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<br />
<br />
<br />Conflicts between
<br />agencies an issue,'
<br />
<br />Developers see need for more uniformity:
<br />. BYBOBSHAW
<br />Pioneer Press
<br />
<br />His housing development
<br />was nearly done, and Larry.
<br />Thompson just wanted to
<br />plant some grass.
<br />One environmental official
<br />recommended rye grass. No,
<br />said a city official, it should be
<br />oat grass.
<br />Thompson and his engi-
<br />neers mediated between the
<br />two sides for two weeks until
<br />they reached agreement - oat
<br />grass it would be. But the
<br />developer had learned a lesson
<br />about environmental rules.
<br />"We need regulations. We
<br />know there are bad apples out
<br />there, but we just need to
<br />know what the rules are," said
<br />Thompson, . project manager
<br />with the developer Sienna
<br />Corp. and former city adminis-
<br />, trator ofBelle Plaine, Farming-
<br />. ton and River Falls, Wis.
<br />Na~ may be wild and free.
<br />But protecting nature is not
<br />In Minnesota, more than 20
<br />.ts of government can
<br />eview or respond to .every
<br />housmg project'senvironmen-
<br />tal documents.Differentagen-
<br />cies act independently. Their
<br />rules change often.
<br />"It is not the people; they
<br />are good people," Thompson
<br />said. "But they are not on the
<br />same page,"
<br />''Nothing stops a water-
<br />shed district from asking for
<br />something slightly different
<br />than what the city wants," said
<br />Remi Stone, public 'policy
<br />director of the Builders Asso-
<br />ciation of the Twin'. Cities.
<br />"There is no uniformity."
<br />The experiences ()fThomp-
<br />son and the developers of the
<br />Brandtjen Farm project in
<br />Lakeville raise a question that
<br />is echoing across wetlands
<br />and lakes nationwide: Is this
<br />the best way to care for natu-
<br />ral resources?
<br />It probably is, say govern-
<br />ment officials and members of
<br />environmental groups. The
<br />system isn't perfect, but it
<br />slows development and gives
<br />the public a chance to react.
<br />The overlapping regula-
<br />tions are a necessary evil
<br />because one agency can
<br />change its rules quickly, said
<br />Jane Prohaska, director of the
<br />Minnesota Land Trust. The
<br />nonprofit group sets' up "con-
<br />servation easements" that per-
<br />manently prevent develop-
<br />ment of certain properties.
<br />"Regulations can turn on a
<br />dime," she said. As counCils and
<br />administrations are voted out of
<br />office, other agencies make sure
<br />some rules will be enforced.
<br />Karen Harder, a member of
<br />both the Sierra Club and the
<br />Minnesota Board of Water and
<br />Soil Resources, acknowledges
<br />that environmental regula-
<br />tions are tricky.
<br />But fish don't vote and
<br />birds can't. be interviewed, so
<br />regulators sometimes over-
<br />protect animals. "When you
<br />look into a biological syStem, it
<br />doesn't fit easily into a calcula-
<br />tion," Harder said. ''It is the
<br />nature of the beast that the
<br />permitting and regulatory uni-
<br />verse is so complicated."
<br />However, builders ask, why
<br />not retain the laudable goals of
<br />the current SyStem but consoli-
<br />date the process? Otherwise,
<br />they say, homebuyers will con-
<br />tinue paying more for an inef-
<br />ficient SyStem.
<br />Generally, those costs are
<br />hidden. For example, develop-
<br />ers pay consultants to complete
<br />
<br />Environmental protectiOI1:
<br />expenses boost the cost of lotS;,
<br />which are magnified four-folp;
<br />in the price of the house, saitt
<br />Rick Packer, project manager:
<br />for Arcon Development and ah
<br />official with the Builders AssOt
<br />ciation.
<br />That's because local lenders
<br />like to see a house worth about:
<br />three times the value of the lodt
<br />sits on. If a $400,000 house wete
<br />destroyed and insurance didn't'
<br />pay for it, the thinking goes, at:
<br />least the lenders would be guai'"'
<br />anteed a lot worth $100,000. '
<br />In Minnesota, environmen,
<br />tal rules that cost an average
<br />$2,000 a lot actually add abotit
<br />$8,000 to the cost of the home::
<br />There's an obvious solution' . ~
<br />build on smaller lots. But
<br />that's illegal in most suburb~:
<br />which regulate lot sizes.
<br />It's the delayS, though, that
<br />can . cost the most. Builders
<br />make plans based on interest
<br />rates, tastes of potential home-
<br />buyers and the actions of their
<br />competitors -'- allofwbieb. can
<br />change quickly; . They ..s(}me-
<br />times 'borrow'mi11ions 'from
<br />]endel'swhO\reqUiPeaeti~ri..~
<br />certainde~llllmeSl;9'(', )"li?!;):$r:J
<br />';'Whenenv\itdrlHientatt~
<br />cause. . delayS, . ''y.ou::<eatrobltl'W'
<br />through a market,":Packers;mu
<br />For buyers in the 'I'WiI!
<br />Cities suburbs, each' housmg
<br />cost increase means a few
<br />more people are pricedout}Qf
<br />the market -'- 3,400 faIililies(er
<br />each $1,000 climb, Packersaid'.':'
<br />"That is whatissoinsmi:'
<br />ous," Packer said. ''When'yOti
<br />see these dl'amaticincreases
<br />in home prices, it's not due to
<br />the wood:',-
<br />Curiously, both SideS"'s~
<br />trends conspiI'ingagainSt then(
<br />"The red tape is abs(}lu~\
<br />getting worse," . said Debbie,
<br />Bassertofthe National Asso~
<br />ation of Home Builders. When'
<br />she started in thebusinessi'20
<br />years ago, the pel'mitappr~
<br />process for a housing devel<tf'
<br />ment took. three., .toinme'
<br />months.NoW,shesaid,tne
<br />average acrossthecountrY~'i&
<br />two to four years. . 'i"
<br />EnviroDlIlentalists. . nater
<br />however, that manY ofthepeb:"
<br />pIe complaining are also those
<br />pushing hardest for taX cuts.2'P
<br />"The no~tax people don!t
<br />want taxes or fees. Wel1;how
<br />in the heck are you gomgto
<br />fund environmental'. review
<br />programs?:' Harder asked1:
<br />"Environmental programs
<br />have been slashedandburnetl'
<br />for years nQw." . ,]liS
<br />The present SyStemfav<ftls
<br />public input, Harder Said. Tile:
<br />system is allowed to give aU
<br />levelsofg()vE!rn:rn~n.t.. "::,
<br />Shill' watershed ,dis
<br />Metropolitan CounCil, co,
<br />state and federal-'- a <Jhance
<br />toletconsti~en.ts>'sp
<br />development iSsues; ......... /.i
<br />That muchinputisOV'~r~
<br />Packer said. ''Ev~~'n tiler .
<br />. agreement with illl
<br />cies,'with . everyone
<br />'KuInbaya,' anyone 'C.~l s~
<br />the process. a.fterVV~lu~ve
<br />spent hundl'eds ofthousanCfs
<br />of dollar$ on studies," he said.
<br />But Scott Elkins.dire9tOf' ~
<br />the Minnesota branch of the,
<br />Sierra Club, equates theCUlll-
<br />bersome rules With nature itself::
<br />He recently canoed '.doWnthe'
<br />NamekagonRiver.in WISconsm.
<br />and loved the experience. '..'
<br />The clean water, the trees;'
<br />the wildlife "are there because'
<br />of the bureauoracies that;
<br />developers like to rail againSt;1"
<br />he said. 'Y'
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