By Anne Holzman

Falcon Heights city staff showed the City Council, at its June 12 meeting, some possible future uses of the Les Bolstad Golf Course, should the University of Minnesota decide to sell that property.

The city has hired WSB, a Twin Cities engineering firm, to study the Larpenteur and Snelling avenue corridors and help city leaders anticipate future development needs. Ramsey County is funding the study and there are no definitive plans at this time. 

The golf course is one of four areas under consideration for concept designs that could lead to rezoning. It is currently zoned P-1, for public land that if sold could revert to single family classification.

That means new zoning would be needed if the city wanted to encourage multi-family housing or other uses. Taking care of the zoning ahead of time could help market the properties to developers and give the city some ability to guide types of development. Private owners have to go through a lengthy process of obtaining variances if their intended uses fall outside of a city’s zoning rules.

City Administrator Jack Linehan told the Bugle recently that   the goal was to consider, “If stuff was developed, what would it look like?”

Linehan said the Bolstad golf course is a priority because the university described it in a recent study as an “opportunity zone,” which cities regard as a signal that the property might go up for sale.

“We’ve been contacted by developers,” Linehan said.

The other three areas considered in the study brought to the council on June 12 are 1871 Larpenteur Ave. W, a small lot at the corner of Lindig Street; the area including the Warners Stellian store; and the Falcon Crossing shopping center on the northeast corner of Larpenteur and Snelling. 

Anne Holzman is a Twin Cities freelance writer who covers Falcon Heights government news for the Bugle.