Mission
The mission of the Community Development Department is to guide residential and commercial growth through comprehensive planning processes and administer the city's building and zoning codes in a equitable and professional manner to promote and sustain public safety, quality of life, and the health and well being of the whole community.

The Ramsey Community Development Department undertakes a wide array of functions that focus on the physical, economic, and social development of our community. Core services which the Department provides include inspections for all new and remodeled structures, residential and commercial subdivision review, zoning interpretation and compliance, residential recycling administration, environmental education, marketing, promotion, and implementation of business development opportunities, and long range planning for our community. Community Development Staff also interacts with and receives guidance and direction from the Ramsey City Council, Planning Commission, Environmental Policy Board, Economic Development Authority, Housing and Redevelopment Authority, and Town Center Task Force while providing their services to the overall community. This webpage was designed to provide the community with timely and important information on a wide range issues. Individuals wishing further details on issues or projects managed by the Community Development Department should feel free to communicate with the person listed as the staff at the bottom of this page.

To see what resources are in your area, visit gGov, Ramsey's new interactive web-based map developed by LOGIS.

The Community Development Department consists of four divisions: the Planning Division, Economic Development, Environmental Services, and the Building Division.

The Planning Division (click here to be directed to the Planning Division webpage)
The Planning Division's function is to prepare and implement the City's Comprehensive Plan, the City's land use guide. The tools used to implement the Comprehensive Plan are commonly referred to as the zoning regulations and they can be found in their entirety in Chapter 9 (Zoning and Subdivision of Land) of the City Code. Planning staff is responsible for administering and enforcing the zoning regulations. They also process applications for comprehensive plan amendments, subdivisions, rezoning, site plans, variances, conditional use permits, sign permits, administrative dog kennel licenses, easement vacations, home occupation permits, etc. Other functions of the planning area include long range planning, administering community development block grant projects, management of the recycling program and code enforcement relating to property maintenance.

Economic Development (click here to be directed to the Economic Development webpage)
The function of Economic Development is to promote and market available industrial and commercial land for development in the city.

Environmental Services (click here to be directed to the Environmental Services webpage)
Ecological health and natural resource management inquires may be answered by the Environmental Coordinator.

The Building Division (click here to be directed to the Building Division webpage)
The Building Division's purpose is to ensure all construction projects meet the requirements of both the Minnesota State Building Code and the City Zoning regulations.  

For permit inquiries, please contact the Building Division for building related permits or the Planning Division for planning and zoning related permits. (click here to be directed to the permits webpage)