By Mollee Francisco 

Frustrations mounted and tempers flared as the Chaska City Council pondered the redevelopment of the northwest corner of highways 212 and 41 Monday night.

In a special work session, the council saw four plans for the corner, but had trouble narrowing down the list to just one plan worth pursuing.

Two plans, one a redevelopment plan and another that would turn the corner into a larger park, will now head to various commissions for review and comment.

While both plans have their positives and negatives, the council will be looking for input from the Park Board, the Planning Commission, the Heritage Preservation Commission and the Chaska Fire Department as it tries to move forward.

‘Do Nothing’ plan

The council was able to knock two plans out of contention Monday night. The “Do Nothing” plan, which called for the city to hold onto those properties at the corner and lease them out until they could come up with an agreeable redevelopment plan was ruled out early on.

Councilor Jay Rohe, who has pushed for redevelopment of the corner for years, and voted to take the Ohnsorg Truck Body Manufacturing building through eminent domain, said he couldn’t live with leasing that building, especially out to anyone else.

“I’ve got my hands all over this project,” he said. “I would feel rotten inside.”

The “Do Nothing” plan would also cost the city an annual sum of around $150,000 to finance the pricey land acquisition. The city spent a total of $2 million to secure the three properties, where Ohnsorg, Randy’s Auto and Chaska Farm & Garden sit, on the corner.

Adding to the “Do Nothing” plan’s problem, is a nearly $1 million grant to clean up the site that will expire in 2009 if no redevelopment is done.

Putnam plan

The second plan passed on by the council was submitted to the city after requests for redevelopment proposals went out earlier this year.

Dick Putnam and Associates proposed a plan that expanded retail on the corner, but also ate up a good chunk of the green space at Firemen’s Park. At the center of the plan was a pedestrian street flanked by retail leading back to a plaza fronting the clayhole.

The plan included 44,000 square feet of retail and two restaurant pads. To “enhance” the park, the Putnam plan proposed a trail around the lake as well as moving the picnic shelter to Schimelpfenig Park.

“What about the deed?” asked Councilor Gino Businaro, referring to a question of whether or not any park land could be used for development, since the Klein family placed a deed restriction on the land when it gifted the property. The restriction designated the area specifically as a park.

Pokorney said that they had sought legal counsel on the matter and were advised that such restrictions go away after 40 years. In this case, the restriction would have ceased to exist as of 2001.

But despite the notion that the Putnam plan would cost the city little money, the loss of so much park land was a deal breaker for the council.

“I look at this and say ‘Where’s the park?’” said Rohe.

Doran plan

One of the redevelopment plans that did get the nod from the council was a plan submitted by Doran Companies. Doran’s plan proposes retail and restaurant space at the corner, with parking hidden behind the buildings.

A total of 30,700 retail space and two restaurants would be constructed, as well as a pedestrian walkway leading from the corner through the parking lot back to a public plaza on the clayhole.

The Ernst House, which currently sits along Highway 212, would be relocated to the plaza and modified to serve as a beach/warming/concessions house.

However, much like the Putnam plan, councilors had a hard time accepting a plan that, although self-supporting financially, would result in 20,000 square feet less of park land.

The Putnam plan proposes that the open green space be flipped from the northeast corner of the park along Highway 41 to the south west corner of the park, along Highway 212 and near the beach. The result would be 67,000 square feet of green space, compared to the 87,000 square feet of existing green space.

Also like the Putnam plan, the Doran plan would construct a trail around the lake and move the picnic shelter to Schimelpfenig Park.

However, councilors worried about the plan resulting in a loss of identity for the park. “You’re creating a very nice park,” said Councilor Chris Schulz. “But it’s no longer Firemen’s Park.”

Mayor Gary Van Eyll, who served as fire chief for years, shook his head. “Firemen’s Park is gone.”

“It’s a beautiful plan,” said Rohe. “It’d look great if it wasn’t on Firemen’s Park.”

Councilor Bob Lindall had an easier time accepting the loss of park space saying, “I don’t remember the last time I saw someone use the northeast triangle of the park.”

‘All Park’ plan

The other plan that the council will be seeking input on is a plan to turn the entire corner into a park. The plan would effectually add a park the size of City Square Park to Firemen’s Park by tearing down the three buildings at the corner and turning them into landscaped green space.

While no one on the council disagreed with the concept of expanding and enhancing Firemen’s Park, financing such a project was a harder pill to swallow.

Because the project would not be a redevelopment, the city would receive no grant money to clean up the site. City Administrator David Pokorney estimated that the cost of cleaning up the site to turn it into park land would carry a $200,000 price tag. Park enhancements were estimated at $500,000, but would do little more than pay for sprinkling and some landscaping. Councilors wanted more.

“For me to be supportive of that, I need to see something sexier,” said Lindall.

The council discussed upping that figure to $1 million to make Firemen’s Park a real showpiece of the downtown including a trail around the lake. But in addition to the $2 million land acquisition costs, the grand total for the “All Park” plan began to push $3.5 million – resulting in a $300,000-plus annual subsidy from the city.

“We’d have to have a referendum,” said Pokorney.

“I can’t sign up for a $4 million park,” said Rohe. “We need some development. Let’s put it through the process and see what comes out on the other end.”

Frustration

“I need some direction from you,” Pokorney implored the council, as he looked for some indication of what they would like to do at the corner.

Reluctantly, the council agreed to send the Doran plan and the “All Park” plan along for further review, but not before Van Eyll expressed his frustration on the entire matter. The conversation led to an argument between Van Eyll and Rohe, resulting in heated comments.

“I’m disappointed that we got to this point,” he said. “I said it that night and I’ll say it again. I think we took (Ohnsorg’s) for the wrong two reasons. I think we took it because it was the last day to use eminent domain and because it was Ohnsorg on the corner.”

Rohe took offense at the mayor’s comments, calling him a “buffoon” for what he felt was an implication that the Ohnsorg acquisition resulted from a personal grudge.

“I think we should have had a plan before we did it,” said Van Eyll. “We didn’t and now look at this mess.”

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Click on the attached files to see the Doran and Putnam plans.

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TELL US: What do you think the best solution for the corner is?

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