By Anne Thom

The incompatibility of housing on a main street and people wanting to start businesses next door is a big issue in Stacy.

The Sunrise Pines Development doesnít seem to be as picturesque to Stacy residents as its name would imply. Of the 15 citizens attending the Tuesday April 25 city council meeting, majority were there to talk to the council about this development.

Chris Nadeau of Fenway Court wanted to know about the infrastructure for the development. A recurring theme came back to the city council: water and roads. In areas where housing and businesses were built on or near wetlands, the problems keep coming back. There are two holding ponds and Nadeau said when it rains, ìthe outlet turns into an inlet.î The ponds canít handle the water.

When Nadeau said he believed the developer had been doing some grading, Mayor Michael Carlson directed city personnel to ìcheck into this one, we were looking at this a year or so ago.î

City Clerk Sharon Payne said the city told the developer he needed to fill out a development application and a permit would be required for the majority of work done.

Councilmember John Daher said the area in question is zoned Central Business District (CBD). This zoning was the subject of discussion at a previous council meeting.

A public hearing is scheduled for later this month to talk about rezoning the CBD to a General Business District (GBD).There are set-back requirements the planning commission and city council will have to look at. For now, Lynette Nadeau asked, ìIs there a way we can keep him (the developer) from backfilling until we figure out what the problem is between pond one and pond two?î

Councilmember Mel Aslakson said the city should check with the Department of Natural Resources to find out if part of the CBD has a wetlands designation. Aslakson called for Jack Kramer to look at the plat and find out what is going on with the development. Daher said he doesnít think the development fits into the CBD concept.

City Inspector Kramer will be sent out to check into the situation. Payne repeated that the developer has not applied for a permit which would have to be approved by City Engineer Chuck Schwartz. A moratorium on construction in the CBD was proposed.

City Attorney Peter Grundhoefer suggested 30 days and said the council could pass the moratorium that night. Carlson asked whether 60 days or 90 days would be more appropriate. This would still not interfere with Children of Peace Day Care trying to expand or with Pizza Man and Subway trying to go into business in Stacy.

Stacy resident Mario Schlecht then asked if the city has plans to open Fenway onto Stacy Trail. He lamented the fact that the new Stacy Commons had brought traffic and unending artificial lighting saying he had moved his family here from the cities and now the cities were following.

Schlecht said, ìWeíre already being completely surrounded by commercial,î and asked that the city do something. The neighborhood doesnít want the road opened and traffic to and from Stacy Trail coming through. Grundhoefer put a moratorium of 60 days on the table for consideration. The cityís planning commission has been considering rezoning everything from the freeway to the bike trail along Stacy Trail into a Central Business District.

The council proposed a 60-day moratorium to expire June 13 for all building permits in the Central Business District. The motion was approved.

The planning commission meets May 18 at 7:35 p.m. Meanwhile if there is any change to the Sunrise Pines development applied for through the permit process, residents within 350 feet will be notified.

A visit from the commissioner

Chisago County Commissioner Ben Montzka attended the meeting. Montzka had read in the Post Review that the city was proposing to send a resolution to the Chisago commissioners asking for a reduction in the speed limit on Stacy Trail on the approach to the city.

The city council had said they were frustrated by a perceived lack of a response from the commissioners.

The city had requested a 40 mph speed limit from 307th to the end of Kingís Court. The county board had requested a speed study. Attorney Grundhoefer told the council to find out if it actually had been done in order to establish that there is a problem.

Montzka claimed that the state had more to say about the speed limit than the county does. He said the Minnesota Department of Transportation has local representatives who are responsible for and ultimately seem to decide what kind of a road it is.

Funding for building or repair is a complicated mix of coordination of federal, state and local money, he said. This adds to the sense of nothing getting done.

ìOur government makes no sense at all and I think it is designed to confuse citizens.î Montzka said.

Councilman Daher, citing how local residents are the ones having to deal with it said that doesnít make any sense. ìWhy wait for people to die or people to get hurt,î before a lower speed limit could be imposed.

There is a new Mn/DOT official responsible for the Stacy area, Montzka said.

A large residential development and a city park lie within the 55 mph zone. Montzka said a speed study had been done on Falcon Avenue and found that speeds there average 70 mph.

ìIt doesnít make sense to me that someone has to be killed or seriously injured either.î Montzka favors 30-35 mph on approaches into the city limits.

Along with speed, the condition of county roads was mentioned as a growing problem. Montzka said he has worked with Congressman Jim Oberstar to try to obtain federal money for road repair and improvements. He addressed a rumor about the County Road 17 project being a south bound only ramp, saying it would be a full intersection. Montzka felt though that the improvements to CR 17 and I-35 should have come after improvements are made to County Road 19 and I-35 in Stacy.

The CR 17 project will be starting this summer, he said.

Montzka also said the county is seeking a site for a new Health and Human Services building and he invited Stacy to find a location for consideration. The county wants to buy the land, he said. The building would be an economic boom to the city, he said, because there will be ìa lot of highly paid social workersî there.