11/01/88 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

the respondents in each site area doubted they would keep their properties if a proposed landfill was developed nearby; others had not yet made up their minds (13% in Ramsey; 28% in Oak Grove; 3?% in Andover). One-half to two-thirds of the respondents in each area reported that they had considered selling their holdings in the site areas. About 10% of these landowners had actually put their properties on the market in each area. Would-be sellers in the Oak Grove (35%) and Ramsey areas (5?%) reported that knowledge about a proposed landfill nearby had frustrated their efforts to find buyers. Sellers also reported that the proposal had caused developers to shy away from developing projects on their land (especially in the Oak Grove area). A related survey was done in 1987 among owners of developable property within 1½ miles of each site. "Developable property" was defined as parcels of 10 acres or more. Less than S0% of these properties in any of the study areas included homesteads. Owners, however, indicated their intentions to build homes on lands they owned --'especially in Ramsey (81%) and Oak Grove (?5%). Home building featured in the plans of 3?% of the respondents in the Andover area. The median values of these holdings, according to respondents, were $?0,000 in Ramsey, $85,000 in Oak Grove and $102,000 in Andover. Respondents in each study area expected that landfill development would depress the values of their properties: lS% in the Oak Grove sample: 16% in the Andover sample: and 24% in the Ramsey sample. Some respondents indicated that the presence of active landfills in the areas had influenced the prices that they themselves paid for their own properties (17% in Andover; 19% in Oak Grove; 3?% in.Ramsey). One-third to one-half of those interviewed in each site area had seen no evidence that proximity to a landfill had affected the prices they paid for their lands. It is interesting to note that, while lS-2~,% of owners of devolopable land in each study area believe that site development will result in lowered real estate values, just about ?0% of those interviewed in each area had not heard about the proposed landfill sites before they were interviewed for this ElS. Decision-makers, like property owners, wish to determine the likely effects of landfill development on nearby property values in order to evaluate optional policies related to compensation. There have been policy discussions to date in Minnesota, but these have not been based on quantitative primary data. Decision-makers also wished, in this ElS, to learn whether probable impacts on real estate values could be distinguished between the three proposed landfill site areas so that this information could be used as one variable in the site selection process.