Development boom in Minnesota's lake country worries some

ROBERT FRANKLIN
Star Tribune of Minneapolis

LONGVILLE, Minn. - The boat chugged slowly past floating bogs, a beaver house and waters that will be filled with weeds and wild rice in another month - no place for a proposed 24-unit housing development, boaters Dick Kruger and Doug Payne said.

This is Lantern Bay, a 125-acre "nursery" for fish, eagles and loons on the popular Woman Lake chain in Cass County. Intense development, the men said, would bring chopped-up shoreline vegetation, erosion, boats churning through plants and a stirred-up lake bottom.

"We will destroy the resource that attracts us unless we do something," Kruger warned.

As development booms in northern Minnesota's lake country, "the market's going to dictate what future land use is," said Don Hickman, environmental specialist for the Initiative Foundation of Little Falls. "If we make poor choices locally, we ... get what we deserve."

A lot of people say they are doing something to protect lake environments.

A "Save Lantern Bay" group, which includes Kruger and Payne, filed lawsuits that reversed county approval, required an environmental study and voided the plat map that had been approved by the county, even after lots were sold and a house was built.

A five-county North Central Lakes Pilot Project, spearheaded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, has developed alternatives to lakeshore development standards that date back 30 years. Goals include protecting water quality, conserving shore land and giving resorts more flexibility in their fight to survive.

The Initiative Foundation and its sister group, Northwest Minnesota Foundation of Bemidji, have made grants to 160 lake-related groups for planning, training and technical assistance.

With most of the best shoreline taken, standards are critical because so much development is on "very sensitive lakes (that) need a lot more protection," said Paula West, public policy director of the Brainerd-based citizens' group Minnesota Waters.

Many agree that poor choices have been made. One that's frequently cited is the Interlachen development, sandwiched between Highway 371 and Gull Lake in Nisswa.

The 23-unit, 8-acre property was developed in the 1990s under relaxed standards as a resort. But 14 of the units were lined up along 725 feet of shoreline, most trees were cut, garages were added and, through a misunderstanding, the city and property manager say it was marketed as a housing development.

Plans for nine additional units were canceled and the property has returned primarily to rental status.

These days, a lot of development proposals end up in court. "This is what I like to call a sue-the-referee business," said John Sumption, Cass County's environmental services director. "We are routinely challenged on almost every major development proposal by someone."

But Lantern Bay, mostly less than 5 feet deep and billed as the largest wetland in the 5,500-acre Woman Lake chain, needs that kind of watchdog protection, according to DNR officials and the Child, Girl and Woman Lake Property Owners Association.

To minimize disruption, Thousand Acres Development of Elk River proposed two common docks for residents of its Ridges of Lantern Bay project and a bay-wide voluntary "no wake" zone.

Nevertheless, "given its sensitive and unique location," the development may have to be modified "to limit the environmental consequences," Cass County District Judge Wayne Farnburg ruled in December.

Opponents say they have the best idea: They are raising money through the Leech Lake Area Watershed Association in Hackensack to match DNR funds and hope to buy out the developer and several other properties to preserve a mile of shoreline.

The bay currently includes fewer than a half-dozen houses and the Miracle Bible Camp, where Payne is director.

Woman Lake is a general development lake, and that allows for intensive shoreline development - on all of its bays. Local governments could tailor standards differently on different parts of such lakes under alternatives developed by the North Central pilot project.

Part of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's "clean water initiative," the project has so far resulted in public hearings, consulted with public, private and nonprofit groups, and drawn up an alternative set of development standards for local governments to consider.

That's all without any new state money or mandates, said Russ Schultz, a DNR official who directs the project.

Other ideas coming from the project or local governments include controlling rainwater runoff, tightening standards for planned unit developments, restricting lake access from off-lake lots, increasing lot sizes, building sewers in more lake areas and promoting property owner education.

Schultz points to successes such as the View at Rush Lake in Baxter, a "lake friendly" 24-unit development set more than 150 feet back from the water, leaving a common area for woods and trails.

"It's a nice wildlife setting," said Max Smith, who with his wife, Helen, has lived there a year.

Schultz said that resorts need more flexibility to remain in business, so some standards need to be eased - until a property is sold off for housing. But resorts have to give back, too.

The 108-year-old Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge near Deerwood plans to add about 50 units under a $10 million expansion program over the next decade. But, under a new Crow Wing County ordinance, the resort must build those units farther from the lake, install rainwater ponds, demolish five small lakeside cabins and increase a buffer zone along the lakeshore.

"I think it's a pretty realistic and fair plan," said lodge president Chris Ruttger.

And it's gotten no objections.

But some property owners complain about diminished development potential in a time of high taxes, or about development in a tourism area.

"Local units of government need a reasonable standard to apply to lakeshore development with clearly articulated goals and standards," said Mark Ronnei, a Brainerd-area developer and resort operator who has been active in standards discussions.

Shore land owners can't act like they own the lake, Ronnei said, adding: "I am completely fatigued of pseudo-environmentalists (who) wave the environmental flag against some responsible lakeshore development."

Metro Area Home Sales Down 16 Percent

Lisa Kiava
Reporting

(WCCO) According to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, home sales in the Twin Cities seem to be cooling off after a record year in 2005.

Approximately 4,000 fewer homes have been sold in the metro area so far in 2006 than at this time in 2005. It's approximately a 16 percent decrease.

Home seller Rich Allen is experiencing the slow down. He hasn’t had any luck selling his five-bedroom house in West Lakeland, Minn. In recent months, he added home improvements such as new carpet and flooring but those still haven't yet attracted a buyer.

On Wednesday, he decided he'll throw in his boat if you buy his house.

"If you buy my house, you get the boat, that’s it," Allen said.

Allen’s home is listed for more than $1 million. Typically homes in that category take 14 months to sell. Sales are challenging for homes in other price ranges too.

In Woodbury, Minn., there's been a 20 percent drop in sales this year compared to the same time last year. It's good news for buyers looking for a bargain. One realtor said he's seen homes listed for about $600,000 drop to about $500,000 and some expect them to go lower.

For many months, this three-bedroom house in Woodbury wasn't selling at $415,000. The reduced price is $359,900.

Sellers are also getting creative. Allen's realtor sent out postcards describing the home for sale. It was a mass mailing to neighbors who aren't even on the market for a new home.

"We’re targeting buyers in the $700,000-$800,000 range, within about 12- to 15-miles, that bought 5 to 7 years ago that are in the move-up stage," said realtor Todd Shipman.

The changes in the housing market might have an effect on what your home is worth now. In previous years, Twin Cities homeowners were seeing historic increases in values -- from 6 to 12 percent each year.

Now, your home is likely increasing in value at a normal level -- from about 2 to 4 percent each year.