06-23-2004 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JUNE 23, 2004 project must be a good one that looks good, and indicated that he was convinced that the impact to the area would be minimal. Fahey noted that Councils do change and that the neighborhood risks that another City Council would decide to dispose of the property for a development that would have a negative impact on the area. Lucille Nadeau, Noel Drive, indicated that she attended the Public Hearing for the rezoning of this property to Public and left that hearing with the impression that the land would be retained as open space. Nadeau stated that had she felt otherwise, she would have gone on record opposed to the rezoning and supporting that the R-I zoning stay in place. Nadeau indicated that there was no indication that rezoning this property to Public could result in the development of an office building ou the site. Anderson pointed out that at the time of the rezoning to Publiq the Council was saying no to a proposal to develop the site with a residential home. Anderson indicated that the Council was caught off guard by that proposal and the fact that the property was zoned R-1. He noted that the City originally purchased the property as the possible site for a Public Works garage. Fahey indicated that two years ago the City began pla~ming for the construction of a new Public Works garage. At that time it began looking at the existing property owned by the City, determining which sites the City was not using, and determining which could be disposed of to raise dollars for the construction of new Public Works garage. Fahey stated that the Council looked at this property and determined that there was no City use for it. In January, the Watershed came forward and expressed interest in buying the property to develop as their office site. Fahey indicated that this would be a better use of the property than perhaps a future City Council would do with it Fahey indicated that at first he was not excited about selling to the Watershed since the property would not go on the tax rolls. However, in considering the impact to the neighborhood, he feels the Watershed's proposal was better than the R-l or commercial development of the site. Fahey felt the neighborhood should feel comfortable that the Watershed is the best neighbor it could have. John Johnson, Noel Drive, indicated that he has mixed feelings about the issue and would like to see the property retained as open space, but understands the reality of the situation. Johnson noted that there already is a great deal of open space in the area given Gervais Mill and Spooner Parks. Johnson stated that he would prefer to have the Watershed as a neighbor rather than a residential, commercial, or retail development. Johnson stated, however, that he did not support on-street parking, and also stated that the piece of property appears to be small for what the Watershed is proposing.