution ordering preparation of an AUAR for Dakota East — Motion: Councilmember Freske; Second: Councilmember Esler; Vote: unanimous approval by roll call. - Approval of consent agenda items A–I (with E pulled for separate vote) — Motion: Councilmember Klimpel; Second: Councilmember Esler; Vote: unanimous approval by roll call.

What the council did not decide The AUAR order establishes the environmental review process only. Steenberger repeatedly noted that the AUAR stage does not approve any specific development. Any proposed project within the Dakota East study area will still require site-specific permits and, if inconsistent with the city’s comprehensive plan, a separate plan amendment and approvals.

Next steps and timeline City staff will prepare the draft AUAR, publish it in the EQB Monitor for a 30-day review, respond to agency and public comments, publish final findings for a 10-day review and then bring adoption of the final AUAR back to the council.

The council adjourned after a brief set of announcements and calendar items, including a reminder that City Hall will be closed on Presidents’ Day, Feb. 17.