City cleanup of business property: what’s the criteria and who pays?

old Tires Plus site The old Tires Plus site got some spiffing up (sweeping, lawn mowing) by City of Northfield workers last week (photo courtesy of Tim Freeland).  I don’t understand why this was done relatively quickly while the weeds and construction debris at The Crossing have been a problem for years. And who’s paying for it?

2 Comments

  1. It looks like the only clean-up that happened was what was in Division St’s right-of-way: the sidewalk and boulevard. Though the property owner would ordinarily be responsible for that maintenance, it doesn’t seem surprising or improper that the City would step in and cover it under the circumstances.

    The Crossing is a different story, since the unfinished area you’re refering to is probably all private. Honestly, though, I don’t think The Crossing looks that bad. If there’s still literally construction debris on the site, it would certainly be nice if that were removed, but honestly, I think the weeds look better than a trimmed lawn would in their place.

    If you want to see some truly impressive never-removed construction debris, I recommend a tour of Bridgewater Heights. Granted, it’s way less visible, but it’s something else. Most streets were never paved, one occupied street is missing the top layer of asphalt, and there are literally dozens of to-be-installed concrete sewer pipes just sitting in the weeds and what was supposed to be a road (south end of Highland Parkway).

    July 22, 2009
  2. Stephanie Henriksen said:

    We miss the rolling farm fields and crops there. My husband drove through and saw the mess you describe.

    Seems to me Bridgewater Heights is on a 240-acre piece, a little larger than the acreage allowed by our annexation agreement w/Northfield for the Gill/Prawer industrial park (see Wed. front page “Building for the Future”). If my supervisors amend the agreement and turn over double that acreage, I will be very disappointed.

    There’s a short letter to editor in Wed. paper by Evelyn Thomas,”Back road to Dundas is nice.” She’s thinking about the pending annexation and the pastoral landscape that she will miss. Thanks, Evelyn, for reminding us.

    July 23, 2009

Leave a Reply to Stephanie HenriksenCancel reply