Court rules against Eagan on golf course
Erin Johnson, Thisweek Newspapers
Published May 6, 2005
The city of Eagan must either allow Carriage Hills Golf Course to be guided for housing, or it must begin the process of eminent domain to acquire the property within the next 30 days, a judge ruled Monday.
Golf course owner Ray Rahn and developer Wensmann Homes sued the city after it denied a comprehensive guide plan change to allow housing on the property.
Wensmann was looking to build 480 units of housing on the 120-acre golf course, which is currently guided for public and quasi-public facilities. The sale of Rahn’s property was contingent upon approval of the guide plan change.
Even though he has successfully operated three other golf courses, Rahn claims that he has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on Carriage Hills and a golf course is no longer viable on the property.
In his judgement, District Court Judge Patrick Sutherland agreed.
“Neither capital improvements nor increased marketing can reverse the substantial annual losses experienced by the course,” he wrote.
The course is surrounded by residential zoning and is a “peninsula” among residential uses, he wrote, so rezoning the property to low density is the “most reasonable zoning classification for the property.”
Sutherland argued that by denying the change, the city is effectively forcing Rahn to incur increasing debt or let the property sit idle while still being responsible for bank debt on the property.
The burden on Rahn is “grossly disproportionate” while the city receives the advantage of property rights for which it did not pay.
If the city wants to preserve all 120 acres as open space, it must acquire the property, he wrote.
Mayor Pat Geagan said the city was surprised by the judge’s ruling.
“We had confidence in the City’s Comprehensive Guide Plan because of the years of thought that went into preparing it as a master plan,” he said.
The City Council has asked its attorney and staff to gather additional information regarding the city’s options.
“This matter is simply too complex to make a quick decision. We seek to make an informed decision with the benefit of additional research,” he said.
The city denied the request for a Comprehensive Guide plan change last August. A similar housing proposal for the site was denied in 1996.
Residents who live near and around the golf course formed an opposition group, the Carriage Hills Coalition, that helped defeat the proposal in 1996. They actively fought the Wensmann proposal as well, arguing that the city shouldn’t change its guide plan to put housing on open space. The group cited traffic and safety issues as well as additional cost burdens.
Coalition members have argued that Rahn bought the property after its previous owner had failed to get it approved for housing, so he shouldn’t have expected a different outcome.
The city received hundreds of letters and e-mails, as well as a petition, opposing the project.
Coalition member Claudia Battaino said the group is very disappointed with the judge’s ruling.
“It renders the comprehensive guide plan null and void,” she said.
The group is currently getting legal opinions on their options to challenge the ruling.
“We’re going to do what we can to have it overturned,” she said. “We’re definitely hoping the city will go ahead and appeal the decision.”
Christopher Penwell, the attorney for Rahn and Wensmann, said he had no comment other than “we’re going to wait and see what the city is going to do.”
