04.08 Highway 371 Letters - Laserfiche WebLink

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- Sf?NDELIN LRW OFFICE ID :2185688444 FEB 03 '04 15 :22 No .001 P .03 SAMEMN LAW OFFICE Page 2 February 3,2004 location of highways and streets. For the same reasons that many business owner's prefer a through town option I think the same could be said for residential property owners; that is maintaining everyone's c xpectation that Highway 371 would be located through town. That is the expectation everyone made when they decided to locate where they currently are. A bypass would defeat that expectation and investment. • Potentially cost savings with the through town option could be use by hopefully the State and the City to improve the aesthetics of the Highway through town to make it more attractive. St. Paul would be a good example, although on a larger scale, of a City maintaining its look and feel while also improving a much larger interstate, l=lighway 358. • The City currently is in need of upgrading and improving accesses and intersections, a chief complaint of some in favor of a bypass, and a through town option would give the City the ability in conjunction with working with MnDot to accomplish this goal. • A through town option is a known quantity, should be less expensive, and maintains the expectations of both commercial and residential properly owners. In my opinion it should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a negative. I think that a bypass option is a risky and less desirable option for the City as a whole for a number ofreasons; • A bypass option has several unknowns. There is no guarantee that the land around a bypass will not develop in a commeroial fashion. Although the City may intend to zone the property to prevent this, the City cannot prevent future City Councils from changing the zoning. Commercial development along the bypass would certainly not meet the expectations of those residential property owners that would abut the bypass and it will promote sprawl and noise. • Commercial development will occur along a bypass and will have a negative impact on businesses in town. if the City truly wants to give consumers a reason to come to town and shop a bypass will defeat that goal. I do not believe it is the intention of the City Council to see many commercial businesses and jobs relocate new the bypass or simply cease to exist. Further if businesses move or cease to exist that will have a detrimental impact on the current core business district of the City and the City tax base. • They bypass will have a negative impact on the City's identity. • Although 1 am not sure of the "final layout"of the bypass it could have a detrimental impact on current County Road and City Street accesses to town, For example, many people access Pequot Lakes from County Road 112. A bypass could certainly have a negative impact on that access to town as well as any other existing access to town.