remains committed to balanced growth, ensuring a harmonious blend of progress and Minnesota charm. “Part of the growing pains of that infrastructure investment is that the city will be facing more requests than ever before for development,” describes City Administrator, Matt Look. “But with that comes the opportunity to be selective in terms of our development.What do we want coming? What do we want it to look like? How do we plan for, and manage, that? Those are the opportunities that the city is going to capitalize on.” INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS PAVING THE WAY FOR DEVELOPMENT East Bethel’s growth is linked to significant improvements along Highway 65, as Aaron Berg, Community Development Director, highlights, “Our 2040 comprehensive plan has been geared towards the major development of the city taking place at that focus. It’s at the southern end of our city, closest to the larger metropolitan city of Minneapolis.” He explains that as growth moves northward, land in the first and second-ring suburbs of Minneapolis is scarce, and to find available land, developers are now looking towards East Bethel. “The city is actively pursuing ways to improve and expand the minimal infrastructure we do have,” Berg emphasizes. “We are dedicated to working through our comprehensive plan as well as looking at rezoning options to expand existing business parks, to entice businesses to relocate and or start here in East Bethel. We are also looking for opportunities to use city-owned land for development in an attempt to bolster available housing stock.” He adds that the city is actively pursuing legislation for a bonding bill to enhance water treatment and wastewater facilities which would service a potential new business park, noting, “The city continues to work towards improving the corridor area for future growth and or retention.” Look points out that Anoka County exports 70% of its labor force, which includes expertly skilled technical workers. He relays, “A little-known secret is that a lot of the machine tool shops in Anoka County produced parts for the F-35 jet. These are highly trained technical laborers and we want to 113 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07 EAST BETHEL , MN
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