“It depends on what the people want,” Jeremy Novak of Three Sixty Development said at the presentation of potential plans for the Cedarhurst property June 3 at the City Hall Training Room. “Do they want the Mansion preserved or not?”

It would seem that the Mansion’s preservation is emphatically desired, but also that not all who attended the June 3 presentation were on board with the plans presented by Three Sixty to achieve this ultimate result.

As such, and pursuant to the First Amendment to the U.S. federal Constitution and its enshrining of citizen rights to “petition the government for a redress (change) of grievances, Erin Knudsen has started a petition at change.org to the Cottage Grove City Council. As of Sunday June 13 the petition had 405 electronic signatures, with 500 making it more likely to be featured in recommendations and gain wider exposure. So what’s the petition say exactly?

“Cedarhurst Mansion

See CEDARHURSTL Page 8 CEDARHURST

FROM PAGE 1

Property is in the planning stage of being developed,” the petition at change.org states. “Help influence what will be developed so it keeps the integrity of the property, the feel of Cottage Grove and fits with the surrounding neighbors.”

Current plans call for 12unit townhome space with 14 garage stalls, a 60-unit mixed use apartment with 70,000 square feet and 42 garage stall, a 72-unit apartment with 84,000 square feet and 42 garage stalls, emergency access along with a bike/pedestrian connection, 36,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial space with fire floor businesses and second floor residential spaces, along with a “future phase” and 250-280 additional surface parking spaces, while the use of the Cedarhurst Mansion itself is “TBD,” or “To Be Determined.”

Among the plan changes sought by the petition signers are the following:

• More green space and less parking lots

• Mansion preservation put as a priority

• A reduction in high density and rental properties

• Addressing of the impact on streets, schools, and current green spaces.

“Please sign our petition to let Cottage Grove City Council know that people care what happens in their city,” the petition relates. “We want to make a bigger impact.”

The search term to bring readers to the petition at change.org is “Act Now: Influence Cedarhurst Mansion Development Plans.” Below are some comments made by petition signers at change.org, with visitors to the site encouraged to call their city council representatives: “This is one of the few places left in Cottage Grove that make it unique.”

—Holly S.

“I want to restore the Cedarhurst Mansion now, not 2 to 5 years from now. And not by surrounding with high density housing to make a buck for the City when history needs to be preserved.”

—Wayne Butt “I don’t want all the green space to be built up.”

—Kristen Wilson “We need to keep our city’s historic spaces and surrounding quaint, and park like!”

—Barbara LaBine “This is a ridiculous destruction of a historic estate. This should not pass.”

—Joe Sarafolean “As a CG resident, green spaces are very important to me.”

—Stephanie Brown “This design takes all the charm of this beautiful historic building away.”

—Michael Blanda “We do not need any more living structures in Cottage Grove. We need more businesses, restaurants and gathering spaces.” —Megan Porter “Stop getting rid of all our green spaces. The environment and ecosystem don’t need to be further destroyed for the sake of becoming Woodbury.”

—Matthew Egan “The design doesn’t seem like a good use of the historical buildings. We need to keep some of our history and not erase it for monetary incentive.”

—Nastacia Kendle More could be said, but such is the tenor of currently expressed opinion at change. org. Should your own opinion be similar or else different, now is the time to let the Mayor and Council know.