Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

The deafening silence of an almost empty city hall was louder than the discussion the council had regarding the Forest Ridge affordable housing complex.

In a short special meeting on Wednesday, July 26, the Forest Lake city council voted 4-0 to approve the preliminary plats and final plats for Duffy Developmentís Forest Ridge Townhomes.

Of the 9.3 acre development, 5.3 acres will hold 31 Duffy Development ìaffordable workforce rental units,î seven Human Services Inc. units, and four owner occupied units.

The seven units from HSI will house community members who are recovering from chemical dependency.

Although the developer has not submitted any building permits, Jeff Von Feldt, development manager at Duffy said the estimated $7 million project could start as early as October.

However, the $7 million project cost is only for the northern 38 units of the development and does not include the four owner occupied homes below the wetlands.

The entire parcel, which sits just to the east of the Lakes International Language Academy charter school and west of Grace Alliance churchís parking lot on the corner of 11th Ave. and 4th St., has seen a years worth of controversy from area residents.

Particularly about the placement of the complex in the neighborhood.

However, John Duffy, president of Duffy Development, is working with the neighboring buildings to address their concerns.

Prior to the city council meeting on Wednesday, the planning commission met to discuss the plans for the development that now includes open space.

Duffy told the council that they were working with the school to use the northern 18,000 square foot parcel as a playground or just open space.

ìWe have no plans to develop it,î Duffy said.

He said because of insurance issues the school must own the land, not Duffy Development.

On Wednesday, Duffy asked the planning commission and the council to approve a subdivision for the northern parcel so he could sell the open space.

Although the planning commission had concerns over the land density and use, the council felt the plan was sufficient and approved the subdivision.

Now, Duffy and LILA will work together to come up with an agreement on the land.

Cam Hedlund, director for LILA, said they were ìcertainly interested in owning the land for extra play space for the kids.î

The two have plans to meet in the next couple weeks to discuss a possible agreement.

Controversy

While Duffy and the city are now working together, the two are still involved in a lawsuit that has not been settled.

Duffy and HSI sued the city on four different counts including violations of meeting laws, discriminatory comments and inappropriate denials of permits.

Roughly four months after the developer brought their claims against the city, the city approved the conditional use permit and planned unit development for the complex.

Because part of Duffy and HSIís claims revolved around the denial of those permits, City Administrator Chip Robinson stated in March that those items were dropped from the lawsuit because they were ìno longer in conflictî with the litigation.

However, the developers claims of discriminatory comments and the violation of an open meeting law are still on the table.

Clyde McCaskey, who claims he was acting as a citizen and not as a planning commission member, was censored by the council because of his own comments regarding the type of development.

McCaskey created a flier that explained the impact he believed the complex would have on the city.

ìThese types of buildings tend to turn into a hotbed of crime, drug dealing, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, spousal abuse and child abuse,î among other statements.

On Monday, April 10, the council censured McCaskey stating publicly that they ìdisapproveî of the actions made by McCaskey.

By default, Duffy and HSI are facing another lawsuit filed by the owner of Kilkenny Courts Lee Bakewell.

Prior to Fairview, owner of the old District Memorial Hospital grounds, selling the land to Duffy Development, Bakewell filed suit against the hospital for possession of the southern portion of the property that sits adjacent to Kilkenny Courts.

Bakewell, who purchased the property in 1986, states that because he has spent the last 15 years grooming the southern portion of the property it becomes his under the law ìadverse possession.î

The sale of the land to Duffy is contingent upon the lawsuit, which is still in litigation.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605