Big changes at Big Marine?

Washington County first staked out the boundaries for Big Marine Park Reserve in 1988. It was 20 years before the park's first developments -- a swimming beach, an improved boat landing, a large playground, picnic areas and trails -- were opened to the public. ¶ Now, county officials are laying the groundwork for how the next two decades at the 1,892-acre site will unfold. The county now owns 670 acres and is aiming to acquire the remaining 1,200-plus acres for the park. Neighbors who own the rest of the land or live nearby are watching plans with a wary eye.

After nearly a year of planning, and drawing on input from local government and area residents, the Washington County Board earlier this month unanimously approved a slate of changes to the park reserve's master plan that turn a significant page on its future development. Just two years after opening to the public, the county is already looking ahead to what the park -- which surrounds the south end of Big Marine Lake on three sides -- will look like in 2030.

Planning for the upgrades started last fall, said John Elholm, the county's parks director. A panel of officials from May Township, Scandia, Hugo, Forest Lake and the Carnelian-Marine St. Croix Watershed District (which manages the lake) weighed in, and there were two public meetings where residents could voice their views.

Public opinion, Elholm said, played a big role in how the changes to the master plan have been developed. The plan includes:

• Relocating areas for picnicking and camping, necessitated, Elholm said, by the removal of the Minnesota Disabled Veterans Rest Camp from within the park reserve's boundaries.

• Adding a maintenance building that could also include a remote sheriff's office to serve the northern end of the county.

• Building a special-use facility, possibly an amphitheater.

• Adding a modern campground that could include cabins.

• Adding a campground that could accommodate large groups, including equestrian campers.

• Building boardwalk crossings over marshy areas.

• Improving access points to the preserve, though Elholm said the goal is to keep the main entry on Manning Avenue with other gates open when groups are camping, but would otherwise be locked.

The amendments are still very conceptual, Elholm said, and will be refined in coming years.

It is also a regional park, meaning it's part of a system the state created in 1974 that puts ultimate jurisdiction in the hands of the Metropolitan Council, which is why the council needs to sign off on the changes in the master plan approved by the County Board.

The regional park designation also means Big Marine has features significant to the entire seven-county Twin Cities area, not just Washington County. It also means the reserve can get state and regional funding. The county has one other regional park, the Lake Elmo Park Reserve.

Land acquisition remains the key to developing the park reserve, which is why it took 20 years to bring it from concept to opening for business in 2008. Development couldn't begin until the county obtained a critical mass of acreage from willing sellers. At a hearing before approving the changes, County Board members repeatedly assured homeowners that philosophy hasn't changed.

Among the concerned citizens was Fred Eisenhammer, who lives in Marion, Ill., but also has a home on the eastern shore of the lake within the reserve.

"I'm very distressed, and my family is too, that we're going to be taken out, that [the land] is going to be taken as a park," he said. "We would have liked to have kept it in the family -- we've had it for close to a hundred years."

"Any properties that are going to be purchased are going to be purchased on a willing-seller basis," Kriesel said. "If you have no desire to sell your property, or if your family doesn't want to sell your property, you certainly don't have to."

Larry Anderson of Marine on St. Croix, a member of the Big Marine Lake Association, also said the county shouldn't develop trails until land next to them is acquired, to provide a buffer to residents. He also worries the county isn't doing enough to keep the lake clear of invasive species such as Eurasian milfoil.

County Board members said they wanted to protect the lake as well.

"We're going to be the largest landowner on the lake, we're going to be bringing the most people to the lake," said County Commissioner Dennis Hegberg. "I want to make sure we keep the lake as clean as possible."

Other property neighbors said they weren't as worried about losing their land as they were about losing other things they value.

John Niemann of Marine on St. Croix, who lives on the east side of the reserve, said he worried about increased traffic, noise and other disruptions from the proposed group camping site near his home.

"I'm not anti-park or anything -- I do believe we need to preserve some of these areas, so I'm not just thinking about the here and now," he said. "But I'm wondering, is there an alternative location? ... You come home from a hard day's work, you want some peace and quiet -- especially on weekends."

Kriesel said changes in the park are not happening any time soon, and issues would be heard and addressed.

"We have no desire to be heavy-handed in any of this," he said. "This is a vision far out into the future, and we're going to try to move in that direction with as little pain to present landowners as possible."