Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Death threat to city council over Parkview Golf Course Development - 6/21/2012www.S'rARTRIBUNE.COM /LOCAL SECTION B • THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012
rol
0 Anonymous letter sent amid rancor over Parkview Golf property
By KATIE HUMPHREY
katie.humphrey @startribune.com
Neighbors and fans of Eagan's
Parkview Golf Club have pleaded
passionately for the city to save the
last 18 -hole golf course in the city,
but emotions went up another notch
this week when City Council mem-
bers received a death threat.
It arrived by letter at City Hall on
Tuesday, the day the council was to
discuss a controversial proposal to
close the golf course and build 175
houses there.
The letter, written in block let-
ters, read, "ANY COUNCIL MEM-
BER VOTING FOR DEVELOPING
PARVIEW [sic] WILL DIE!! YOU
ARE AIL IN ON IT WITH THE DE-
VELPER [sic] 11" It was signed "FOPV,"
which Mayor Mike Maguire speculat-
ed stands for "Friends of Parkview"
Eagan police say they are investi-
gating the letter as a terroristic threat.
In recent weeks, the city and mem-
bers of a neighborhood group that
opposes the housing plan also have
received anonymous packets accus-
ing the city of conflicts of interest and
listing alleged legal disputes involy-
ing Kurt Manley of the development
company Hunter Emerson, Those
packets had been signed "Friends of
Parkview" with a return address -at
the Wescott Library in Eagan.
Threat continues on B4
I
RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER Star Tribune
agan Mayor Mike Maguire held up a
otter that threatened elected officials.
"We're encouraging support
Hof the amendment. We're not
going to critique [pastors]."
Faith groups statewide re-
main divided over the amend-
ment. Catholic'bishops, repre-
senting the largest denomina-
tion in Minnesota with close
to 1.1 million followers, have
come out in favor of it. Mem-
bers of the state's second -larg-
est denomination,theEvangel
ical Lutheran Church in Amer-
ica, with close to 800,000 ad-
herents, have overwhelmingly
voted against the amendment.
Evangelical leaders and con=
gregations have played major
roles in helping get marriage
amendment measures passed
in other states — from helping
raise money for pro- amend -
ment groups to canvassing
door -to- doorto preaching the
biblical -based belief that mar-
riage should be a union be-
tween a man and woman.
But with the lack of formal
support from leaders such
as Anderson and Piper a
writer of several books who
has an international following
through his Desiring God min-
istry — Minnesota evangelicals
may take a less active approach
in supporting the amendment,
said `Wendy Cadge, associ
ate professor of sociology
Brandeis University, who's
written about religion's role in
the same -sex marriage debate.
"Evangelicals are not mono-
lithic across the country," she
said. "It could 'be evangeli-
cals in Minnesota are slightly
different than evangelicals in
parts of the Deep South." .
Tony Jones, a Christian
theologian who's written
about Piper's ministry, said An-
derson and Piper's more neu-
tral approach may lead evan-
gelical pastors to give similar
sermons against homosexual-
ity but not explicitly advocate
that their flocks vote for the
amendment. iOr congregations
might refrain from addressing
the amendment altogether.
"I think Piper is probably
speaking for a lot of evangeli-
cal pastors when he says let's
stay ou t of politics for a while;'
Jones said.
Rose French • 612- 673 -4352
over golf course property
�- THREAT FROM B1 tempt at persuasion that I've
seen in m y entire time on the
Residents who packed the
City Council .chambers for
Tuesday's meeting gasped
when the mayor read the let-
ter aloud.
w h ) lace in our
council," Maguire said. "I've
never seen somebody actually
put to paper whatamounts to a
terroristic threat:'
Emotions have run high in
ere s no p Eagan since this past spring,
community for this kind of dis-
cussion,' Maguire said, waving
a copy of the letter. "I'm not,go-
ing to tolerate us lowering the
level of discourse on this issue
to this kind of garbage:'
The council voted unani-
m ously to 'proceed with the
process of changing Parkview's
land use from open space to
residential. It will require ap
proval by the Metropolitan
council and another vote
to become final.
Council Member Gary'
Hansen said the city has tried
to make the Parkview discus-
sion a 'very deliberate process
that, I think, was fair to both
sides of the issue:'
Neither he nor the mayor
blames neighbors who have or-
ganized opposition as being re-
sponsible for sendingthe anon -
ymous.packets or the threaten-
ing letter.
"You'd like to think an Eagan
resident would not do such a
thing," Hansen said.
Both said it would be wrong
to disregard the threat, but ex-
pressed more disappointment
than fear for having received it.
"This is clearly the most
extreme, overly emotional at-
when Hunter Emerson bought
Parkview with plans to build
175 houses on 80 -acre prop-
erty.
The course's , owners have
said that keeping it open isn't fi
nancially feasible. They say it's
been losing money every year
as golf participation declines.
Many neighbors have pro-
tested that the homes would
ruin the bucolic open space
they enjoy, draw more traffic
to nearby streets and endanger
the environment. They have
been joined in their protests
by fans of Parkview, which is
known for its accessibility, long
open season"andpromoton of
youth golf.
In addressing, the council
during Tuesday's meeting, Pat-
rick a spokesmanfor
a group of neighbors, said they
disregarded the anonymous
packet they received.
"We didnothingwiththose,"
Campbell said. 'We didn't think
they were appropriate:'
Discussion at the meet-
ing was orderly and calm but
lengthy, lasting until 12:30 a.m.
Wednesday.
Katie Humphrey •952- 746 -3286
Citizens studied and commented on plans fora'17 5-unit housing
development at a meeting of the Eagan CityCouncil on Tuesday.
Death threat i's received