Housing approved on Carriage Hills
Friday, 06 June 2008
Residents will now decide whether
former golf course is developed or
preserved as open space
by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers
Despite the fact that they don’t want to see it developed, Eagan City Council members at their June 3 meeting unanimously approved housing on Carriage Hills golf course.
“If there has to be development on this site, this is the plan I would like to see go forward,” Mayor Mike Maguire said.
But members are still hopeful that, with a bond referendum on the ballot in November, the 120-acre property won’t have to be developed.
The council’s approval of the project, which includes 480 units of mixed-use housing and 30 acres of open space, was part of a settlement agreement reached in March between the city and Wensmann Homes.
Wensmann and Carriage Hills owner Ray Rahn sued the city after it denied a land-use change in 2004 to allow housing on the property, which Rahn has said is no longer viable as a golf course.
The property, located at 3535 Wescott Woodlands, was guided parks, open space and recreation. The city has fought a three-year legal battle with Wensmann and Rahn to maintain that land-use designation, with each side winning some fights along the way.
The settlement came out of a court-ordered mediation prior to trial, which was scheduled to begin this month.
The terms of the settlement required the council to approve the land-use change and Wensmann’s proposal. In exchange, voters will get to decide in November if the city should purchase the land for $10.25 million and preserve it as open space.
If the bond referendum fails, the development will proceed.
Some neighbors and open-space advocates were upset that the city did not continue fighting the lawsuit, but Maguire said that would have only cost taxpayers more money.
In addition, the settlement gives the council some control over what type of development goes on that site, should it be developed.
For instance, Wensmann’s plan had about 60 conditions attached to it – an unusually high number – by the time it reached the council, and the council added four more in response to resident concerns.
“As undesirable as development might be to you,” Maguire told the crowd at the meeting, “this is at least a tolerable approach to the development, whereas other approaches might not be so tolerable.”
Another benefit of the settlement is that it ultimately puts the decision in the hands of residents, Council Member Peggy Carlson said.
“It is a good development if, in fact, this is what we end up with because the bond referendum does not pass,” Carlson said. “Now it’s up to the people to decide, which is where it should be.”
The city will now begin working on a ballot question for November’s referendum, as well as a plan for the land should residents vote to preserve it.
