Shoreview sniffing at slice of land owned by Army

Shoreview would like a neighborly chat with Arden Hills about that former ammunition plant site in Arden Hills and its future after a public auction in June.

Arden Hills' response: No thanks.

The hangup? Shoreview wants to talk about the possibility of annexing the whole site, formerly home to the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP).

"I just don't know where this came from," said Arden Hills City Council Member Dave McClung. "If that's the discussion Shoreview wants to have, it would be a short discussion."

The issue came to life after the Army, which owns the TCAAP site, announced it would be putting part of it up for sale. The eastern two-thirds of TCAAP is tied up in a long-term lease agreement between the Army and the Minnesota National Guard. Other portions are occupied by Arden Hills' City Hall, a city-county public works facility and a Minnesota Department of Transportation facility, and plans are in place for another swath to become a regional trail. The remaining 450 acres is the piece that the Army has on the block.

Both cities have an interest in its future use, and Arden Hills has more sway because any buyer would be subject to city zoning and land-use regulations.

Over the past two months, Shoreview officials asked first to be part of an Arden Hills council meeting, then to meet informally to discuss the TCAAP site, said Shoreview Mayor Sandy Martin. Annexation was part of a broader conversation about the site, which ranges along her city's southern and western borders, though the for-sale parcel does not abut the city line.

Development potential

The 450 acres amount to one of the metro's largest areas open for development.

Last spring, the recession sank a planned mixed-use development for the parcel. Then the Arden Hills City Council looked at dedicating it as green space. Now, the public auction scheduled for June will determine its future.

James Lehnhoff, Arden Hills' community development director, said the city is working on a development framework to make sure that the future owner's use of the land integrates with and benefits the region.

"Part of the planning process is to talk with stakeholders," he said. "We understand [neighboring cities] have an interest in that, but we have to get to that point where we actually have a plan to talk about."

That's not the issue, Martin said.

"We've kept a respectful distance all during that because we do support the planning that they've done," she said. "This would be an attempt to facilitate the plans they've come up with and make sure those plans can happen, rather than some negative purpose that none of us want."

The Arden Hills council is not unanimous in rejecting the annexation proposal out of hand.

Nodding to the will of the majority, Arden Hills Mayor Stan Harpstead countered that there are reasons to hear all options.

"Sometimes the world is made of people floating trial balloons to see what the reactions are," he said. "Somebody said the complex nature of the world doesn't depend on where lines were drawn on maps in 1800s."

Council Member Brenda Holden said she was bothered that Shoreview discussed the idea internally and with other government bodies before sharing it with Arden Hills, a process that Martin called vital preliminary homework.

Still, both sides also have acknowledged that they need to resolve issues together, such as access to parks and trails, the transportation and more.

"Like married couples, you fight and then you get back to work," Holden said.