It was standing room only in and just outside the Council Chambers Monday night.

Tuesday, May 02, 2000

It was standing room only in and just outside the Council Chambers Monday night.

Nearly 70 people attended Monday’s Austin City Council meeting; more than half of them for the hearing first on the agenda, which addressed the annexation by ordinance of 55 acres of land just west of the J.C. Hormel Nature Center. If annexed, owners of Greater Minnesota Affordable Housing propose building up to 129 single-family homes on the property.

However, like the famous cliffhangers on television, the hearing is "to be continued" at the next council meeting on May 15.

Mayor Bonnie Rietz explained at the beginning of the hearing that the vote was to be postponed for two reasons. First, the issue hadn’t been to committee before it came before the entire council, which meant it would have needed a two-thirds majority to pass on Monday. Because of that, and because Second Ward council member Roger Boughton was absent, Rietz said the decision had been made to send the issue to the ordinance committee. It then will be the task of the three members of the ordinance committee – Chairman Dick Lang, members Jeanne Poppe and Neil Fedson – to make a recommendation to the council. The entire council should vote on the annexation at the next meeting. Because it will have been through committee by then, a simple majority of the seven council members will be all that is needed.

Even though the vote is now two weeks away, the council heard all those who asked to speak on the issue: Rick Kahn, president of Greater Minnesota Affordable Housing, spoke for the proposed development; Mark Reeve and Francis Skinness both spoke against. Adding weight to Reeve’s words were the signatures of more than 3,000 area residents, who signed a petition against the proposed development and in favor of the expansion of the nature center.

"That’s almost 30 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election," Reeve told the council.

Prior to the hearing, Nature Center Task Force chairman Gary Quednow presented the council with recommendations from the task force regarding both the expansion of the nature center – recommended up to 160 acres to the north of the nature center if and when it’s available – and the proposed development.

"We looked at expansion to the west, the consensus was not to expand in that direction, although we did feel that a buffer screen on the east side of the development would be critical," Quednow told the council.

He closed his presentation by saying that the task force was not opposed to the proposed residential development, provided its recommendations to include for a 200-foot buffer zone and a small park for the residents are included.

At least one audience member, Mike Pratt, thought it unfair that the task force had addressed the issue of the development when it was formed to address the issue of long-range planning for the nature center.

Skinness, a third-grade teacher in Stewartville and a neighbor of the nature center, spoke of a different vision (than the task force’s) for the land west of the nature center.

"More and more wildlife is coming back," he said. "Expanding to the north is not enough. This is one of the prime areas we have. The right way to develop this land is to expand for wildlife, not for humans."

"I have also heard concerns that this development would interfere with the expansion of the nature center," Kahn said. "You heard the task force say that expansion should happen to the north. We believe expansion of the nature center is good."

Kahn noted that the company is willing to donate $500 toward the expansion for each home that it sells.

The company president also pointed out that their development, if approved, goes above and beyond the letter of the law in Austin. Not only is it less dense, with 129 planned homes rather than the 160 allowable, the company will require each lot to contain at least one tree in front and one in back and be sodded as soon as the work is completed. Each home also will have a double attached garage, required by deed covenant.

"The fact that there is opposition to this development, should not be the reason for the council to vote against annexation," Kahn said. "We are committed to meet and work with the city, the community and the neighbors to provide needed housing for Austin, and to do it in such a way that it will be a benefit to the area."

When Mark Reeve spoke, he stressed that he was speaking as a private citizen, not on behalf of the Concerned Citizens for the Hormel Nature Center, which has changed its position on the development to a neutral one.

"Once this is developed, there’s no going back to prairie land or forest," Reeve said. "I ask that you please vote ‘no’ or at least send this to a referendum vote, to allow the citizens you represent to make the decision."

Outside the council chambers, both sides were fairly positive.

"We’re feeling pretty good," Vicki Zook said as she and husband Tim walked into the hallway outside. "We’ll definitely be back for the next meeting – they’re wrong when they say it’s just people not wanting neighbors who oppose this. A lot of us (who oppose the project) don’t live near the nature center."

The Zooks weren’t the only ones who promised to return.

"We’ll just keep on going," David Wellstone, a partner in Greater Minnesota Housing and son of U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, said. "We’re pleased the task force came out. They’re non-partial observers and we agree with their recommendations.

"We’ll be back for the ordinance meeting," he added, referring to the 5 p.m. meeting on Monday.

"They still haven’t shown me enough to sway my vote," Lang said after the meeting. "Not that I have anything against this development. I don’t. They’ve put a lot into this – put it anyplace else and I’d be out there waving the flag. Just not there."

The ordinance committee will meet at 5 p.m. Monday at City Hall. The full council vote is set for May 15.