80-Acre Twin Lakes Project Gets Mixed Court Results

ROSEVILLE, MN-The ambitious Twin Lakes development here received good news and bad news from a recent Ramsey County court decision, which rejected a request that the development be halted but allowed an environmental lawsuit to continue.

The 80-acre project is to include 737 housing units, 225,000 sf of office space and 325,000 sf of retail space–of which a big-box retailer such as Wal-Mart or Costco would take up 150,000 sf. The lead developer of the project is Rottlund Homes. But Judge Michael Monahan rejected a plea by the Friends of Twin Lakes to halt development of the Twin Lakes project for further environmental review by the state. Yet Monahan let stand a separate lawsuit against the city by the citizens’ group that contends the development, as currently planned, would violate the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act. The lawsuit is slated for trial in December.

The group says it wants more green space, and smaller independent shops rather than large, chain-owned stores. City officials and developers argue that that is not economically feasible. A big box is necessary to support the smaller, more service-oriented stores.