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City of Ramsey <br />Mayor Ramsey, Council Members, Tim Himmer <br />7550 Sunwood Dr. NW <br />Ramsey, MN 55303 <br />David Hansen, Mark Hansen, Trygg Hansen <br />Hansen Tree Farm <br />2079 Dudley Ave. <br />St. Paul, MN 55108 <br />RE: Variolite Extension <br />We wish to make clear our strong opposition to the Variolite Extension project. We are opposed <br />to the project itself and more so to an alignment which takes any of our 40 acres of Hansen Tree <br />Farm (Ramsey Township, SW' /4 of NE 1 /4 , Section 21- 32 -25) a family business for almost 60 <br />years. Our family is committed to remain a productive and profitable Christmas tree farm for at <br />least the next generation, another 20 years. A thousand families — several thousand people - <br />come each year from throughout the metro area to experience our forest and buy a Christmas tree <br />in the middle of your city. <br />We are opposed to a road — regardless of alignment — for a number of economic and <br />environmental reasons. It will open the quiet neighborhood between 153� Lane NW and 149 °i <br />Lane NW to through traffic, thereby lowering homeowner — and then our — property values. Any <br />alignment will separate us from the wetland to the west, greatly reducing our future value, <br />regardless of our property's use in 20 -40 years. Without the scenic view we now have, value <br />will be reduced for single family housing, for high density units, or as a campus for assisted <br />living for seniors (we already own one in another location). Options will be greatly reduced for a <br />park that would abut the wetlands the city already owns, or as a learning center /nature center for <br />schools (one of our long term goals). We have intentionally left half of our land as a pine forest <br />so that decades in the future it will be available for a greater use. White and red pines are what <br />originally covered this area, and there are few examples of this legacy. <br />What do your traffic studies show will be the usage of the proposed road? How many vehicles a <br />day would go from the area between Alpine Drive and Co. Rd 63 down to COR? Can it <br />possibly justify this project, at this time? We have gone house -to -house in the area. Around the <br />old gun club, almost no resident desires the road. They feel there simply isn't a need, yet, for a <br />more direct route to COR. Why would the city, at this time, want to introduce through traffic <br />into the quiet neighborhood south of 153` Lane? An overwhelming number of owners there are <br />concerned about the many negative impacts of increased traffic and maintaining a safe <br />environment for their children. <br />If the alignment — as proposed - takes land on our western edge it will have a severe economic <br />impact on our business. If you view our farm (either on the ground or a Google satellite view) <br />you can see that we have more Christmas trees on the west, and a higher percentage of mature, <br />forested acres on the east. Since our farm is already of minimum size to be competitive, taking <br />away acres of our Christmas trees will likely put us out of business. <br />Our business in a nutshell: We grow 1,200 trees per acre, have a 10 year rotation, and charge $65 <br />per tree. With mortality, that produces about $3,000 per acre, per year. We sell every tree we <br />grow, and can barely grow enough (fast enough) for our customers. The proposed road 'and <br />alignment will reduce our income by a minimum of $15,000 per year. Because our fixed costs of <br />equipment, building, gas, electricity, irrigation system, advertising, accounting, etc are the same <br />