Developer, owners seek a compromise

Number of boat slips and residential units

By Amie Steffen | The Daily Journal

Published Thursday, December 7, 2006

Saying they needed time to arrive at a compromise, the developer of Blue Heron Bay and the property owners’ association asked for one more week before a decision is made on the type of development going up.

Both developer James Erickson and the Dead Lake Association asked the Otter Tail County board to table the conditional use permit request for Blue Heron Bay until they could reach a more thorough agreement.

The public hearing on the matter will continue at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, in the Government Services Building in Fergus Falls.

“I leave today even more optimistic,” Erickson said. “We’re prepared to sit down with the Dead Lake Association to prepare a set of conditions. We’re willing to be amenable.”

Both parties must agree to some sort of compromise, as they differ greatly on how many residential units and boat slips they’re willing to see on the lake. Erickson is asking for 121 units and 110 boat slips, while the association only wants a maximum of 70 residential units and the same amount of slips.

But other terms, like the addition of a lake management plan, were met with consensus.

“Believe me, there is substantially more agreement than disagreement between us,” association board member Spencer Schram said.

That’s because both the property owners’ association and the developer have been working closely since the project was first applied for in 2002 — albeit not as amiably as they are today.

As proposed by the developer, Blue Heron Bay would be a cluster development built in three phases over a period of 10 years. Erickson said he would like to begin building right away in the spring of 2007.

The association said its primary concern was environmental impact, and they wanted to see specific mitigation strategies in place before development takes off.

“The lake is big, but it is shallow,” DLA board member Don Fondrick said. “We’d like to see it protected for the benefit of all who live on the lake.”

But DLA President Terry Sullivan said they are also willing to come to an agreement with Erickson.

“The association is sincerely behind that, and we look forward to working together,” she said.

In other county news:

n Newly-elected Commissioner Everett P. Erickson was sworn in as district 2 commissioner by Judge Mark Hanson Tuesday. He was elected in last month’s general election and replaces the late Malcolm Lee.