2004 is critical year for open space in Eagan
Erin Johnson, Thisweek Newspapers
Published February 13, 2004
Progress anticipated on greenway preservation,
other key properties targeted for development
Mayor Pat Geagan knows firsthand that land preservation
is a hot-button issue in Eagan. “In the past two weeks,
I’ve been asked to, on behalf of the city, buy Diamond T,
buy Parkview Golf Course, buy Carriage Hills Golf Course, buy Lost Spur, buy the McCarthy property, buy the Caponi property and buy the Anderson property,” he said. “I think we’re all realistic enough to know that that can’t happen.”
The coming year promises to be a big one for open space issues in Eagan, with progress being made on preserving land in the Eagan Core Greenway while other major properties are being eyed for housing.
The City Council has always taken open space issues very seriously, said Eagan City Administrator Tom Hedges, as well as the Parks Commission, which has “always been a champion leader in doing everything they could to preserve open space.”
“We’ve had a long history of extreme regard for land preservation in Eagan,” he said.
But it’s a balancing act.
While some call for protection of open space, others want to protect the city’s tax base, he said.
“The question the city has had to wrestle with is how much additional open space it should attempt to preserve and take off of the city’s tax roll,” he said.
Greenway progress
One year ago, Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway, a local advocate group, proposed a road map to the City Council outlining three properties that were important to acquire for preservation.
The group wants permanent protection of Patrick McCarthy’s 130-acre farm, the 60-acre Caponi Art Park and the 10-acre Anderson property, all of which abut the 110-acre Patrick Eagan Park.
Projects the group has committed to are coming to fruition, said Friends co-chair Jack Conrad.
Thanks to funding from the city, Dakota County and Metro Greenways, the 10-acre Anderson property is now slated to become part of Patrick Eagan Park.
“It looks like we will be able to declare victory on that within the next few months,” he said. Caponi Art Park preservation is also moving forward, with Eagan, Macalester College and the county contributing funds.
Securing 32 of the remaining 91 acres of McCarthy’s land is the big focus for 2004, he said.
“If permanently protected, this land will create a green corridor extending to the 2,000-acre Lebanon Hills Regional Park,” said Friends member John Ward. “Corridors are important for wildlife, for people and for environmental integrity.”
When completed, the Eagan Core Greenway will represent over 500 acres found along a two-mile length of open space.
The group is “cautiously optimistic” about the progress it is making, Conrad said.
“We’re on track,” he said.
Friends is continuing to see those commitments through, but is also keeping an eye on the new challenges coming to the forefront, such as open space that is being proposed for housing, he said.
“Our primary focus is the earmarked properties — Anderson, Caponi and McCarthy,” he said. “But we have a concern for green space in Eagan in general.”
Three major properties are being eyed by developers in 2004: Carriage Hills Golf Course, owned by Ray Rahn; Ray Miller’s property on Diffley Road (formerly owned by Remo Caponi) adjacent to the Caponi Art Park; and the former Diamond T Ranch property.
Potential development
“For those of us that have lived in Eagan for a long time, it was hard to close a chapter on an operation such as Diamond T,” Hedges said. “But the city didn’t close it, the land owner closed it.”
Owner Carol Thomas sold the property last year to Platinum Development Group, which is working with Toll Brothers Inc. to build luxury homes on the site.
Mark Hemann of Platinum Development said Carol Thomas’s property was sought after for years by developers all over the country. His company just happened to approach her at the right time, he said.
Hedges said that people often want the city to step in and purchase properties like Diamond T. He questions whether the city should make a practice of bailing out struggling businesses.
“People have asked us why we didn’t buy Diamond T and (Carriage Hills) golf course,” he said. “If Ray Rahn is having difficulty and Carol Thomas is facing high costs, there’s a reason they’re getting out. Would our residents want us to take over an operation that’s struggling?”
The city has made a significant commitment to the Eagan Core Greenway, he said.
