The City of Eagan Can't Justify a Golf Course

To the editor:

The city of Eagan is investigating building a championship golf course on the site of Patrick Eagan Park and adjacent private property. Of all the dumb ideas hatched by developers and politicians, this one ranks at the top.

First of all, the (then) town of Eagan purchased the park property a generation ago using a LAWCON grant. The city agreed the land would remain undeveloped and would always be available to the public. I would love to see city politicians spin stories on how their proposed golf course somehow meets this criterion.

A quick count of the Yellow Pages shows 10 golf courses in the Eagan, Apple Valley, Rosemount area, all within a few miles of Patrick Eagan Park. Carriage Hills course is roughly one mile away.

Given this concentration, what possible purpose could yet another golf course serve? I wonder what the other golf course owners think about potential government supported competition?

It gets worse. It isn't enough for the city to break provisions of the LAWCON grant and destroy one of the last natural parks left in the Twin Cities. The city of Eagan also slapped a moritorium on private land adjacent to the park and is evidently considering using its imminent domain powers.

How can the city possibly justify these tactics for a golf course? The city of Eagan should drop the golf course idea, get rid of the moritorium on the adjacent land and apologize to the landowners it mistreated.

Greg Scott
Eagan