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Community profile: Oakdale

Suburb keeps up with redevelopment

Oakdale, a community bisected by the I-694 beltway in the east metro, offers its residents accessibility, commerce and nature.

On the one hand, four major highways cross or border Oakdale. Commercial and industrial development has spread in the city to take advantage of easy access to the region’s transportation network. Residents can commute quickly to a variety of locations in the metro area. 

At the same time, the city’s topography of gently rolling hills and abundant wetlands puts nature just outside the door of a large share of residents. With 24 miles of paved trails and about 475 acres of parks, people can enjoy a variety of recreational and nature-oriented activities.

Parks system a great resource

Oakdale Mayor Carmen Sarrack cites the community’s parks system as one of its greatest strengths. In April, Oakdale celebrated the grand opening of the Discovery Nature Center, which anchors the 200-acre Oakdale Nature Preserve. At another large park, Richard Walton Memorial Park, residents can play soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, and tennis, hear concerts, enjoy a picnic and bring their children to a new tot lot.

While classified as a developing suburb in the Metropolitan Council’s 2030 Regional Development Framework, Oakdale is nearing full development and is putting redevelopment opportunities front and center in its new 2030 comprehensive plan.

“The City has been very proactive in identifying and working to get aging residential and commercial areas redeveloped before they begin to grow in numbers and problems,” said Bob Streetar, Oakdale’s community development director.

For example, in partnership with the Washington County HRA, Habitat for Humanity and the Two Rivers Community Land Trust, the City is working to redevelop a deteriorating mobile home park. Plans call for a total of 126 units, including affordable rental townhomes, senior housing and affordable single-family ownership housing.

The City’s top commercial redevelopment priorities are a 10-acre strip on the southwest side of Tanner’s Lake and the aging Oakdale Mall at I-694 and 10th St. N. The City sought legislation this spring to expand its tax-increment-financing capabilities to aid the redevelopment efforts. (As of this writing, the outcome of the legislation was uncertain.) 

Housing in Oakdale is relatively affordable, said Brent Brommer, Oakdale planning director. As the city developed rapidly in the 1990s and early in this decade, “we had quite an influx of starter housing,” he said. The City is encouraging the construction of move-up housing, as well as loan programs to help people rehabilitate older homes and remodel smaller homes so that people can remain in their neighborhoods.

While easy access to major highways makes Oakdale an easy community for driving commuters, the popularity of transit is growing, too. This year, Metro Transit’s park-and-ride lot at Guardian Angels Church on the frontage road to I-94 will be expanded from 200 to 435 parking spaces. A loading platform and bus shelter will be added.

Water supply and safety

The city’s water supply is being monitored closely since the discovery in 2004 of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in seven of the city’s eight public wells. One of the sources of the pollutants is recognized as a former 3M Company landfill in Oakdale, now a federal Superfund site. 3M paid for installation of a carbon treatment facility for two city wells that have PFCs in excess of state health standards, and is paying to clean up the site. “3M has been great to work with [in addressing the problem],” Sarrack said.

Comprehensive plan near completion

The city’s comprehensive plan update is near completion. Residents have been involved in the update through a community advisory group, public workshops and other meetings, and an interactive web page.

By state law, all communities and counties in the Twin Cities area are required to update their comprehensive plans every 10 years. The Metropolitan Council reviews the plans for consistency with regional plans for transportation, aviation, water resources, and parks and open space. Comprehensive plans are due to the Council by the end of 2008.