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"Big Dig" on Duluth's lakefront sets a dangerous precedent
Commentary by BARB OLSEN
The following Point of View on the Beacon Point issue appeared in the August 12, 2006 issue of the Duluth News Tribune.
Some Duluthians have given a nickname to the cavernous, lakefront hole that's littered with blasted bedrock, tires, and murky water: The Big Dig. This enormous excavation is under way for the second phase of the Beacon Point condominium project at the edge of Lake Superior near 21st Avenue East in Duluth.
The first phase produced a structure so tall and so close to the water that many Duluthians, including some of the city councilors who approved zoning variances for it in 2003, have been left to wonder what happened. What councilors originally approved -- a five-unit building of moderate height -- mushroomed into 11 units and a height that appears to bystanders to be 40 to 42 feet tall (the city's complex system of measurement sets it at 35 feet tall). Phase II is now expected to look to passersby as though it's a whopping 60 feet tall.
And the public hasn't even had the opportunity to see the final site plan for the second phase. Though representatives of a citizens' group called Responsible Development in Duluth, of which I'm a supporter, asked since April to see site plans, city administrators declined access until July 26. That was long after the documents were filed with the city and when excavation work was nearly completed. Certainly, developers have a right to privacy regarding preliminary building plans, but such documents must be released in a timely fashion so the public, the Planning Commission, the City Council, and others can respond, and can, when necessary, order changes before significant work begins.
Why has the developer been able to undertake excavation work without a permit? And how could the excavation begin in June but the foundation permit not be issued until Aug. 7?
Responsible Development in Duluth posed that question to Duluth Building Official Duane Lasley. He told us he believed exemptions in the city code allowed for some excavation as part of grading and soil sampling. Responsible Development in Duluth disagrees wholeheartedly and sees this explanation as an extreme and loose interpretation of Duluth's city code. Because the excavation was allowed, the site is now irretrievably altered, making it far more difficult to enforce compliance with city code as this project continues.
It is essential that a city protect the interests of its citizens by enforcing city codes. Members of Responsible Development in Duluth are very much in favor of development -- but development that's done correctly. Responsible Development in Duluth's involvement in the Beacon Point condo project has led the group to believe the city administration has failed to follow some of its own codes or that it has stretched the city's codes so far as to render them irrelevant.
At issue is not solely the excavation and blasting. There's also the anticipated height of Phase II. If it's as high as is being considered, it would be in violation of a special use permit granted by the City Council. The project also, as planned, would be in excess of the 62 percent impervious surface approved by the council.
Plus, there's the decision of the building official to allow construction within a 50-foot setback from the lake's "ordinary high water mark." Plans to extend the Lakewalk likely would fall within this 50-foot setback, some of which is along an eroding bank. Extending the Lakewalk there would almost certainly require expensive "workarounds." That's not what citizens expected when they publicly supported variances for the project in exchange for the Lakewalk easement.
Some citizens originally involved in Beacon Point have become understandably discouraged by a city administration that seemingly is uninterested in their voices. Responsible Development in Duluth is continuing on, however, and will ask the state for an Environmental Assessment Worksheet review of the project's second phase. Responsible Development in Duluth also hopes to file an appeal of the building inspector's decisions through the city's Board of Zoning Appeals.
The organization doesn't currently plan a legal challenge because it's not clear, with Phase II information so scarce, whether that will be necessary.
Also, the decision against legal recourse was made because the legal assistance Responsible Development in Duluth secured in the spring, in an attempt to force the city to require compliance, already has proven enormously expensive.
Responsible Development in Duluth believes citizens should not be forced to go to such costly lengths.
Beacon Point is only one in a host of development quandaries in Duluth right now. What happens with this development could set a powerful precedent, especially with regard to the city's waterfront. It's essential that citizens contact the city planning and building inspection departments as well as city councilors and planning commissioners to register opinions regarding Beacon Point. The upcoming election season offers an opportunity to ask candidates their positions on the enforcement of city codes and to demand their support for enforcement.
A vibrant development atmosphere, a healthy environment, a strong local economy, and the very future of our city depends on it.
BARB OLSEN of Duluth is a member of the steering committee for Progressive Action, among a collaboration of local grassroots organizations that support Responsible Development in Duluth.
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