What is the MPRB Proposing for
Hiawatha Golf Course?
Part 4 - Impact on Property Values of Nearby Homes?
The MPRB Says - Under Alternative B "we do not anticipate a significant impact on property values in the neighborhood because property values already
reflect the positive effect of the golf course and adjacent regional park land." p. 40
Our Concerns - The MPRB's assessment does not take into account some important factors, which we believe will reduce the property values for homeowners.
Parks like Lake Nokomis have a large buffer of land separating the houses from the perimeter street around the lake.
There is little or no buffer for houses around Lake Hiawatha golf course. This means that traffic and people, along with more on-street parking will,
absolutely, adversely affect the values of these homes, which are now in a fairly quiet neighborhood.
The MPRB incorrectly states that Longfellow Avenue is a "low volume, low speed roadway". p. 41
Anyone who lives on Longfellow Avenue near the park knows that, for a side street, there is constant traffic up and down the street from people bypassing
Cedar Avenue and traveling around the perimeter of the park. The speed bumps on Longfellow Ave. between 45th St. and 47th St., are a testiment to this fact.
Alternative B, which includes a substantially larger restaurant and banquet facility, a pavilion and new picnic shelters, will increase the traffic
and parking on Longfellow and the perimeter streets, making them extremely busy, congested roadways, driving down home values.
The flooding of the golf course property under Alternative B will bring permanent standing water within a block of the
low-lying homes on the north and west sides of the golf course. Water problems with homes at Lake Nokomis due to expanding wetlands (water in basements,
sinkholes and broken sewer pipes) have shown that bringing water this close to homes will, most likely, cause the same water problems for the homeowners near the golf course.
Realtors estimate that water in a basement can reduce the value of a home by $25,000 to $50,000.
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