Proposed Road Through Wooded Area Officially Axed by St. Cloud City Council

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud City Council has formally rejected a proposal to build a road through a wooded area that serves as a 350-foot natural buffer between an industrial site and a residential neighborhood.

Brennan Investment Group owns the land where Bluestem/Fingerhut sits off Ridgewood Road. The road would have allowed an outlet from the lot to Saukview Drive. The vote was unanimous against the project. The council put off making a decision two weeks ago so they could put together a finding of fact to justify their decision.

Councilman Jake Anderson called for the vote and explained why to KNSI News. “There was just not a compelling enough reason to bring truck traffic to that location. Especially when the firm was talking more about marketing. And nothing is specific. So there was no guarantee on the number of trucks of maybe coming out of that. So, I think that’s what it really boiled down to. And the neighborhood opposition which was quite frankly warranted.”

The city council reaffirmed in 1988, 1994 and 2022 that the environmentally sensitive area should remain a natural buffer.

Anderson says in his mind, the city can’t break that agreement. “So it’s really hard to go against previous decisions, when there’s so much evidence presented in, you know, statements on the record and just documentation about it.”

He says this is an example of the city listening to residents and following through on their wishes.

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