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Eagan panel recommends guide-plan change for former Blue Cross campus; environmental review required
Summary
The planning commission recommended that a proposed comprehensive guide plan amendment for the former Blue Cross Blue Shield campus proceed to City Council and Met Council review; commissioners said environmental and traffic analyses (EAW or AUAR and traffic impact study) will be required before final decisions on subdivision, zoning, or site design.
The Advisory Planning Commission voted to forward a proposal by Opus Development Company to re-guide roughly 41.5 acres of the former Blue Cross Blue Shield campus from Major Office to a mix of Business Park, Medium-Density Residential and High-Density Residential, subject to Metropolitan Council and environmental review.
City staff outlined the concept plan: approximately 24.5 acres for business-park uses (an illustrative total near 460,000 square feet across several buildings), roughly 10.5 acres shown for about 126 townhome units, and about 6.5 acres illustrated for high-density residential (staff and applicant estimated an illustrative total near 500 apartment units). Staff emphasized that the concept is illustrative only, that the proposal triggers state environmental thresholds, and that the developer must complete either an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) or an area-wide AUAR before Met Council will consider the amendment.
Joe Mahoney, representing Opus Development, said the AUAR process would let the developer and the city study traffic, utilities, stormwater, wetlands and other impacts and refine a preferred development option. “This is the best concept that we have today,” Mahoney said, adding that he did not expect the final development to look identical to the submitted concept and that the AUAR would guide choices about the site plan and building form.
During a lengthy public-comment period residents near the Blue Cross campus raised repeated concerns about traffic on Ashbury Road, Blackhawk Road and Blue Cross Road; pedestrian and school safety; tree removal and neighborhood character; parking and noise; and whether notice had been sufficient. Multiple residents asked that ball fields remain or be relocated in a way that preserves neighborhood access; some urged the commission to require greater buffering between business park uses and adjacent single-family neighborhoods.
Commissioners stressed that the commission was considering a policy-level guide-plan amendment rather than final site plans. Several members said further technical studies—specifically the AUAR/EAW and a traffic impact analysis—are necessary and would return to commissions and the public for detailed review. Member Black moved to recommend approval; the motion passed 6–1. The item will be on the City Council agenda on June 2 and must go to the Met Council for land-use review after environmental materials are completed.
Next steps: the applicant must complete environmental review (EAW or AUAR) and a traffic-impact analysis; subsequent rezoning, subdivision and detailed site-plan applications will return for public hearings and separate approvals.
