The workshop was set up as a game, but the results will be taken seriously. "Your ideas and input are going to mold the future of the community," Mayor Bob Roepke told the 75 participants.

When the township is developed, it will be "kind of like closing the door on the city of Chaska," said Chaska Township Board Chairperson Jim Holasek.

The group had gathered at the Chaska Community Center on June 26 to create potential residential designs for the township, which will eventually be part of Chaska.

An urban planning firm, Calthorpe Associates, will study the designs and incorporate some of the principles into their own "Smart Growth" proposals. The city will then use Calthorpe's designs as templates for guiding land use in Chaska Township.

"It does help people like Calthorpe get a feel for what people want, rather than a top-down approach," said Julius "Jules" Smith, Metropolitan Council representative and Chaska resident. "This was one (project) the council really wanted to do," Smith said. (The Metropolitan Council is paying for Calthorpe's services through a "Smart Growth" grant.)

Smith said the planning process was "déjà vu all over again." Smith was in on the ground floor during Chaska's "New Town" development of Jonathan in the late 1960s and early 1970s, serving as counsel for the Jonathan Development Corporation. Elements of the plans, such as walkways and greenspace, echo Jonathan's design, Smith said.

Other former Jonathan officials also attended the workshop, including JDC architect Reynold "Curly" Roberts. Several current and former city officials also attended the meeting.

The workshop drew from a large cross-section of the community. Bernice Barris, 76, represented the Chaska Moravian Church at the meeting. Her family has owned land in Chaska Township since 1940. Her brother, former township chairperson Merrill Ekstrom, now owns the family farm. "I haven't done anything like this before," Barris commented.

Timothy Rood, a Calthorpe Associates planner, spoke to the crowd about creating a pedestrian friendly, rather than auto-oriented, neighborhood. He told to the crowd to work around the site's creeks and create "ecological corridors." Rood also told the group to create 40 to 160-acre neighborhoods - the distance covered in a five-minute walk, he added.

The neighborhoods could hold a few retail shops, Rood said, but "It's not going to be a second downtown."

Township concerns

The township game board stretched from Chaska's current western border to the future Highway 312. A sliver of Chaska Township remains on the west side of Highway 312. The city plans a "greenbelt" for the area, which would create a physical border by only allowing low-density (four units per 40 acres) development.

Holasek, who was elected to the township board last March, said he felt the planning process was "a bit premature." The greenbelt excludes a portion of the township, which should be considered "as a whole rather than a half," Holasek said.

"It's good to get ideas, as long as things stay flexible (and) the city doesn't use just this for planning. It looks good on paper, but the financial (aspects) might not work for a developer."

"This is going to take time, it's not going to happen overnight," he said. The township has formed a committee to develop questions and concerns about future development, Holasek said. "There are issues we haven't been able to work out with the city because the township, in the past, has ignored the city."

Holasek's family owns 300 acres in Chaska Township. Other Chaska township residents were also concerned about the plans. Table 6, which included three township residents, placed its game pieces for residential development on the west side of the highway in the proposed greenbelt.

Township resident Mike Meyer was a workshop participant. He lives on a 3½-acre parcel of land. "I've hunted out there. Now they're talking about placing houses on it. I'm glad they're giving it a lot of thought," Meyer said. "I want it to be a nice neighborhood I'm proud of."

Game pieces

"This is why you become a planner ... to see people excited about land use," said smiling City Planner Kevin Ringwald, who had applied for the Smart Growth grant. "All of the people have ownership on what's happening," he added.

The groups used hundreds of tiny game pieces. Each had an icon and a label, such as "standard-lot single family," "amphitheater," "housing over retail," and "elementary school." For almost two hours, the groups positioned the icons on the map, and used string to denote roads and trails.

At one table, former planning commissioner Bob Moeller asked his table to create a "park amenity," by bringing all of the water ponds close together.

At another table, a Chaska High School senior was promoting paths along natural areas. The workshop is "getting the community more involved with what youth wants and needs," she said.

Joyce Bohn, proprietor of downtown's bed and breakfast Peacock Inn, wanted to see alleys in the development.

When the tables completed their maps, they taped down the pieces, and presented their findings to the rest of the group. Table 1 asked for a "chain of ponds." Table 2 placed a 1,000-person capacity amphitheater next to a cemetery, 'because you're not going to bother as many people," said police officer Brady Juell. Table 3 stressed trails along the bluffs.

Most of the groups came up with names (most lighthearted) for their neighborhood, such as Roepke Ridge and Schnitzelbank Vista.

Rood commented that he saw many common elements among the maps. Most of the designs had an elementary school located in the center, and a trail along Creek Road. The designs also had "lots of neighborhoods with blended-type housing," Rood said. In about a month, Calthorpe employees will present their findings during an open house.

"Everybody's a new urbanist at heart," Ringwald said.