Chaska Herald - City Politics - Comments

Impacts to Jackson Heights

krystalklein — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:03:51 -0500

Impacts to Jackson Heights Manufactured Home park would be much more severe than the EIS states. The entire park will be closed if an central route is chosen due to the loss of critical infrastructure and financial impacts to the business. That is 62 lots and 40 families, not 18.

Also, the demographic information in the EIS is outdated and incorrect. In August 2007, All Parks Alliance for Change, the state-wide tenants union for manufactured homeowners, conducted a door-to-door survey in Jackson Heights. 95% of residents described themselves as Latino. This is striking, considering that only 6% of the population in MnDOT's study area identified as Latino.

The average combined annual household income at Jackson Heights is almost half what the EIS states. It is between $20,000 and $29,999, not $40,625.

Also notable is that fact that 72% of Jackson Heights employees work in the Shakopee or Chaska.

The lot rent at Jackson Heights is $375 a month and 71% of residents own their homes outright. Is there anywhere else in Shakopee or Chaska where a family can own a home for $375 a month? Is it even possible to rent a one-bedroom apartment at that rate?

Jackson Heights represent one of the few truly affordable unsubsidized housing opportunities in the area. Current relocation laws will not replace this level of affordability. The lives of these 40 families (with an approximate total of 68 children) will be changed forever if a central route is chosen.

Thank you for reading.
Krystal Klein, All Parks Alliance for Change
krystal.apac@gmail.com

I like the idea about Kellys

mnarch04 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:49:51 -0500

I like the idea about Kellys expanding alot except im not a fan for the Snyders drug being there. Split the new building into two smaller tenants.....Maybe a Starbucks even though Chaska has there fair share of coffee shops. Just my 2 cents.

It'd be nice if the council

Jon Swenson — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:41:57 -0600

It'd be nice if the council would also come.
[wishful thinking]

Other cities have implemented this and have found it a great success.

Hopefully this will spread out to the following cities. It definitely gives people more of a chance to become involved in local issues.

I see. I had no familiarity

eskelton — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:57:26 -0600

I see. I had no familiarity with this issue before reading this article and just thought that comment was a bit over-the-top, given that there could be men's, or women's, rec league games, I can understand the concern.

This is a good point. The

pjourdan — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:25:02 -0600

This is a good point. The city had serious failures with process and communication throughout the planning of Veterans Park. Failures they've been forced to admit were mistakes and should be embarrassed by (I know I am). Concerned citizens use 21st (or 20th even) century methods to challenge those failures. They should move to Nimrod or Tenney because they clearly have too much time on their hands and their farms got cut in half.

To answer the question to

Taylor H — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:14:21 -0600

To answer the question to the above comment by "eskelton", I think the quote was taken slightly out of context. The proposed field is a men's baseball field with 90 foot baselines. This field can be used by adult teams as well. The "type" of crowd I think he was referring to was adult leagues with alcohol involved. The way the field will be situated in the neighborhood would allow alot of exposure to children in the yards and streets of the neighborhood by drivers. I really don't have to paint an extensive picture to what could happen when you mix alcohol, driving, and small children near the roads.

Also, to answer the bullying comments of "Herald Reader" , I myself find that it is worth taking the time to change something that will greatly affect my quality of life. The front of my house faces this ballfield, I will not be able to enjoy the stars as I sit outside on many upcoming summer nights because of the flare from the lights, I am worried about the increased traffic on private roads that I help pay for from association dues, and the future difficulty in selling my home with a field of that porportion so close. I will take the time to try to uphold my quality of life, who are you to say otherwise?

Can someone please explain

eskelton — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:26:06 -0600

Can someone please explain this quote from Mr. Ward? "We don't like drawing a certain type of crowd into the neighborhood on a regular basis." To me, it seems to imply that a youth baseball field will attract criminal, or at least nuisance, element or person. While I understand the grumbles of ill-informed (by the City Council) residents, this sort of fear seems grossly overstated and reeks of hyperbole. It's not as though the City is proposing building a boarded up liquor store on the site, it's a baseball field, used by the youth of Chaska. As for noise issues, I'm sure you'll hear people cheering on the children of our community, I can think of worse to listen to.

I have one more comment for

HeraldReader — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:16:48 -0600

I have one more comment for you Christian Ward.

When I stated, "Not all Points West residents share your position, just so you know...” you asked the question, "When did I make a claim that all of them did?"

I found the answer in your beloved Star Tribune article:
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/14444641.html

I believe it reads:

... "The whole neighborhood doesn't want this to be built," said Christian Ward, who lives across the street from the site. ...

Thanks for your time, I’m done wasting mine.

Dear Christian Ward, I'm so

HeraldReader — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:57:34 -0600

Dear Christian Ward,

I'm so sorry for my mistake earlier; I don't know what I was thinking. Nimrod is probably a bit too urban for you. Maybe you should try Tenney Minnesota instead.

Sincerely,

HeraldReader

Wow! You MUST have an

HeraldReader — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:49:42 -0600

Wow! You MUST have an excessive amount of time on your hands. Let's time you to see how fast you can respond to this one. I was right the first time, this IS a load! Sometimes the highway cuts through your farm and you're no longer out in the middle of nowhere. Sorry. Move to Nimrod if you need some small town livin'.

One more point I would like

christian — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:19:56 -0600

One more point I would like to make:
$350K was approved for the construction of this ballpark. If you combine the estimated loss in property values due to inverse condemnation for just the homes that will face or have a direct view of the ballpark, the total amount would likely exceed the value of the ballpark.