For instance, the council has made “pretty strong” gestures to help get the Caponi Art Park preserved as open space, and has been an eager partner in accomplishing the preservation of the Anderson property, he said.
McCarthy already has a conservation easement on part of his property, and more will occur, he said.
But city resources are limited.
“When a golf course or a ranch like Diamond T is not profitable, should the city step in and
buy it and make it park land? That would take a lot of dollars the city doesn’t have,” he said.
In situations like Diamond T, the city has very little say over development.
Even though it had an agricultural use, it was always future-guided for residential.
In cases like Carriage Hills and Ray Miller’s property,
the city must decide whether the land use should be changed to allow development.
“There are a lot of public policy questions the council and community have to consider,”
Hedges said. Zoning is a key factor.
“You build your house on certain plans the city has for the property,” he said.
For instance, if a prospective homebuyer wants to buy a house next to Diamond T,
the zoning should tell them whether there is uncertainty or certainty
of future development, Hedges said.
“If you look at carriage Hills Golf Course,
the zoning and the Comprehensive Guide will tell you it will be a golf course.
That’s the long-term vision,” he said.
The council has to decide if it will allow different uses to occur, he said.
Carriage Hills owner Rahn has signed a purchase agreement with Wensmann Homes,
which is contingent upon a zoning change.
Wensmann is looking to build a mix of housing on the land.
“Supply and demand is working against golf courses and working in favor of housing right now,” Hedges said. “There’s much higher value in housing for the property. The question is, what kind of responsibility does the city have?
“In 2004, is housing on Carriage Hills Golf Course a better use than golf? And if so, why?”
Terry Wensmann of Wensmann Homes was unavailable for comment before this issue went to press.
But Rachael Thorpe Newman, who founded the Carriage Hills Coalition in response to potential development, said her group shouldn’t even be necessary because the zoning is clear.
“The zoning, the vision of the city’s comprehensive Guide Plan was for open space, for public use,” she said. “Zoning is there for a reason. There’s a reason people wrote the Comprehensive Guide Plan the way they did.”
It is not the land use that’s to blame for the course’s struggles, she said, because the course was a viable operation before Rahn bought it.
Carriage Hills is not exactly a state-of-the-art course, she said. It has a small driving range and lacks facilities that more updated courses have.
In addition, the economy’s been rough, she said, and a lot of luxuries like golf have fallen by the wayside.
“I think golf courses in general are going through a rough time,” she said. “But what’s going to happen 10 years from now when we’re over built? Where’s the foresight?”
Conrad said the Carriage Hills Coalition is considered a “sister group” to Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway.
“We are lucky as a community to have not one, but two citizen groups, each with its own distinct focus,” Conrad said.
Friends has its eye on the Carriage Hills issue, but it has been actively involved in another potential development — Ray Miller’s six acres on Diffley Road.
Of the three properties being eyed for development, Miller’s is the only one that sits within the Eagan Core Greenway. It is adjacent to both the Caponi Art Park and the Lexington Diffley Athletic Fields.
The property is zoned single-family residential, which gives Miller the right to develop, Conrad said.
“But that doesn’t mean the city is obligated to change the zoning for the convenience of Ray Miller,” he said.
The council will consider the zoning change at its March 2 meeting.
Miller has said he is willing to sell the land to anyone interested in preserving it, as long as he is reimbursed for his costs. The Trust for Public Land, a national preservation group, has expressed an interest in talking to Miller.
Miller said he makes no excuses for the fact that he wants to develop the land.
“It would be a great landmark for the city of Eagan,” he said.
Hedges said the council will have to decide if it has some responsibility to rezone the land as low-density residential, thereby deviating from the city’s Comprehensive Guide Plan.
The council values the input of everyone in the community on these issues, he said.
“I think we’re all in this together, but we all have a different role and responsibility,” he said. “And the council has some awfully tough decisions to make.”
