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Residents urge council to move proposed Alimagnet Park pickleball complex over wetlands, noise and light concerns
Summary
Two Burnsville residents and a nearby homeowner told the City Council during public comment that the proposed pickleball expansion in Alimagnet Park could harm wetlands, degrade Alimagnet Lake and worsen living conditions for people sensitive to noise and light, including veterans with traumatic brain injuries.
Candace Victor and John Victor, longtime Burnsville residents, and Britney Kaldunski Leech, a homeowner near Alimagnet Park, used the City Council public-comment period to ask the council to consider moving a proposed outdoor pickleball complex out of Alimagnet Park.
The residents said the park and nearby Alimagnet Lake and associated wetlands are environmentally sensitive and already stressed by urban runoff. Britney K. Leech described wetlands as “among the most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems” and said Minnesota’s Wetlands Conservation Act of 1991 reflects long-standing local priorities to protect these areas.
Speakers cited several technical concerns about added impervious surface and stormwater. Leech summarized monitoring data the city provided on the record, noting that three monitored wetlands in the Alimagnet subwatershed have crossed or approached a 10% imperviousness threshold used in wetland-health metrics (listed in the meeting materials as B17, B6 and B4) and said additional impervious surface near the park would increase runoff and flood severity.
Candace Victor said the proposed courts and lighting are close to a residential facility she called “the Lodges,” which she said houses veterans and other people living with neurological conditions. Victor said medical literature shows traumatic brain injury and related conditions can include sensitivity to loud or unexpected noises and lights, and that such exposures can worsen post-traumatic stress and sleep disturbance. She said the presence of courts, lights and increased traffic “would drastically alter their current living situations” and asked the council to identify alternative indoor or outdoor sites for pickleball.
Speakers also described elements of the consultant’s mitigation plan presented to staff: a rain garden intended to capture some runoff, plus a sealed pipe that would convey excess stormwater toward Alimagnet Lake. Leech said that combination is “probably insufficient” given the lake’s long-standing water-quality problems, and urged the council to preserve remaining green space.
The remarks were made during the council’s public-comment period; no policy action or vote on the pickleball proposal occurred on the record at this meeting.
