Army Ammunition Plant redevelopment: Why did Ramsey County ghost Arden Hills?

Opinion editor's note: This article was submitted on behalf of the mayor and City Council members of Arden Hills. Their names are listed below.

Over the time that Arden Hills has been working with various partners to find a sustainable use for the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) redevelopment, the City Council has had a consistent plan and goals. When Arden Hills joined with Ramsey County in the Joint Development Authority, both parties were aligned with a shared vision for the site.

Then, at some point, Ramsey County abandoned that shared vision. Arden Hills is still wondering why.

Ramsey County's bringing legal action against the city of Arden Hills in early 2019 alleging the city has not been acting in good faith is a move by the county to dissolve the almost eight-year-old partnership. The allegation of not acting in good faith came after Ramsey County stopped participating in meetings with the city and directed its resources away from the project. When the county decided not to invest more time and resources into the project, this effectively left the shovel-ready project at a standstill.

That decision is delaying progress on developing new housing, attracting and retaining businesses, and creating jobs, while costing taxpayers money and locking the city and county into a needless, drawn-out legal battle.

The question of why the county stopped negotiating with the city in 2018 is a reasonable one the county should have to fully answer. The taxpayers of Ramsey County deserve to know, and the residents of Arden Hills should be able to have a voice about this significant project.

In November 2018, before the formal litigation, the county delivered a letter to the city stating that the county's vision and the city's vision were too far apart and that the county wanted a project with higher density and more affordable housing. The county has not adequately and publicly explained why it changed its position, how much more density or affordable housing it wants, and how this affordable housing is to be paid for.

The city of Arden Hills understands the demand for housing options to meet needs across a variety of income levels. This is why the city worked with the county in 2016 and 2017 to ensure affordable housing was included in the TCAAP development.

It is important for community members to understand that the city has no authority to regulate housing affordability. Nor does it work to restrict affordable housing. The city's role is to create zoning, and the zoning on the TCAAP does not limit or restrict the development of affordable housing.

Once the zoning is established, it is up to the developers to design and build projects, some of which may or may not be affordable, but that decision is not made by the city. It is up to the developer to decide how the affordable housing will be paid for. As in the rest of the city, there is nothing prohibiting affordable housing on TCAAP.

Outside of TCAAP, the city already has a significant amount of affordable housing. Approximately 43% of the city's housing stock is affordable per Metropolitan Council housing standards.

In some circumstances, a developer requests that a city contribute to the cost of affordable housing through tax and other incentives. However, from the beginning of the TCAAP development, the city of Arden Hills has made it clear that it will strive to not increase the tax burden of current residents to cover costs of developing TCAAP. With its financial constraints and expectations to provide other services such as police, fire, snowplowing, roads, road maintenance, park and recreation and more, the city does not have additional funds available for tax incentives to the developers without risking a significant additional tax burden on current residents.

A comparison commonly made to TCAAP is the Ford site in St. Paul. TCAAP is planned for 1,460 units, and the Ford site is estimated between 2,400 and 4,000 units. A city the size of St. Paul, at 308,000 residents, has more tax capacity and resources to finance a development with greater density and affordable-housing demands than does Arden Hills, at 9,900 residents. The Ford site also will require less investment from St. Paul for infrastructure such as sewer and water and a well-functioning public transit system, which are already in place.

The TCAAP site does not currently have sewer and water on the site or public transit options. The Metropolitan Council, which oversees public transit, does not have any plans to greatly increase public transit to TCAAP, either.

The city of Arden Hills is committed to ensuring TCAAP is a viable and sustainable project. But changing a well-thought-out plan at the last minute risks the long-term success of the project, and that is a risk the residents of Arden Hills should not have to take.