Planners vote to amend city plan
City steps closer to ending lawsuit with Carriage Hills developer; council to consider amendment in January
Maricella Miranda, Pioneer Press
Published December 29, 2005
The city of Eagan came closer to ending a lawsuit Tuesday with a developer who wants to build a housing development on one of the city's last privately owned green spaces.
After three hours of debate and public comments, the city's planning commission recommended the city amend its comprehensive plan to designate the former Carriage Hills golf course land to be a part of a "special area plan." There are seven other areas in Eagan that have been assigned as a special area plan.
The amendment passed 4-3 because the new proposed plan included a nine-hole golf course and gave the city more control over the development since it would be in a special area plan. Commissioners Ted Gladhill, Jenifer Matthees and Dana Keeley voted against it because they wanted to preserve the green space in Eagan and didn't want to see the area developed for housing.
"The proposal on its own adds a lot to the city of Eagan as a whole," said Commission Chairwoman Carla Heyl. "We can appreciate the neighbors being close to a development with houses, but we're the planning commission for all the citizens in Eagan."
The commission recommended the amendment with a few conditions: the developer has to add more green space, include an access on the south, and build fewer units and lots, Heyl said. An upcoming environmental assessment study will suggest proper drainage areas, wetland retention and adequate green space amounts.
The City Council will decide whether to approve the amendment in January. If they do, the Metropolitan Council then will consider any regional impact for amending the comprehensive plan. If the Met Council foresees none, the City Council will implement the change and then consider rezoning the area. However, if the City Council decides not to approve the amendment, the city can continue appealing the lawsuit.
"If we proceed with the appeal and lose, it would be worse than having local control with the outcome," said Eagan Community Development Director Jon Hohenstein.
Eagan-based Wensmann Realty Inc. plans to build 480 housing units — condominiums, town houses and single-family houses — while preserving 30 acres of the 120-acre site for an executive nine-hole public course. The property, located off Yankee Doodle Road on Wescott Woodlands Drive, is now zoned for parks and recreation and holds an 18-hole golf course.
About 60 people attended the planning commission meeting. Many wanted the city to continue with the lawsuit appeal. Residents expressed concerns about retention of green space, housing density, traffic and the number of students moving into the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district.
Resident Dan Bailey said this development could be a precedent in Eagan for two other privately owned golf courses. Those owners might want to develop their land to make a profit, too, Bailey said.
"The hopes and dreams of the community years from now are going to be (dashed)," Bailey said. "Once that open space is gone, it will be gone forever."
Eagan had fought the development since August 2004, when the City Council denied Wensmann's plan to rezone the 40-year-old public course. Some residents previously formed an investment group to try to buy the land.
After the City Council and planning commission rejected the initial Carriage Hills development plans 18 months ago, the owner, Rahn Family LP and Wensmann sued the council in district court to try to force Eagan to change the zoning to permit housing. Rahn closed the course last year and said he wanted to sell it because it was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Eagan officials have said the city could not afford to buy the course — and did not want to raise property taxes to do so. Neighborhood investors never made public what they could offer for the property, but have disputed Rahn's contention that the course could not have been a moneymaker.
In April, District Judge Patrice Sutherland ruled against Eagan and ordered the city to either amend its comprehensive plan and the property's zoning or begin eminent domain proceedings to buy the 18-hole course. Sutherland ruled that the city's denial of development amounted to taking the course without paying for it.
The city took the case before the Minnesota Court of Appeals in May, arguing that it must protect the integrity of its comprehensive land-use plan.
"We think the guide plan is worth fighting for," the council wrote at the time.
City officials have said they worry if the council went forward with its appeal and lost, it would set a binding precedent throughout the state for a loss of local planning control. They also have said the course purchase price was such that if the city tried to buy it, there'd be no money left to protect other parcels.
If you go
The Eagan City Council will consider Jan. 17 whether to amend the city's comprehensive plan for a controversial housing development to be built on the former Carriage Hills golf course land.
