A plan to preserve part of the former Mississippi Dunes golf course in Cottage Grove using funds from Washington County’s Land and Water Legacy program doesn’t go far enough, officials from a conservation group said Tuesday.
The plan, presented Tuesday during a Washington County board workshop, calls for protecting about 34 acres of land adjacent to the Mississippi River through a conservation easement. The city of Cottage Grove is requesting that the county consider a Land and Water Legacy program grant for the project.
Pulte Homes is proposing building 239 single-family homes, 130 townhomes and a 130-unit building for senior citizens on the site of the former golf course, which closed in 2017. Plans call for the riverside park to include a playground, four-season clubhouse, boat launch and a dock for launching canoes and kayaks. In addition, 12 acres would be set aside for a future expansion of the 237-acre Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific and Natural area to the east of the former golf course.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” County Board Chairman Wayne Johnson, who represents the area, said Tuesday. “It provides a great opportunity for the city of Cottage Grove to reach its goal of providing river access — something that has never been there before. The city has some of the most riverfront in the area, but has no public access to the river.”
But officials from St. Paul-based Friends of the Mississippi River, a river advocacy group, said Cottage Grove officials are missing out on an opportunity to create a larger park and nature habitat on the land.
“One of the things that makes that area really unique is that when you look out, you can see mostly undeveloped, wild land,” said Colleen O’Connor Toberman, land use and planning program director for Friends of the Mississippi River. “It’s got a really wild view in that area, and it’s a pity that is going to be lost.”
Species in greatest conservation need sighted at the property include the Henslow’s sparrow, field sparrow, bobolink, dickcissel and eastern meadowlark, she said. Some of the bird species sighted have had population declines of more than 90 percent since the 1960s, and habitat destruction is a significant factor, she said.
“Birds don’t understand property lines,” she said. “Some, like Henslow’s sparrow, are very sensitive to habitat size. Some of these birds … won’t reproduce on small tracts of land. Large, contiguous wildlife areas are needed to support these collapsing populations.”
An appraisal of the 34 acres is underway, county officials said.
If approved, Washington County would contribute funds from its Land and Water Legacy program — a bond referendum passed by voters in 2006 authorizing up to $20 million in taxes to be raised and spent on parks, land preservation and water protection. The county has had more than 1,000 acres protected by the program.
The county gives priority to projects “that protect land along recreational trails, parks, and other public facilities, are adjacent to already protected lands, serve multiple public purposes, allow public access and leverage additional dollars from other sources,” said Jan Lucke, deputy county administrator.
Cottage Grove also plans to submit a grant application to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to help fund the project, Lucke said.