Fight High-density Development Plans for Ford Site

Please do not build high-density housing in Highland!

Having watched in recent years the kind of development we've seen along the river corridor, from downtown St. Paul to Highland, I predicted a long time ago that we'd have large apartment buildings on the Ford site. I attended all the neighborhood meetings about the site, and for a while had hopes that the site would be more like the rest of our neighborhood. Sadly, I was wrong. This kind of density is just too much, and a disappointment.

This is so important - please listen to those of us living in the area.

Cut height in half, more parks. More is less.

This is motivated by greed and built by people who won't set foot here after the project is done.

This is a prime area for development given midway between the central cities, nearby natural beauty and commercial businesses. Hard to believe developing it requires 10 story buildings that would ruin the neighborhood's charm, I could live with 6 stories as a compromise.

I'm not opposed to higher density in the area, but I'm concerned about the number of housing / rental units proposed (and the height). Let's make sure this is manageable for the neighborhood, and ensure there's enough green space for the community.

I have lived in Highland Park for the majority of my life. I would hate to see what adding over 8,000 residents would do to our neighborhood.

High density will affect our relationship with access to the river, its trails, and walkways, birds, animals, cars. The balance will be disturbed by too many people living in high concentration.

As a resident in the St, Paul Highland Park neighborhood, I am concerned about the increased number of housing units in our area on the Fort Site. The numbers exceed the area's ability to accommodate the numbers the developers are proposing.

The City of St. Paul planners should participate in a public forum to address the following community concerns: 1. If you build it will they come? Where is the evidence that the Ford site can support 4000 mostly rental units? A 1/1/2017 Star Tribune article, "Rental market will ease in '17" stated the following: "The rental market is softening and developers are expected to shift attention to suburbs. Lenders are becoming more selective about which projects they'll finance." Please explain where 8,640 residents will come from given competition from less expensive and/or equally attractive sites in Minneapolis and suburbs. 2. Is the 4000 housing units’ number really a done deal? At the 1/10/17 Ford site meeting, someone asked why 4000 housing units were needed. Ms. Clapp-Smith answered that this density is based on the infrastructure and “if there isn’t enough value on the site, it won’t be redeveloped.” From this statement, it appears that the housing density decision has been made and that neighborhood density input is largely irrelevant. 3. Why is there a need for tax increment financing for developers? TIF is an economic strategy created to reinvest in blighted areas where development would not have occurred except for incentives to developers. The Mayor, City Council and planners have often extolled the desirability of the Ford site. Offering developers TIF to reduce their costs is a boon to them but will not broaden the city's tax base or reduce individual property taxes for the neighborhood. 4. Is 22 million dollars in tax revenue realistic? City planners expect the site to generate $22 million in tax revenues. How is this possible with a TIF subsidy? 5. Are vehicle-use studies current, evidence-based and credibly predictive? The plan assumes that millennials and others will choose public transportation, biking and walking over individual vehicle use thereby reducing site and street vehicle. The belief that millenn

Thanks for taking the lead on this.

This is not New York, or Calcutta, and we do need a 30% increase in population density in the neighborhood.

We pay outrageous taxes in Highland and now you want us to shoulder high density & unacceptable traffic. The people charged with this project are blowing smoke with their projections of a beautiful walkable complex.

I and many other neighbors want to keep Highland Village just what the name implies, a village. The construction of multi-unit housing we feel will destroy this lovely neighborhood and take its charm away. I personally will not want to live in my current residence if Cretin Ave., Cleveland Ave., and the River Road become freeways to Interstate 94. There is insufficient infrastructure in the adjoining neighborhoods to support this type of increase in housing. Please keep our neighborhood the same one we fell in love with and decided to move our families into.

The area already has high traffic congestion, this would ruin the neighborhood feel and create more traffic congestion. Even 4 stories seems a bit much, but it's better than 10!

Please, please reconsider this plan. These high rise buildings will ruin the small town feel we all enjoy. We have so little green space already. It seems like a missed opportunity to develop and hold on to park space that would otherwise be gone forever.

The residents of Highland Park and surrounding communities are not willing to absorb the increased traffic and loss of property values, community, safety, livability and neighborhood integrity due to excessive buildout on the 135 acre site.

Traffic is already an issue on Ford Pkwy from Fairview to Cretin. To think that this additional density will not make it worse is ridiculous. And to wish and hope that only non-drivers will move into the property is also ridiculous. With the additional traffic comes additional pedestrian issues which have been a problem in the past at Ford and Cleveland. Please do not add to the problem.

No explanations have been offered for the 4000 unit requirement other than fiscal expedience with no examples. The vehicle and human demands this development will put on what is now a pleasant, livable community will turn Highland Village into an urban disaster.