BAXTER — A fast-moving permit process at the Crow Wing County level had Baxter officials considering options for annexation Wednesday.
The subject rose so quickly, the city had to add the item to its agenda at the last minute.
At issue is the proposed Dondelinger auto center development on the corner of Highway 371 and County Highway 77. Preliminary site plans at the city show a Dondelinger Chevrolet Cadillac and Hyundai development along with a body shop at the corner.
For the city, a concern was putting all that commercial development on septic mound systems when city sewer and water is just feet away. The proposed development is on 11.86 acres in Unorganized Territory, which is governed by Crow Wing County. According to the development plan, the parking lot space runs right to the edge of land in Baxter, which is along Highway 371 in front of the proposed building area.
Wednesday the city council unanimously voted to pursue two plans of action. The city is petitioning the state for a public hearing on the question of annexation. In a second motion, the city voted to seek a joint resolution for annexation with the cooperation of Crow Wing County.
Whether the votes are there on the county board was an unknown for the city. But Gordon Heitke, Baxter city administrator, said it would have been inappropriate to bring the matter to the county before the city council had discussed it. If the county did file a joint resolution, Heitke said both time and money would be saved in the process.
The city was feeling the time pressure after the county approved a permit to allow the filling of 47,545 square feet, or nearly an acre, of wetland on the property. With a high water table, sandy soil and ground water that moves from that wetland toward residential wells and Red Sand and White Sand lakes, Baxter officials said they were concerned about storm water at the proposed auto development and how a septic system would be able to treat it.
In addition to the environmental concerns, the city noted its comprehensive plan for orderly growth and for a frontage road to extend north to keep local vehicle traffic off a busy Highway 371. Heitke said if the property is developed without considering the space for the frontage road, the property damages may be too high to afford to put one in later. No matter what happens now, Heitke said there is little doubt the land will eventually be within Baxter’s city limits.
“One can say with a great deal of confidence we are going to end up in the same place anyway,” Heitke said.
Heitke said with the city sewer and water services there to connect to, state law identifies that as grounds for annexation. If the county were to agree the annexation made sense, Heitke said that would eliminate the need for a hearing and the involvement of an administrative law judge to rule on the matter. With the joint resolution, Heitke said the annexation could be completed in 30 days. Heitke said they thought they would have more time to discuss the project but it was obvious the county was moving ahead and processing the permits now.
A concern for the city was the county granting of the permit with the Board of Water and Soil Resources approval to fill the wetlands before the Corps of Engineers provided its findings.
With annexation, Heitke said a second site plan could be pursued. The second plan would reduce the amount of wetland filled by 12,000 square feet and put the future frontage road in a better position. “We have two methods of getting there,” Heitke said, adding if the county decides not to participate in a joint resolution, the city is covered by starting both petitions now.
“This project or this situation meets the requirements for annexation,” Heitke said. “It’s very obvious this warrants annexation through state law.”
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at 855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com.
Comments (28)
Add commentBottom line is Baxter wants
Bottom line is Baxter wants to tell another business how they have to build and charge them for the privilege.
Annexation?
Would Baxter do the same if this property was located on the corner of Barbeau Road and 371? This gives Baxter the chance to annex a chunk of Unorganized Territory ranging from 371 N to Nisswa line and West to the Gull River or East Gull Lake line. Get ready residents of Unorganized Terrritory, Baxter is knocking at your door.
Greedy Greedy Baxter!
They cant stand to see all of that revenue slip from their fingers. Its not about frontage roads or wetlands.
After the fact
This time I would be on the side of "Here's the Deal."
Development
This is a great example of improper development. My guess is Dondelingers knew they stood a better chance of getting it by the county and that they also knew Baxter would hold them to higher standards.
It's called; long range planning, and having a little foresight. it's the new rage and everybody is doing it...and it's important.
Filling in more wetlands.
