Neighbors decry plan to build on golf course
Residents near Eagan's Carriage Hills golf course are dismayed that the city could approve residential development there after all.
Shira Kantor, Star Tribune
Published December 17, 2005
Residents living near Eagan's Carriage Hills Golf Club say the city's decision to enter into an agreement that could end its legal battle with the course owner and developer is the beginning of the end of green space in their neighborhood.
Several people protested the decision to the City Council before the unanimous vote was taken in a special meeting Nov. 29.
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.
Eagan denied the 2004 proposal, leading Wensmann and golf course owner Ray Rahn to file suit. A Dakota County judge sided with Rahn and Wensmann, who argued that the city was effectively costing them money by not approving a zoning change.
The judge ordered Eagan to rezone the land or begin the process of acquiring the property through eminent domain and compensating Rahn for his land.
A court date had yet to be set in the city's appeal of that ruling.
Tony Gleekel, an attorney representing Rahn and Wensmann, said his clients are awaiting the council's action on their building proposal.
"The litigation is outstanding until they review this," Gleekel said. "They have to approve the application. If it gets approved, then we drop our litigation."
Gleekel said Rahn had been approached by a group of investors interested in buying the course, and that he asked for a written proposal. No such proposal has been received, he said.
Jim Taylor, a member of the Carriage Hills Coalition, which supports keeping the course undeveloped, said the council decision was "a huge setback."
Taylor is among the group of potential local investors interested in purchasing and preserving the course.
"It's too bad, but basically the city refused to work with us in any way, shape, or form," he said.
The new development proposal includes 480 housing units -- the same number as in the earlier proposal. Housing at various prices would include single-family homes, detached and row townhouses, senior housing and condominiums.
The proposal also includes a nine-hole golf course. Carriage Hills now is an 18-hole course.
The request will go through the same approval channels as all plans before the city must: Eagan's planning commission will consider Wensmann's new plan on Dec. 27. The council would later take up the issue. If the council approves it, 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 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.
Tom Grundhoefer, general counsel at the League of Minnesota Cities said that in some ways, both sides to the dispute are getting something out of the contingent settlement agreement. He would not comment on whether he thought the agreement was a good one, as the process is ongoing.
Nevertheless, he said "you have to make sure that in the interest of a settlement that you don't somehow subvert the entire planning process."
The League of Minnesota Cities, which, through its insurance trust is helping Eagan pay to fight its legal battle, filed a "friend of the court" brief backing the city in its appeal.
If the city were to lose, City Council Member Mike Maguire said, a third party -- such as the courts -- would control land-use decisions, and the city could be facing potential damages owed Rahn and Wensmann.
The council repeatedly tried to assure residents that the vote does not necessarily mean that Wensmann's plan would be approved or that housing would be built on the course.
"By the express terms of the agreement, the city is not bound to approve" the proposal, said George Hoff, an attorney hired by the city to aid with the litigation. "All this is doing is setting up a process."
But most residents left the meeting feeling dejected.
Sherri Calton, who lives on the 3600 block of Wescott Hills Drive and has four children ages 10 and younger, said her children play near the course. "We do not want to have any more cars or traffic," she said. Her advice to the council: "Leave it as a golf course."
Shira Kantor • 612-673-7275
