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The land — now owned by Winona Radio — likely would be converted into a city park if acquired, Mayor Jerry Miller said Monday.
Later this summer, the city council is expected to vote on a separate proposal that would limit development on steep slopes and ridgelines throughout the city. But city leaders say Monday’s proposal would provide specific protection against development on a highly visible piece of unused blufftop land.
“If the idea is to protect key blufflands forever, then you acquire it,” said City Planner Mark Moeller.
The proposed site follows a ridgeline near the Winona Radio signal tower, and goes at least 250 feet back from the edge, Miller estimated.
Winona Radio owner Jerry Papenfuss has informally approached city leaders about developing five residential lots on the site, Moeller said.
Miller said he reached a tentative agreement with Papenfuss to buy the property for about $500,000. But Miller said he wants to gauge public support for the proposal before the council votes on it, likely in June.
“The council feels that there’s a pretty strong sentiment from the citizens to protect that bluff area,” Miller said.
The council is expected to vote on the larger blufftop ordinance in July. That ordinance would enact 50-foot development setbacks from blufftops and would limit building heights for an additional 100 feet.
Local activist groups such as Bluff Land Environment Watch want development to be limited by viewshed maps that determine if development would be visible from the Mississippi River. The group’s spokesman, Joe Morse, said he’s not sure whether Monday’s proposal would prevent development behind the site from being visible from the valley.
But the group feels the proposal is a step in the right direction, Morse said.
“We’re very happy this (issue of protecting bluffs) is being taken very seriously,” Morse said. “Any way that it gets done, we’re happy.”
Contact Mark Sommerhauser at (507) 453-3514 or msommerhauser@winonadailynews.com.
