[Winona Online Democracy] The last thing I read about Jason Phillips' development plans was that its houses would be priced around $250,000 and would be built over a five years. Also, the consultant that gave a conservation development presentation a few months ago at City Hall was to be retained by Phillips to do a preliminary plan. Some of the consultant's design concepts were mentioned by Keith Nelson in the newspaper recently, so I presume that they are still intended to be incorporated into the annexed property.
The conservation development presentation and our city officials willingness to implement the concepts in Pleasant Valley was encouraging. However, I wonder what effect five years of construction activity will have. Will the environment be 'conserved' or will it need to be restored, if possible, at the end of the project? And if so, would restoration then be put on hold until the next upstream project is completed? Another question I have is to what extent the preliminary conservation plan might withstand housing market resistance. In other words, suppose potential up-scale home buyers prefer the typical three or four car garage with attached house on a large lawn lot? Not living in Spring Brook, I have no concerns about my view of the bluffs or my 'just past the edge of town' lifestyle being disrupted. But as a resident of the central city, I'm concerned about perpetuating the notion that the only desirable housing is to be found in a remote suburban cul-de-sac. I'm grateful for our police department's efforts at dealing with disruptive student party houses and for our planning department addressing other WSU related problems. However, there is much more that could be done to improve the core city's environment, and I think further annexations will tend to monopolize our planning and engineering resources. Finally, there might well be sufficient pent-up demand for bluffland housing developments to make annexing in Wilson Township financially sustainable for Winona if past economic trends continue into the indefinite future. But would building more totally automobile dependent housing be sustainable if world oil production is at or near its peak? John N. Finn _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