Filling in more wetlands. When is enough, enough. Didn't they fill wetlands for Menards, Walmart, Home Depot??? Wetlands filter water entering the lakes naturally. Slowly. With no filtrations, what happens to the lakes??? All for money and greed. The corner of 371 and 77 is a rather large wetland and runs along both sides of 77. Notice all the cattails in the ditches. There are drainage tubes on both sides of 371 running under the highway towards county road 77. Red Sand lake is the closest recipient not to mention the Gull river. It definately needs an EIS.
Wheres my previous
Wheres my previous comment????
re: Wheres my previous
It was put in the "possible spam que" by the system for review probably because it mentioned so many national retail establishments in a sentence.
I've looked at it and OK'd it.
filling in wetlands
anniejack you seem to miss the point of what is going on. Baxter certainly isnt doing this beacuse of wetlands, but they are doing it beacuse it sure sounds good to the average rube. And thats how they get what they want, take a very small puddle/bog, and make it "wetlands" and give them a means to the ends. Nobody had issue with the hotels and toyota dealership that went in just down the road a few years back, lots of wetlands there. Bottom line is Baxter wants control of any buildings built wether they are in city limits or not cause then they can control building permits, and hold up any business owner. Kinda [filtered word]
GOOD LUCK!
This could be great for the city of Baxter! Tax more, Tax more, Tax More!!! Baxter along with their sister city can't figure out how to bring industry or manufacturing to the area so let's just TAX, TAX, TAX!!!! Some day when the bottom finally hits in the Brained Lakes Area the City Officials might figure out that all they had to do was work a little harder on getting NEW Business to the area, maybe hire a recruiter?? That is if they can't figure it our for themselves which obviously they can't.
I am so sick of the destruction of the beauty along 371
stupid ignorant humans wont be happy until there isn't a [filtered word] tree left standing!!!!!!!
Please don't stop progress and development
Here we are in a recession, with high unemployment in Brainerd / Baxter and yet we have a private business willing to take the risk to invest a large sum of time and money into our community. They employ a lot of people, and are a very major asset to the community. I hope that short sighted bueacrats do not become so difficult that they kill this project that Dondelingers are proposeing. This is a major business and employer in our community, please work with them and be reasonable. Don't prevent this project from going forward.
Taxter
not Baxter, TAXTER....itz all about the $$$. Baxter certainely doesn't have higher standards they just have more hoops to jump through which makes them more money. I agree with medyn, dean and Wilsen.... Stand your ground DJ!!
Merlyn, I disagree. I do hope the short sighted bureaucrats
do table this and keep it at the bottom of the pile. I understand employment is an issue, but there comes a point where you have to say "What value is given for a value received?"
We have a reputation of being up north...what good is that reputation if all people see are car dealerships and Wendys for 30 miles straight?
Grand Marais had a strict moratorium on billboards and I think Baxter/Brainerd better get their head on straight about the destruction being rendered here on our beautiful landscape...and do it fast!!!
The point being, the Brainerd Baxter 371 intersection looks like
you are in Maple Grove, Richfield, Bloomington, or any other suburb.
Why is that and what benefit does it provide an area that makes its living off tourists that are coming here to escape the City life?
Why? When do you say enough is enough? What happens when you all realize that that almighty dollar isn't nearly as valuable as the rural beauty we once had...but now its too late?
Greed begets greed but does greed replace a once rural woodland setting that we no longer have? I say do away with the greed and bring back the trees.
Wasn't Dondelinger the same one
who built Motor City where Costco is going to go, only to tear it down? I don't think he was much caring about jobs, employment, or land use then either!
Grand Marais
I was there a couple of years ago and the local newspaper commenting on all the new development in the area said they didn't want to look like Baxter.
The 'up north' look is gone. Baxter is now a shopping strip.
Amen, Minnesnowda
Baxter is a visual representation of what not to make your town look like. Its just an ugly urbanized shopping mall.