95% of Points West residents

christian — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:57:10 -0600

95% of Points West residents signed the petition to block the ballpark. When did I make a claim that all of them did?

You think a website is overkill? Returning phone calls and answering individual e-mails would have been far more time-consuming, don't you think? The website was essential in keeping everyone in the neighborhood informed as to what was happening. And for your information, it took about 20 minutes for me to construct and post this website.

Now that you mention it, since I design websites for a living, I would like to take this opportunity to offer assistance to anyone in Chaska who believes they could benefit from having a site such as ours in their efforts to challenge city hall.

By the way, HeraldReader, if you are a Points West resident, it looks like you'll be getting plenty of opportunities to cry out "load" during the baseball season. Just don't get any on us.

Oh for crying out load,

HeraldReader — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:13:34 -0600

Oh for crying out load, you’ve created a website for this? Are you kidding me? You seem to have an excessive amount of time on your hands. Not all Points West residents share your position, just so you know...

The City Council voted 4 to

christian — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:02:12 -0600

The City Council voted 4 to 1 last night to approve the revised park plan, citing an urgent need to reduce the number of away games baseball teams currently must endure for lack of local facilities.

As a citizen of Chaska, I am proud to have been chosen to sacrifice my peaceful lifestyle, and freely give up the estimated $30K in the value of my property for such an important and noble cause. I had only hoped the City Council would have seen fit to grant us some form of additional assessment that could be tied to the baseball field, so we could feel even more fulfilled in our philanthropy. I, for one, am excited to be such an important part of the tireless effort on the part of our great city to relieve the unbearable burden our baseball leagues face in not being able to host more than 40% of their games. It truly is a tragedy, and I’m grateful to be allowed to help in this manner. I feel their pain. Growing up on the farm in Illinois, we were constantly subjected to long car rides with our parents when my siblings and I were in sports. My God, we had to drive and drive and drive some more to get to nearly all our games. Sometimes up to 150 miles round-trip! I know what it’s like first-hand, believe me. I would not wish it on anyone, and so this injustice must end. I am prepared to fight tooth and nail to see that community baseball prospers in Chaska - at any cost. I only wish I could do more to help.

Mr. Mayor, I apologize for speaking up at the meeting. I honestly don't know what I was thinking, having an opposing viewpoint and voicing it to you and the city council. You had every right to cut me off, shout me down and belittle what I was saying. For that, I am sorry. I also wanted to say that as a citizen of Chaska, I appreciate a strategic thinker in the Mayor's office. Your eagerness in pushing for a vote to approve the ballpark as an urgent matter was admirable, as it will no doubt give you time for the issue to blow over before you begin your campaign for re-election. Kudos to you, sir.

Mr. Rohe, How dare you come to our defense, or even give us one precious second of thought to our concerns? Don't you realize that the city must maintain its high standards when governing? Caving into what mere citizens want will only undermine the city's authority. You can't just go around listening to the mob, don't you know that? And shame on you for bringing common sense into the issue!

Mr. Pokorney, your attempt at suggesting that a vote by the CC on this issue was not needed shows remarkable efficiency. Why take the risk of losing to a vote? It is not difficult for one to see the reasons for your long tenure as City Administrator.

Mr. Redman, you are a master at your craft. I am sure the people who work with you on a daily basis, and throughout your career, have nothing but great thing to say about you. Congratulations on such an important and remarkable feather in your cap. You certainly earned it.

Ms. Skinner, If you need any help whatsoever in scheduling baseball teams this season, please don't hesitate to ask. I understand the unbearable difficulties in such a task, and want you to know that I'm there for you.

To the citizens of Chaska, come election day, I want you all to remember what a great job our mayor has done in handling these petty upstarts.

Christian Ward
www.cebellah.com

christian - I am a veteran

Fuzzy Logic — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:15:55 -0600

christian -

I am a veteran of the Mary Jo Copeland orphanage fiasco. As far as Mr. Pokorney; We are in full agreement on his power and the lack of understanding most in the city have about this. I received quite an education during the time the orphanage was being debated. Not to diminish your situation but in hindsight I would have traded places with you in a second and thrown a party for a park and ball field to avoid some of the nonsense we went through.

Also, our city isn't the only one with a government set up this way. Many suburbs have city managers or administrators. It's just a matter of how strong they are and what the relationship with the council happens to be.

And he doesn't pick the commissions. I volunteered for the Planning Commission a few years ago and the process is, send in a letter of intent, get a call, and then come in for an interview with the CC. They vote on the candidates. I'm pretty sure this is how it works for all the commissions. And legally they have no power to do anything - the CC has to approve or deny their recommendations. It does make it convenient for city gov't though to not have to take any heat as they can point to the commission or council when final decisions are made.

In hindsight I don't regret being passed over.

At any rate, the council deserves the heat on this one from where I sit. I can also see where the city isn't exactly in the clear but ultimately the CC has the responsibility. And I agree with your assessment of Mr. Van Eyll's letter the other day. He's been around long enough to understand what development/zoning/re-zoning means to neighborhoods. The city (both gov't and CC) give lip service to truly "working with neighbors". It's why these things blow up the way they do.

The only thing I can say in defense of the city is that you will never get anything done by seeking consensus. But there should be enough respect shown to be up front from the beginning with their plans and those affected. This is where they have failed. More than once.

In the end, I think the phrase I've heard that describes our little back and forth here: We violently agree.

Good Luck and keep your head up. Or run for CC!!