To view a map of tribal land holdings, open attachment below.

By Shannon Fiecke

Just as the city of Shakopee says a major land purchase by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community threatens the city’s plans for the eastern part of town, the tribe maintains the purchase is essential for its future.

Tollefson Development’s recent sale of 242 acres along Eagle Creek Boulevard to the tribe has put a major kink in the city’s plans for that area — such as a new school there, a park, future fire station and utility needs of other developable lands.

But while Shakopee worries what the land deal might mean for its development plans, the tribal community doesn’t know what it would do without such purchases.

Tribal officials, in a recent interview, explained why they buy available land in the area, including the former Shutrop property they purchased from Tollefson in October.

The tribal administration’s policy has been to purchase tracts of land near the reservation and bank it for future growth, said Stanley Ellison, the community’s land and natural resources manager.

"The tribe has to plan for its future," he said. "It has to look out multiple generations."

The tribe believes that time is running out for it to secure land for future generations to live on.

According to the city, the tribe owns or controls nearly 2.5 square miles in Shakopee — about 10 percent of the land in Shakopee. The city maintains that the tribe now owns one-third of developable land in Shakopee — a figure the tribe believes is much lower.

Even if the tribe doesn’t need more land for the present, if it doesn’t buy property now, when it comes time for the tribe to grow, there will be nowhere for it to grow because the land surrounding the reservation will already be developed, Ellison said.

Whereas most people can sell their home and move if they don’t like where they live, the tribe can’t do that, he said.

Ellison said the tribe maintains a 50-year planning horizon because such planning is part of the tribal culture and also because the tribe has a better idea of what its future population will be than a city would.

Tribal officials said the tribe’s intention is to not have land that’s scattered about, but to have a reservation that’s cohesive — both for efficiency and community sake.

It only considers buying property if it’s functional, in the right place and being sold for the right price, Ellison said.

Within the next couple years, the tribe will likely develop a broad-based plan for what it will do with the land purchased in October, but it won’t include gaming.

Only original reservation land or property placed in trust before 1990 can be used for gaming purposes, tribal officials said.

Most of the tribe’s undeveloped land can’t legally be used for gaming. And it’s highly unlikely the tribe would establish any more gaming in places where it could go, said tribal general counsel Willie Hardacker.

Ellison said Tollefson approached the tribe about purchasing the land on Eagle Creek Boulevard in eastern Shakopee. Because of the soft housing market and other factors, he said the developer wanted to get rid of the property.

All of that land was originally owned by the Shutrop family. And 128 acres of it was purchased by Tollefson and resold to the tribe the same day.

The Shutrops were upset when they found out about the sale of the land, which they thought was going to be partly used for a retirement community. The continuation of a city park in the family’s name was also planned for part of the property.

The Shutrops said they told Tollefson they didn’t want the tribe to buy the land. In a letter to the Valley News, the family said it has nothing against the tribe, but it doesn’t agree with the practice of putting tribal land into trust.

Tribal land is put into trust when the federal government takes ownership of it. This gives the tribe much more control over the property and also removes it from property tax rolls. Non-trust land is treated like other property — subject to the authority of the city and county.

Although he wasn’t aware the Shutrops told Tollefson they didn’t want the tribe to have the land, Ellison said it doesn’t surprise him.

He said the tribe had every right to purchase the property and the Shutrops lost their rights to control what happened to it the moment they sold.

The family could have chosen to develop the land themselves, he said, or donated part of it to the city for the park.

Less than two months prior to the sale, Tollefson sought city feedback on a new concept plan for the land, but its ideas met resistance from city staff.

Tollefson declined an interview with the Valley News about the land sale, but issued this statement:

"Tollefson Development worked with the City of Shakopee on the development of the parcel, but could not come together on a plan that was satisfactory to both parties."

With that land not going to be developed by Tollefson, the city says it may be not be physically or economically feasible to extend utilities to about eight other undeveloped parcels in eastern Shakopee. The city had planned to bring utilities through the Shutrop properties.

Ellison said the tribe would be willing to work on these issues with the city and all it has to do it ask.

He said the tribe consulted the city’s infrastructure plans when the tribe planned for an even larger parcel of land it already owns along County Road 83.

The city wanted to extend Valley View Road through there and the tribe plans to build that road —although it will likely be curvier than one the city would have built in order to discourage speeding.

The tribe also plans to have a stormwater runoff channel through the land — although it will use natural swale to carry the water.

The Shakopee City Council was scheduled to hear an update last week on how the recent land sale will affect future city parks, fire station sites and sewer and water utility connections. The informational presentation was moved to next Tuesday.

In the past, city councilors have said they’ve had trouble trying to establish dialogue with the tribe concerning future land uses.

City leaders say they want to have the same relationship with the tribe that they share with other local governments, but tribal officials don’t feel the city always treats the tribe with the respect it deserves as a sovereign governmental entity.

Ellison said the tribe is willing to work with any other government that recognizes the tribe as a government with its own governmental responsibilities.

Tribal officials say they really haven’t had all that much to discuss with Shakopee, unlike in the city of Prior Lake, where most tribal development has taken place.

Most interaction happens at a staff level anyway, they said, and the city and tribe talk when need be. For instance, the tribe says it allowed the city to use tribal land when it extended a utility pipe along County Road 83, a cheaper alternative for the city.

Tribal officials said they’ve established a working relationship with Prior Lake, such as purchasing utility services from that city for a disconnected piece of tribal land. They point to how Prior Lake consulted the tribe when handling a plat application for a housing development so it would complement land the tribe owns across the street. They even share road equipment.

Shakopee officials point out that the tribe didn’t mention the forthcoming sale of the Shutrop property during a meeting between the mayor and the tribal chairman. They say the city and tribe need to consult each other on land-use plans so each will make wise infrastructure decisions.

Ellison said it’s not a smart business practice for the tribe to share information about land negotiations until a sale is final, but once the recent property sale was recorded, it became public.

Meanwhile, the tribe questions why the city didn’t approach the tribe with its concerns about utility complications before complaining publicly.

County officials, who also had plans for the land sold to the tribe, are less concerned about it than city leaders.

The county has planned to extend County Road 21 on the former Tollefson land and was also negotiating the sale of some property from Tollefson for a transit station.

Ellison said tribal members also have a need for using County Road 21 to get up to Highway 169 and the tribe has no problem with the road going through.

In fact, the tribe had already worked with the county on the road design because the road was already going to impact other tribal property.

The tribe is discussing the transit station concept with the county.