Meeting Wednesday July 21, the agenda for the Cottage Grove Common Council included many items, including everything from disbursements, to permits, and even a proclamation for a “Night to Unite” this August 3.

As to the “Night to Unite,” it is being sponsored by the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association along with AAA of Minnesota/Iowa and local law enforcement agencies.

The Night to Unite “is designed to get to know one another” per the official proclamation, as well as building community involvement by bringing police and communities together for an awareness of both crime prevention and local law enforcement efforts.

Costing little (i.e. “inexpensive”) but still deemed effective for crime prevention, the Night to Unite is a way for the citizens of Cottage Grove and other communities to band together and play their part to prevent victimization and increase public safety for all citizens, along with working to prevent drug and violent crime—but the proclamation to unite wasn’t the only thing on the agenda this past Wednesday.

Also before the Council July 21 was an appointment to the City’s Economic Development Authority (EDA), an application for a special event permit from the Church of St. Rita for its Fall Festival, and city response letters to open forum comment on the Cedarhurst redevelopment plans.

That last one sure sounds interesting. First though, who’s potentially new on the Cottage Grove EDA?

Pending approval by the Council (after this paper goes to press), the new face on the Economic Development Authority could be Mr. Kyle Knop, listed as a 21year resident of the city and an attorney for US Bank.

“Mr. Knop has great interest in serving on the EDA with a term running until July 26, 2026,” the recommendation letter from City Economic Development Director Christine Costello tells the Council. “Mr. Knop was interviewed by EDA President Myron Bailey and EDA Vice President Steve Dennis on Tuesday July 6th and both are recommending appointment of Mr. Knop to the EDA,” Costello informed the Council. So will the Council approve Mr. Knop’s appointment to the EDA?

Time and the meeting minutes, will tell. Next on the Council agenda for Wednesday, meanwhile, was an application for a special event permit from the Church of St. Rita, located at 8694 80th Street South in Cottage Grove. Specifically, the Church of St. Rita wants to hold a Fall Festival, complete with Temporary Liquor License and Temporary Single Occasion gambling license, necessary for conducting a raffle, pull tabs, and bingo at its Fall Festival It is perhaps important to note here with regard to ‘liquor and gambling’ that the Catholic Church tends to consider the excess of something engaged in to the failure at other responsibilities, rather than a thing in itself, to be the root determiner of wrong. Evil in the Catholic tradition is spiritual at its root and not centered in or at objects made of matter. Objects in and of themselves then, are held neutral, but the use of the thing, is what makes the difference in Catholic teaching. People, moreover, are never to be seen as objects.

Back to a more civic-minded take on Wednesday meeting business. Just what is the City of Cottage Grove’s part in approving the Fall Festival application for St. Rita’s, or why might it matter?

“Since the property is located within 500 feet of residential property the city council is holding a hearing on the application,” the packet relates. “The special event permit was distributed to the Public Safety Department and to other departments that may require special services or other conditions for the event. Each department has reviewed the application and determined the amount of special services that are necessary (and) which are included in the conditions” for granting the permit, the packet states. Having applied for the same in the past and with the event including food trucks and live entertainment, stay tuned for a likely Fall Festival at St. Rita’s to last from Friday September 17 through Sunday, September 19.

Now for the really good stuff: the open forum responses on Cedarhurst and official city response letter!

“There was recently a public meeting (on June 3) to discuss the future of Cedarhurst,” city resident Jennifer Nedry said after touching on Mississippi Dunes and why it should be a park. “We’ve already heard from the public that this is something they want in the community,” she said of the Cedarhurst Mansion. I did also hear at the last meeting that we need to do

See PETITION, Page 7 PETITION

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things for the greater good, and this would be one thing I think we can preserve for future generations,” she said. Following upon Nedry was fellow resident John Benz, who also spoke on Cedarhurst.

“I want to thank you for the opportunity to share my and many of my neighbor’s concerns,” he said, acknowledging the Council’s difficult job in balancing the concerns of its constituents with those of the developer.

“However, having had an opportunity to react to a preliminary site plan by the buyer, we have some great concerns,” Benz said. “My neighbors, people in the community at large, and I absolutely believe that we need this council’s help to control the density, ensure that there’s enough buffer between the buildings and our current residences, (along with) the integrity of the historical property…as best as possible to maintain current tranquility, the safety of our kids, and property values.”

As such, Benz said it was the judgement of him and his neighbors that the current density planned for Cedarhurst with several multi-story apartments was just too much.

“And they (developer) have not yet offered anything to us to show that they’re aware of it,” Benz said, referencing a change.org petition “that has yielded close to 500 signatures in less than a week with no money behind it,” Benz shared at the June 16 meeting. A check back on said petition as of July 19 showed that number has since risen to 579 signatures, with the petition itself titled “Influence Cedarhurst Mansion Development.” Benz had more to say on June 16.

“And there is a significant amount of comments there from Cottage Grove families,” he went on, urging the Council to review the comment section “and read the calls for lower density.”

“I want to close my comments with an invitation,” he closed out, inviting Council members to come and see “the peaceful outdoor space that we currently enjoy” and see for themselves what the residents “had worked for so many years for…We need each of you to side with us so that our little corner of the world is not irreparably changed for the worse,” Benz closed out his remarks Following Benz at the June 16 meeting, meanwhile, was Scott Knudson, Benz’ neighbor.

“Well I’m not going to be as eloquent as that gentleman,” Knudson paid tribute to Benz. “That’s a tough act to follow.”

Saying that his wife had started the petition at change. org, Knudson said there were over 500 signatures.

“A lot of my neighbors, like my wife, their address came up saying they’re in Saint Paul. No, they’re in Cottage Grove,” Knudson said of internet-sourced address errors. From there he listed the petition’s requests:

• More green space

• Less high-density development • Reduction in rental properties, with “different cycles of people coming in and out” “I don’t need to sit here and take my full three minutes, but I would like to present the petition,” Knudson said, then approaching the Council seating area and handing the petition off to Mayor Myron Bailey.

“Thank you, and thanks for speaking,” Bailey said of receiving the petition from Knudson.

Answering the same three residents by letter contained in the July 16 Council packet, Senior City Planner Emily Schmitz outlined the process that had to be followed before anything final was decided.

“This letter is in response to your comments at the City Council meeting of June 16th, 2021,” Schmitz wrote to the three in separately mailed replies on Cedarhurst. “An official application has not yet been submitted to the City (and) therefore, the City is not currently reviewing an official planning application at this time and the developer (Three Sixty Real Estate) is in the early stages of designing a redevelopment project for this site.”

As to the general process taken in summary, Schmitz outlined the following in her letter to each of the commenters from June 16:

• A Concept Plan Application would need to be submitted, which would then get the City Advisory Commissions review and comment.

• A public hearing would then be held by the Plan Commission, with notice being published and mailed to property owners within 500 feet.

• The Plan Commission would then provide a recommendation to the Council, “who makes the final determination.”

• Following upon this would be a Preliminary Plat Application, Comprehensive Plan Amendment where and if needed (each development must agree with the Plan), rezoning with another Plan Commission public hearing and mailed notice, the final plat application, and finally the development agreement, for which the “Council makes final determination.”

“While the planning applications mentioned above address many issues in the design and physical layout of the development, the public hearings process outline above also takes into consideration public and resident questions, comments, and concerns as part of that process,” Schmitz closes out her reply on Cedarhurst. In the meantime, bureaucratic red tape could prove a friend to those seeking more input, insofar as it delays the final presentation and approval— who would have thought?

Jennifer Nedry. Staff photo

John Benz. Staff photo