352 cubes go live in the woods then
you sound like you hate the lakes area, or what the area has become. you better look around, cities influance has been on this area for 30 plus years and that will never change. it happens to all citys over time, so please keep this in context, this is about a small chunk of land and how city council "greed" will determin a small business future.
FOR THE RECORD, Baxter looks nothing like the twin cities areas, st cloud, or any if those places. Remember something people, if your for this, (annex) and you work for, own, or do any business anywhere on 371, does it make you a hypocrite? if yes, then its just a case of haters gonna hate.
Where is
downtown Baxter again?
I grew up here
and I DO hate whats happened here. 57 yrs of watching city people move up here and try to make it look like Minneapolis.
This isn't as much about hate as it is about love. Love of this area, its rural feeling, its "up north and it really was, up north" until the almighty dollar became more important than quality of life.
Target, Bonanza, etc etc and the strip goes all the way to Schaefers now.
Why did you have to ruin what was a beautiful place, and you just keep wanting to ruin it more!
to get the upnorth feel people will continue to go 'up north'
It's a choice that was made by our planners to fill in all the wetlands and chop down all the trees (anyone remember Joni Mitchell and "Big Yellow Taxi?")
We are now a retail center.
Baxter has no downtown, and Brainerd is full of bars and pawn shops, with a few exceptions. Look at Nisswa and their downtown. We still could give tourists a reason to come into town. Applebee's and Target won't tempt them, they have them at home.
What happened to all those plans to make us a railroad feature town that was interesting? All those studies by the experts and what did we do? Shelve them all.
Downtown Baxter? I think that is at the end of the road to nowhere, once a golf course.
Wow
One pawn shop on Front St. and one north of downtown on Washington St. is filling the town up? I thought you used to be a political power Ms. minnesnowda. Why did you let this happen?
Actually I agree with snow
on this one. Yes it is true we only have 2 pawn shops, but how many bars? And this is really about Baxter and 371. When I moved here in '98, I could get from NE Brainerd to the old WalMart in 5-6 minutes. Now I am happy if I can get to the same area in 15-20. Baxter basically ended at Arby's to the north and the intersection of 371/210 to the south, where the Paul Bunyan Amusement was! After Arby's it was pretty much lakes and trees all the way to Nisswa.
Pine River has...
Pine River has 2 pawn shops, 2 drinking establishments, 2 auto dealerships, 2 convenience stores/gas stations, 1 fast food (DQ) and 1 shopping center, ALCO!
I don't even have to go to Baxter/Brainerd. Still have that up north feeling :)
It's about the sewage....
From an auto dealership, in an area with lakes and wetlands very nearby--some of them in the city of baxter.
I think that's the motive for this anyway. If so it makes sense to me. If there is an option to hook up to city sewers for a business that dumps as much down the drain--and the types of things down the drain--that an auto dealership does, it should be taken.
Baxter's development is supposed to be driven by a plan that community members had a big say in. In reality they seem to follow portions of the plan--wetlands/water/sewer issues are usually one of them--while ignoring the plans clear direction to retain native vegetation and the "up north" look.
The county is another story altogether in what they let people get away with.
Follow up
I should say that if this driven by tax issues--i.e. the inability of baxter to obtain the local tax for sales at this new location--it's a much different story. Anytime such taxes are enacted this is what they do--make businesses looking to expand think about the advantage they get by being located just outside the city limits.
Get your facts straight!
ProudRINO, this IS driven by tax issues and not city water and sewer, as you previously maintained. With regard to your statement about what a car dealership dumps down the drain, you might want to do some research. Chances are, you dump more harmful chemicals down your household drains than any car dealership in the area. Car dealerships pay companies to haul away their chemicals and oil waste. Most of you "responsible citizens" just dump it down the drain because you don't want to part with your almighty buck to do what is right, yet you want to stand on your soap box and tell our local business community what to do, when you aren't willing to do it yourself.