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May 2, 2005
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| Whiteside Island, marked with an X, could become a big residential and commercial development. The island, formerly known as Clough Island, sits in the St. Louis River between Duluth and Superior. (Map courtesy of the Nature Conservancy) |
Duluth, Minn. — The Whiteside Island project is big, and expensive. It's got Superior officials seeing dollar signs, and environmentalists seeing destruction.
The island, which has been known as Clough Island, is being renamed Whiteside Island by the developers. It sits on the Wisconsin side of the St. Louis River.
As proposed, the development would include a five-star hotel, an 18-hole golf course, retail space, a marina, and nearly 700 residential units including cottages, condominiums, townhomes and single-family homes.
A tram could carry visitors in from Duluth, and a ferry transport by water from Duluth and Superior. All this on an island that right now returns almost nothing in taxes.
Superior Mayor Dave Ross says it would be huge plum for the city. "One of things we've aggressively tried to address is this issue of jobs, and the issue of allowing money to come into our general fund in order to keep taxes down," Ross says. "This is in keeping with our goals, and what we'd like to see happening in the city of Superior."
Superior City Council President Dennis Dalbec says this development would help everyone in the community.
"This project, upon its completion, will reduce taxes 20 to 30 percent," Dalbec says. "In other words, it would be like having your taxes paid for every three to five years by someone else."
There would be jobs generated through construction, and up to another 170 full time jobs created on the island. But there are challenges ahead.
First of all, someone's got to build a road and a bridge to the island, which is only accessible by boat right now.
The access road to the bridge would cut through Superior's municipal forest, which is now protected from development through a referendum passed more than a decade ago.
On the island, 20 acres of wetlands would be filled. And the development could affect wildlife like nesting birds, and fish, which spawn in its shallows.
The large island was once targeted for protection by the Nature Conservancy, according to the conservancy's Daryl Peterson in Duluth.
"A couple of years ago the Nature Conservancy tried purchasing the island from the previous owner," Peterson says. "But we lost, or didn't acquire the land, and Progress Land Company did. We got outbid for the island."
It bothers Peterson to see the island developed. He sees it as a step back, just as the lower St. Louis River shows signs of recovery from years of pollution.
"Millions of public dollars in particular have been spent over the last 20 years, to really improve the water quality of the lower river, and protect and restore habitat," Peterson says. "And it's really hard for me to see how a high-density housing development right on the water is going to be consistent with all that other effort."
Half the island is now owned by the Progress Land Company. The other half is owned by a group called Northwood Oaks. They plan the development under a joint partnership.
Superior Public Works Director Jeff Vito says environmental concerns will be addressed. On the island, roads would be limited, with transportation from an electric trolley or electric golf carts. He says an environmental designer would work on the golf course.
"So, rather than just going out and randomly filling wetlands, it was looked at in great detail as to how do we minimize that or how do they minimize that, or how do we enhance those wetlands to have the least amount of impact," Vito says.
Vito says regulatory agencies have been involved from the beginning. The U.S Army Corps of Engineers, he says, has already indicated it will need a comprehensive environmental study, an EIS, before issuing permits.
Superior's City Council is expected to consider rezoning the island this week. The city and developers will file notice of their intent to get the necessary environmental permits. That process might take two years.
Construction of the development would take several additional years to complete.
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