In the September Edition of the Edina paper are listed 19 developments in Edina. It doesn’t include 4 recently completed and 14 additional projects at various stages of approval that will change the character of Edina for the worse.

Edina’s population is set to explode in the near future. The number of apartments will grow from 2,371 in 2017 to 8,230 or more in a few years. The Metropolitan Council projected Edina’s population in 2040 to be 55,100. I project population to grow to 66,000 as a result of this development, in just the next few years.

The Mayor and the City Council are rushing to approve development that will push population 20% higher than 2040 projections. They have not looked at the cumulative effects of this building boom. Do you want 20% more traffic on our streets in the next few years? Can we support 20% more kids in our schools? Are our parks and infrastructure capable of keeping up with the demand?

The mayor and city council only look at individual projects without understanding the impact of all of them on the residents. I live near 50th and France. The traffic level is terrible. It will get worse. An extra 100 apartments on Nolan Mains at Market Street and another project on the Edina Cleaners site adding another 30 apartments will increase the gridlock.

The city is considering adding an additional 1150 apartments on the “Lid” over Highway 100 at 50th. The city study of traffic for the “Lid” project did not consider any impact on traffic between there and France Ave. That is the distance of the 4th of July parade. Of course it will make the gridlock even worse.

The mayor and city council needs to tell Edina residents the total impact of all these decisions before anything else goes further. We need to understand the total impact on our city before we go further.

Development has been a good thing to grow jobs near where we live, increase property values and keep our taxes lower than neighboring cities. However, reckless development can change the city we love irreparably.

I feel the mayor and city council needs to place a moratorium on approving any additional development. They need to let Edina residents know what the total impact of these developments on traffic, schools, parks and infrastructure. They need to get informed feedback from residents.

If that doesn’t happen before the November election, vote for someone other than the two incumbents.