Our family has been a part of the Rosemount, Minnesota community for four generations. Following the passing of my grandparents, we now face the task of subdividing the family land to dissolve their trust. Unfortunately, the city of Rosemount is treating us as if we are large developers, demanding we pay $7,000 per acre in stormwater trunk fees. These fees, from which we don't receive any direct benefit, are currently based on a flat rate per acre rather than the amount of impervious surface or necessary infrastructure.

There is an inconsistency in how these fees are levied compared to the guidelines outlined in the existing city stormwater documents. The current methodology assumes dense urban development, applying a uniform fee regardless of the actual burden placed on municipal resources by smaller or rural developments like ours. This method unfairly increases costs for families trying to responsibly manage and develop their land as intended by prior generations.

Rosemount's own stormwater documentation indicates that fees should fund the new development's public infrastructure requirements, ours and others like it in the rural portions of Rosemount require no such infrastructure. Precedent exists (development on corner of McAndrews Rd and Highway 3) where fees were assessed based on the amount of infrastructure demands, aligning more closely with a fair and equitable distribution of costs.

This flat fee structure is not just an oversight—it affects small landowners, farmers, and long-time community members who contribute to the unique character of Rosemount. It is time to advocate for a change that reflects the nuanced and varying needs of land development, ensuring that families like ours are not unequally penalized with fees that are unjustly assessed. There is more to this city than tract housing developments and Facebook data centers, it appears the city has forgotten this.

We urge the city council to reconsider their approach, bringing it in line with practices that would truly reflect each development's impact. Let us reform the stormwater trunk fee assessment to be fair, equitable, and reflective of actual public infrastructure demands. Your support is essential for making this necessary change. Please sign this petition to support fair stormwater practices in Rosemount.

Our current position is that in situations where there is no need for public infrastructure, that there should be no stormwater trunk fees. We understand that the city needs money to fund infrastructure. However, charging a fee per acre to all "developers" causes rural landowners to shoulder more than their fair share of the burden. 

Here  is a link to the justification report used at the inception of this fee. The introduction page and page 6 are worth reading to quickly learn about this fee.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like additional information on this subject.