25 May 2024
DULUTH — A developer has dropped controversial plans to build new housing in Duluth’s Hawk Ridge neighborhood.
Nick Ericson, president of Newhaven LLC, notified city officials Friday that he has withdrawn his request to rezone about 4 acres of undeveloped land from its current low-density R-1 residential designation to Residential-Planned, to allow for greater flexibility in the design of what was proposed to be a 24-unit housing development.
The project, dubbed Bald Eagle Estates, stirred considerable opposition from residents in the adjoining Hawk Ridge neighborhood concerned about the impact it could have on Amity Creek, a designated trout stream; views from Skyline Parkway; and local traffic.
Cheryl Fosdick, an architect and principal partner of CF Design Ltd., who has worked with Ericson, expressed disappointment that the cottage home project will not move forward. She said the smaller 900- to 1,200-square-foot homes proposed are about half the size of typical houses and promised to share parking and other amenities to minimize impervious surfaces and runoff.
In part, plans for Bald Eagle Estates may have been ahead of their time, she suggested.
Fosdick acknowledged that any type of new development is likely to stir concern. “That’s normal. That’s something I expected, and I knew it would take a little bit of time to educate people.”
“But the proof is in the pudding basically,” Fosdick said. “So, it needed to get built to become the example that I think it could be for so many spots in Duluth, just because of our topography and watersheds that are sort of isolated but large enough to handle small developments that could provide all sorts of different housing for the community.”
An ordinance to rezone the 4-acre property, sandwiched between Skyline Parkway and Amity Creek, was slated to go to the Duluth City Council for consideration Tuesday evening.
Councilor Wendy Durrwachter, who represents Duluth’s 1st District, including Hawk Ridge, said she’s relieved to see Ericson’s plans to develop the property shelved.
“I personally felt it’s such an iconic area of Duluth that we should not be rezoning it for less oversight and higher density,” Durrwachter said.
For his part, Ericson said he likely will sell off the lots he owns to be developed by someone else under the existing R-1 zoning.
“I thought I was going to bring something nice to Duluth. But it turned out there was a lot of opposition, and it really wasn’t going to work. So, I think I was a bit naive to think you could bring something like that to Duluth,” he said. “The whole rezoning review process is too adversarial.”
At large Councilor Lynn Marie Nephew expressed regret, saying, “The fact that he is pulling out does not send a great message to developers. And it definitely doesn’t show that we are developer-friendly. So, it’s unfortunate.
“I thought it was nice to see a development that was going to bring different types of housing stock to our market, which we desperately need. It’s a little disappointing if he’s pulling out because of his frustration with the process. ” Nephew said. “It’s kind of shame on us.”
Although Ericson, a resident of Mukilteo, Washington, has been cast as an outsider by many opponents of his project, he grew up in Duluth and graduated from Central High School before moving away to pursue a career as a developer on the West Coast. Ericson said he had hoped to retire in Duluth, living with his wife in one of the proposed Bald Eagle Estates homes. He acknowledged Friday that with about $200,000 into his aborted project, he no longer knows what the future now will hold.
Besides local opposition to the project, Ericson was concerned about how his plans to create a neighborhood playfield on the site could potentially expose residents of Bald Eagle Estates, as members of a homeowners’ association, to legal liabilities for anyone who might be injured on the property in the future.
“It would put the people who live there at too much risk if they wanted to share the playfield. And that sort of defeats the purpose,” he said. “I wanted to share it with the neighborhood.”
Ericson chalks up the failure of his project primarily to what he described as “a lack of trust.”
“I think a lot of it had to do with a lack of trust,” he said. “Maybe they don’t trust their land-use administrator, they don’t trust their own people, and they don’t trust the developer.”
Nephew said a development like Bald Eagle Estates could have provided an attractive option for residents looking to downsize, freeing up larger existing housing stock for young families.
“Our housing market is just locked,” she said. “So, I would say that’s the tragedy that came from this, because we as a city need to start being more open to housing developments of different kinds. And I am worried that this development not moving forward is going to create the wrong impression.”
While disappointed, Ericson said he does not doubt the positive intentions of community members.
“They’re all good people — the councilors, the planning commission members and the planning department people. They’re all trying to do their best. I could see that. It was just more of a process thing,” he said.
“I wasn’t able to share my vision. They’re not ready for it yet,” Ericson said.
]]>