Eagan reaches Carriage Hills golf course agreement
Shira Kantor, Star Tribune
Published November 30, 2005
The Eagan City Council unanimously approved an agreement to settle its legal dispute with the owner of the Carriage Hills golf course and a developer who wants to build houses there.
Under the agreement, the council will consider a "special area plan" proposed by developer Terry Wensmann for the 120-acre golf course, located south of Yankee Doodle Road and east of Lexington Avenue.
The new proposal is not much different from the residential development proposal that Wensmann submitted in 2004.
The Eagan City Council's denial of the 2004 proposal ultimately led to lawsuit in which a Dakota County judge sided with golf club owner Ray Rahn and Wensmann. The city had been waiting for a court date in its appeal of that ruling.
The new development proposal includes the same number of housing units as the earlier proposal: 480. It also includes a nine-hole golf course.
Eagan's planning commission and City Council will consider the new plan. If it is approved, the lawsuit would be dropped. If it is not approved, the city's appeal would be heard by the Minnesota Court of Appeals sometime next summer.
Council members said at a special meeting Tuesday that they were concerned that if they didn't settle and lost their pending appeal, the case could set a legal precedent for the entire state -- that would be damaging to cities' ability to manage development.
Rahn has said the golf course, which he bought in 1996, is losing money and that the city should allow for a zoning change so Wensmann can build.
Residents at the meeting spoke against the settlement and expressed their dismay at the council's decision.
"They aren't listening to us," said Jackie Boldt, who lives near the course. "They said they want to deal with the people, but people got up and spoke against it. This is taking the easy way out. I think it's a cop-out."
