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<br />The proposed redevelopment will not increase the tax base -- if tax <br />increment financing is used, all of the additional taxes generated by the new <br />development will be given to the developers. If hazardous substance sub- <br />districts are created, our existing tax base will actually decrease. <br /> <br />The proposed redevelopment will involve public costs going well beyond <br />the development costs the city is being asked to subsidize. To take two <br />examples: traffic studies indicate that the new development -- especially the <br />big box retail component -- will cause a significant amount of additional <br />traffic into the Twin Lakes neighborhood, creating additional burdens on <br />city, county and state roads and highways. (This is not surprising, given <br />that the whole purpose of the retail "engine" is to bring traffic into the area, <br />from a 30 mile radius or more.) And both the new housing and retail <br />developments will require police and fire protection, and other public safety <br />services. These additional costs will require additional public revenue. The <br />financial analysis supporting the public subsidies does not take any of these <br />costs into account. <br /> <br />Building another regional retail center on a huge parking lot, with a new <br />4 lane Twin Lakes Parkway running just to the south of Langton Lake will <br />have very significant environmental impacts on Langton Lake and Langton <br />Lake Park. The current proposal to extend and use the lake for stormwater <br />ponding raises serious water quality issues. The large new developments <br />and associated traffic will cause air, noise and light pollution that will <br />damage and diminish existing wildlife habitats. This would be a serious loss <br />for Roseville's natural environment. <br /> <br />In addition to these negative impacts on the neighborhoods wetlands and <br />greens pace, the proposed new development will also send an unsupportable <br />amount of additional traffic into surrounding residential neighborhoods. <br />Traffic studies show that traffic on Fairview in the residential neighborhood <br />north of County Road C2 will increase from the current 9700 cars per day <br />to between 15,000 and 16,000 cars per day if the new development is built. <br />The combined effect of the environmental impacts and traffic increase will <br />be a very significant decline in the quality of life in surrounding residential <br />neighborhoods. (None of these costs to the neighborhoods and larger <br />community are reflected in the public subsidy proposal before the council- <br />and the developers, consultants, and council have not made any effort to <br />estimate or analyze them.) <br /> <br />The proposed redevelopment does not include any public benefits or <br />facilities. The proposal includes no additional park or greenspace, no <br />community center, no trails or sidewalks, and no public space. As discussed <br />above, there is actually a net loss of park space, if Langton Lake is used for <br />