The first official step toward making David Wellstone’s proposed housing development a reality is on tonight’s Austin City Council agenda.

Tuesday, February 22, 2000

The first official step toward making David Wellstone’s proposed housing development a reality is on tonight’s Austin City Council agenda. No. 17 on the list is the annexation of 55 acres of Lansing Township land owned by David and Patricia Morse, land that Wellstone hopes will one day soon be covered with 130-plus single-family homes.

Although Morse still owns the property, Greater Minnesota Affordable Housing – of which Wellstone is a partner – has an option to buy.

Wellstone, son of U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, will present conceptual ideas for the housing development to the council at tonight’s meeting. However, tonight won’t be Wellstone’s first presentation on the development. At a public meeting in January at the J.C. Hormel Nature Center, which lies directly east of the proposed development, citizens expressed their concerns about the environmental impact of developing what is now farmland and a "wildlife corridor."

City officials hastened to assure that the annexation doesn’t mean the project is approved, it’s just the first step in the process. If the annexation goes through tonight, platting is the next step.

"Annexation is the start of the process," City Planning and Zoning Administrator Craig Hoium explained. "A preliminary plat review would come next by both the Planning Commission and the council. The (three) public hearings come during the platting process."

Hoium explained that the platting process requires an assessment of a project’s expected environmental impact, as well a design for all municipal services that would be provided to the area. Neighbors and city officials agree that stormwater management will be a critical part of that plan. Flooding, particularly after the spring thaw, has historically been a problem in the field and on 12th Avenue NE, which is adjacent to the southern edge of the property.

Frances Skinness lives on the other side of 12th Avenue. He and many neighbors are "just trying to hold tight" about the project until they get more information.

"It seemed like it was awful quick coming in," Skinness said about the housing development. "There are a lot of unanswered questions right now."

Others have already come out against the project, worried about the impact of such a development on the nature center. Nature center director-naturalist Larry Dolphin wrote to the city engineering and planning department earlier this year, voicing concerns that the project would be the beginning of housing development that eventually would surround the nature center.

"I would like to suggest that we might consider the 55 acres … as potential green space that the city might acquire either for recreational use of habitat preservation or both."

Council member Dick Lang, who didn’t like the idea of a project next to the nature center at the January meeting, said Monday that he would like to see a buffer on the east side of the property to protect the nature center, a strong development agreement and a better 12th Avenue NE.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the lower level of the Municipal Building at 500 Fourth Ave. NE.