[Winona Online Democracy]
Just a quick reply from a rural community. Speaking as Mayor of
Rollingstone and for our council, we have been trying to encourage
development around our community. Along with our own Planning commission,
we have developed template agreements and explored many options such as
SEMCHRRA, SEMCAC, the Greater Minnesota housing fund and HRA. We have had
some developments come close to being done . The housing agencies use
smaller lots to build affordable housing. St. Charles, Elgin and Lake City
are prime examples of those programs in action.
The City Of Rollingstone just added FHA sewer capacity to serve at
least double the homes we have now. We also have municipal water and every
other infrastructure the large Cities have. In working with some land
owners, we have tried looking at TIF districts, tax abatement and other
methods to help developers become successful. We have used models from our
neighboring communities for development ideas. It all finally boils down to
the land owner either not wanting to sell his land or asking a small fortune
for it. We have heard of land owners asking anywhere from $8,000 to $30,000
per acre. That's before infrastructure or annexation. Depending on lot
size, this can be a fairly high risk for the developer.
There have been a few land owners who expressed a desire to develop the
land themselves. As I'm sure Phil would point out, that without some
expertise it is very difficult to make money in the beginning and it can be
a long wait until the cash flow becomes positive. It is also interesting to
point out that some of the rules have changed. A proposed development that
we saw a few years ago for 100+ lots would probably be much smaller because
of run off water restrictions. In the past the water would run into a
creek. That can't happen anymore.
My point is that there are many factors involved in development and
growth. We would love to have a major development here and our City
Government would support it. We have one of the newest schools in the
district and we need students to fill it. Also traffic really isn't a
problem yet. We can get to Winona in 10-15 minutes. Try that in the Twin
Cities. Dick Gaffron
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Carlson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Winona Online Democracy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 9:28 AM
Subject: RE: [Winona] Traffic, annexation, etc.
> [Winona Online Democracy]
>
> Dwayne and Paul raise great questions. To Paul's comment on the price of
> land - he is absolutely right that land prices are going out of sight, in
> the Twin Cities and elsewhere. But those prices are simply following
supply
> and demand. Many people want to live close to the Cities (choices!) and
so
> home lots around the metropolitan area are in high demand. If the supply
is
> low, prices go up. To a point I've made several times in several ways, if
> more lots are created on less land (higher density) then we can provide a
> greater supply of lots, keeping prices lower, and keeping more farmland,
> forest, or prairie untouched. Part of the problem in the Twin Cities has
> been the unreasonable squeeze on the supply of sewered lots created by the
> Metropolitan Council's control of the MUSA line (the line within which
urban
> services can be extended). That is one of the reasons we see growth
beyond
> the seven-county area into the eleven and thirteen "collar" counties,
> including some in Wisconsin. In Winona there is no intermediate Met
Council
> that controls where urban services go, only the City and the townships
doing
> their orderly annexation dance together.
>
> Dwayne however hits the jackpot with his point No. 5 - population growth
> generally. The population of the State, nation, and world are growing and
> there needs to be a place to put these people. Solving this problem
> directly will affect many, many others. If Dwayne or others have
solutions,
> let's get going on it. Until then, what are we going to do with the
people
> who are here now, who will be here in five years, ten years, and fifty
> years, until this overarching problem is really solved (will it ever be
> solved)? I like the teen/adult analogy. But I think that simply saying
you
> don't believe in growth philosophically, while ignoring the thousands and
> millions of new people that will come every year and every decade, is more
a
> teen view than a realistic adult view. I should have been more precise in
> my earlier posts: growth will happen, unless and until we stop population
> growth on the whole.
>
> Phil Carlson, Minneapolis
>
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