by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers

Wellington Way can remain a cul-de-sac, but Toll Brothers must find a second access point for the proposed housing development on Diamond T Ranch, the county said Tuesday.

"We're going to take it back to the city of Eagan and the developers and see if we can come up with some resolution for this,î said Dakota County Commissioner Paul Krause.

Toll Brothers is looking to build a mix of townhomes and single-family homes, called Steeplechase of Eagan, on the 37-acre property.

The proposed development includes a single access point onto Pilot Knob Road, which is a county road, and leaves a cul-de-sac on nearby Wellington Way intact.

The original proposal called for Wellington Way to be extended as a through street into the development, but stiff resident opposition caused the developers to keep it as a cul-de-sac.

Meeting as the Physical Development Committee on Tuesday, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners rejected the proposed plat, but removed a clause that requires a Wellington Way extension.

It is now up to the developer and the city to produce a plat that "meets our general guidelines, period,î said Commissioner Joseph Harris.

Having only one access point into and out of the development puts a burden on county roads, the Plat Commission told the board. The county tries to encourage movement on county roads and discourage access to homes directly from county roads, preferring to keep neighborhood traffic on local streets.

A single access point also poses a safety hazard, the commission said.

Commissioner Will Branning agreed, arguing that having only one access point would make an emergency evacuation difficult.

"Those kinds of emergencies do happen,î he said. "If the access to Pilot Knob were cut off, what would happen?î

A large group of residents and neighbors of Wellington Way were at the meeting Tuesday to defend the cul-de-sac.

The city has said that the cul-de-sac had always been planned for extension, but that intention was never recorded. Residents, some of whom have lived on Wellington Way for 18 years, said that they were never told an extension was a possibility.

"Never in our wildest dreams did we think it was going to be a through street,î said resident Mary Brogdon.

Wellington Way residents bought into a lifestyle, she said, and extending the cul-de-sac would increase traffic, decrease safety and negatively impact that lifestyle.

Commissioner Nancy Schouweiler said it's unfortunate that residents were never told of the extension.

"It is the role of the county to look at what is important to the county as a whole, and we have to look at the safety issues. We have to consider the needs of the future residents as well as the current residents,î she said. Schouweiler rebuked the city of Eagan for "poor communicationî and for comments made by council members willing to "take on the board.î

"I find it very upsetting that this has been handed off deliberately from the City Council to the County Board,î she said. "To me it seems like ... trying to let the County Board be the heavies on an issue that is very political in nature, and I didn't appreciate that.î

Eagan City Council members have stated they are against the Wellington Way extension. The council recently sent the Steeplechase proposal back to the Planning Commission due to major revisions.

Toll Brothers Regional Manager Joey Zorn told the County Board it would be "ridiculousî to draft yet another plan.

"Only because of the amount of time and the amount of proposals we have gone through working with the city,î he said. "Everybody in this room knows it's impossible to satisfy everybody, but we have to try to satisfy the majority of the people.î

Toll Brothers met with Eagan city staff Wednesday to discuss the next step, which could include a "semi-connectionî to the cul-de-sac to provide emergency access.

Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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