Controversy After Mpls. Marks 'Park' Off Limits
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Two months after storms slammed the Twin Cities, downed and weakened trees are still getting in the way.
In an area of undeveloped land that sits right on the border of Edina, St. Louis Park and Minneapolis, the storms knocked down several trees, and the city of Minneapolis decided to post "no trespassing" signs.
People who live nearby say the land is a quiet getaway, and they hope to see the signs removed soon.
"It's the last place on Earth that's like this," said Damon Moss, a neighbor.
Several neighbors in the 40th and France area say the property has become their daily sanctuary.
"It's a dog park, it's a mountain bike trail, kids built tree houses in here," Moss said. "It's everybody's place, you know.n
Days after the severe storms in June, Moss noticed the signs surrounding the land.
"All of a sudden one morning, [I saw] 'no trespassing' signs. We were kind of worried, like...what are they going to do with this?" Moss said. "With zero communication, in this day in age, you just assume a fence is going up and they're going to make apartments."
The city of Minneapolis says the downed trees present safety concerns. A woman died in nearby Eden Prairie when a tree fell on her this summer.
While Minneapolis takes safety in this case seriously, they do say they're moving as quickly as possible to remove the dangerous trees. The city is confident the trees will be removed this fall and some of these signs will be taken down.
"If they would've just put a sign up that said that the first day, there would've been no other controversy," Moss said.
The city says it plans to remove potentially dangerous trees from the areas used most by residents.
Once the trees are gone, they say they will make the decision whether or not to take down the "no trespassing" signs.
