| Road adjustment could upset berry farm |
By: By SHANE KITZMAN
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Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008 11:19 pm
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David Lorence talks about his reaction to the proposed annexation of 530 acres of Greenvale township land into Northfield. (News photo by Jaci Smith)
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Opening his mailbox in early April was not the way David Lorence wanted to learn about a proposed road that would run through his house and possibly wipe out the family business.
“I’m scared,” Lorence said. “I’ve been sick to my stomach ever since I’ve seen the letter in the mail that [the road] will go right through the center of our house.”
The letter, from the Dakota County Transportation Department, referred to a proposed project that would straighten out the awkward “T” intersection that 280th Street West puts between the end of Galaxie (Cedar) Avenue and Foliage Avenue, making the entrance to Northfield from the northwest smoother and, presumably, facilitating development northwest of the city.
One of the road’s main alternatives would cut through the 90-acre, fifth-generation Lorence’s Berry Farm that has been serving the Northfield area since 1978.
The proposal was kick-started by Lorence’s neighboring crop farmers. With the aid of Larry Larson of real estate land company Land Vista, farmers David Sorem, John Fink and Donald Lysne have requested Northfield annex their land, together totaling 440 acres, for a business park.
| For details on the Dakota County Northfield Roadway Study, click here. |
David Sorem, who owns around 264 acres, declined to comment; John Fink, 136 acres, could not be reached, and Donald Lysne, 40 acres, did not return multiple phone calls.
St. Olaf College will also offer 90 acres for annexation, but has stated its land must not be developed for now.
The land had been targeted by Dakota County, according to the county’s Roadway Study Web site, because Northfield’s population is expected to increase to 32,000 in 2030 and says northwest Northfield is the prime area where the city’s population will expand.
Currently the road proposal has yet to advance past the early stages with the city of Northfield.
While future use of the land is still undecided, the process has caused a disruption in Greenvale Township. Greg Langer, who lives just off Foliage Avenue, and other township neighbors did not receive notification of the annexation request, and criticize the township board for not getting the word out on such a crucial issue.
Ann Occhiato, the Lorences’ neighbor to the north on Foliage Avenue, would possibly lose her home if the road is built. She said the Greenvale Township Board had a “complete and total miscarriage of justice by not notifying [neighbors] of [the road]… They are not adequately serving the residents of Greenvale Township.”
Richard Moore, chair of Greenvale Township Board, said even with a pivotal issue such as the land annexation, it is not his job to alert township property owners.
“All you have to do is come to a meeting,” Moore said. “We’re not going to go around to each neighbor and tell them. I’m not going to send out letters to everyone in the township.”
Moore also said that he did try to get the best deal for the township in the annexation to preserve some tax revenue for years to come. But because the farmers’ land abuts the city of Northfield’s property, if they decide they want to annex their land, Moore said there is nothing that the board can do to stop them.
“These [annexation] laws are in place, and I am against those as a farmer,” he said. “I don’t want to see any farmland broken up.”
Donald Gemberling, former director of the Information Policy Division for the State of Minnesota, said because the township’s meetings are public, there is nothing illegal about the township’s actions with the land annexation.
Occhiato was just as surprised as the Lorences that one of the main alternatives for the road would be built through the successful and well-known berry farm.
“These days, even just being a successful small-family farm is a triumph and the Lorences are achieving that,” Occhiato said. “They’re continuing to grow and thrive and to pass it on to the next generation. That’s a story that is disappearing.”
David and Susie Lorence grow the strawberries on the east side of Foliage Avenue, while David’s son, Shawn, with wife, Gayle, grow raspberries and asparagus on the west side and the two Lorence families work seamlessly together to make the berry farm their livelihood.
The farm produces seasonally for dedicated customers who travel from as far as Iowa and Wisconsin for its strawberries. During peak season, David Lorence said close to a 1,000 people come to pick strawberries. The farm also gives around 60 Northfield youths summer jobs.
Shawn Lorence, a father of two, understands that the proposed road will, in the end, disrupt someone’s land, but wonders why it must go right through a business. The road would run through a wetland area that supplements the irrigation system for his land, which will make farming nearly impossible.
“I have one of the best jobs a person could have,” Shawn Lorence said. “I walk out my front door, hop on my ATV, and go to work. To have that taken away would be unfortunate.”
— Shane Kitzman, of Northfield, is a former employee of Lorence’s Berry Farm. He wrote this article for a journalism class at the University of St. Thomas.
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