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LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MARCH 17, 1987 PAGE 5 Univ. of MN who submitted a 6-page report listing his objections to the proposal. Lake Elmo has had experience with poor planning. In the old village the houses were clustered too closely and now their septic systems are malfunctioning and a costly new system must be installed. Building permits are granted to build in flood plains and costly and disruptive remedies are necessary to continue. A garbage dump in a former gravel pit was to become a park or a golf course, but resulted in contamination of groundwater and loss of residential values. With this history, we should be skeptical of any large new development that promises only benefits and no drawbacks and urged the City Council to refuse the PUD application. Mr. Stevens added that he has been a resident for approximately 26 years and does not like high taxes any more than anyone else does, but the more industrialized the towns are, the higher the mill rate. The people who are here applauding this truck stop have been sold a bill of goods and in a few years the taxes will be higher than if they had voted against it. Dale Barns voiced social concerns such as the drug and prostitution problem associated with a truckstop which would only be one-third of a mile away from the school and questionned the cargo being carried. He stated that in Tennessee, 20% of the truckers were found to have drug substances. Tim Mandel, 2479 Lisbon Avenue objected to the application because of the location to Oakland Jr. High School. He felt anyone there would rather have paid higher taxes and prevent something tragic that might happen at the high school. Todd Williams stated there are three factions in Lake Elmo; First: represented by the developer who wants to develop land to the greatest density because he wants the highest return on his investment; Second: represented by the local business owner who wants dense development because he wants more customers; Third: represented by the averge homeowner who wants a nice place to live and is interested in having low taxes and a good value for his home if he should want to sell it. A knowledgable homeowner know that dense development always leads to demand for services which outstrips the taxpayers. Williams presented a graph of taxes and home values for 95 metropolitan communities that the Citizens League had published. The Lake Elmo Comprehensive Plan calls for intense land use to go into that area for which sewer is already acceptable and does not prevent uses of people's land. It merely allows uses which are in the best interest of the majority, namely the homeowner. There are many ways to develop the land outside of the MUSA line which meet the desires of both the business owner and the homeowners. A truckstop is not one of these uses. Even if by some miracle this development doesn't call for an increase in city services, it will degrade the environment and will lead to other developments which will lead to an untimely expansion of services and expansion of the tax bill. Williams urged the Council to reject this proposed development at this location.