Group seeks to coordinate development on Hwy. 212

The new Hwy. 212 through Carver County is expected to be a boon for the area, creating more than 30,000 jobs along its corridor by 2030.

But managing that growth will be a huge challenge as the area expects to add an estimated 125,000 people, driving up demand for everything from job training to affordable housing.

As a result, local governments, business people and public agencies throughout Carver County are preparing a "road map" for the challenges that lie ahead.

Last spring, 85 business and community leaders from the area began meeting to create a plan titled "Vision 212." They engaged in extensive talks and information-gathering on the future of the highway corridor and issued a report recently.

The group said the new highway "has the opportunity to distribute the benefits of growth and development throughout the region. At the same time, the growth will challenge our region's high quality of life."

The new highway, which opened in the summer of 2008, now extends from western Eden Prairie almost 12 miles to the city of Carver, and cities to the west would like to see it eventually go all the way to Norwood Young America and beyond. It has significantly shortened commuting times into the Twin Cities, residents say, and already has sparked development interest along the corridor.

The Vision 212 report warns that some areas in Minnesota and around the country have missed out on taking full advantage of a new highway because of a lack of coordinated planning.

The report was commissioned by the Southwest Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Carver County Development Agency, which want to use it as a means of gathering ideas and strategies for dealing with the expected growth.

"The whole exercise ... is to kind of get our arms around what we want -- what we want this place to look like -- to approach this from a regional perspective," said Deb McMillan, president of the chamber.

Among the initial goals the Vision 212 group established was better marketing of the region to attract businesses and jobs, creating a master park plan, upgrading housing, developing an intra-regional transit system and attracting educational institutions, including possibly a college or university campus.

Quality of life issues

The new Hwy. 212 corridor extends from Eden Prairie to Chaska and on to Norwood Young America. It passes through three school districts and seven cities and spans most of Carver County, already one of the fastest growing and most prosperous counties in the state.

"The high quality of life in the region is an open secret," the report said. "The 212 region is a series of interconnected small cities with a small town feel and small town values."

Community leaders said the biggest challenge will be getting everyone from city council members to mom-and-pop retailers to cooperate and make decisions that will benefit the region as a whole.

"The greatest success will be accomplished if communities, businesses, educational institutions and nonprofits work together," the report said. That means cities need to coordinate zoning, planners need to think more globally, and businesses need to set aside rivalries in the interest of the community as a whole, the report said.

"A good example of that is economic development," said Matt Podhradsky, Chaska's city administrator. "The first decision a company that is locating makes is on a region, not a city.

"By the time they've talked to us, they've already decided, 'We have to be there.' "