Friends of Northern Heights Neighborhood Park
Friends of Northern Heights Neighborhood Park
We Need Your Help Protecting and Restoring NHP
Rochester has designated Northern Heights Park as a High Priority Natural Area in the Natural Area Management Plan, which states the goal is for restoration of native species and wildlife corridor. The Parks System Plan classifies the park as a Neighborhood Park.
Neighborhood parks are not to be used for Mountain Bike Trails - the Park & Rec System Plan designates NHP as a neighborhood park. There has been no attempt to reclassify the park as has been floated by some members of both the department and the board.
We are asking the Park and Rec Department and Board to do their due diligence and engage in a robust debate by surveying the neighborhood before approving plans for the park.
Key Dates:
Park Board Public Hearing July 16th at 4:30 pm at the Mayo Civic Center, Suite 101.
August 6th 4:30 pm, City of Rochester Website as locations do change. Friends of NHP website will be updated as details emerge.
Time is running short. We are asking everyone to contact the park board members with your concerns - direct emails are provided for ease of use, but we encourage you to use the email form to the park board members as it is what's provided on the city's website. That email form can be found here.
•Vickie Anderson, vickiejean28@gmail.com
•Mark Bilderback, markbild@yahoo.com
•Martin Cormack, marty.park.board@gmail.com
•Richard Dale, richarddale43@gmail.com
•Angela Gupta, angelaguptaprward2@gmail.com
•Gary Neumann, president, gneumann20a@gmail.com
•Chad Ramaker, chad_ramaker@hotmail.com
Park board members on not elected. They are appointed by the Mayor
Contact Mayor Kim Norton. She should hear from you, too.
knorton@rochestermn.gov
The City Council controls the money - send them a message, too.
Brooke Carlson, City Council President, bcarlson@rochestermn.gov
Office Phone: 507-328-2983
Patrick Keane, pkeane@rochestermn.gov
Cell Phone: 507-259-2870
Mark Bransford, mbransford@rochestermn.gov
Cell Phone: 507-254-4430
Norman Wahl, nwahl@rochestermn.gov
Phone: 507-328-2986
Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick, kkirkpatrick@rochestermn.gov
Phone: 507-271-1081
Shaun C. Palmer, palmerward5@gmail.com
Phone: 507-254-9484
Molly Dennis, mdennis@rochestermn.gov
Phone: 507-269-2916
Make it clear you oppose the MTB Trail in this High Priority Natural Area within the neighborhood park.
Welcome
Northern Heights Neighborhood Park with its woodlands and wetlands is a natural habitat area within Rochester that provides an oasis of green space, environmentally friendly recreation, and habitat for plant life and wildlife. Recreational uses include hiking, cross-country skiing, and birding. The land is dominated by watershed areas which makes it very suitable for woodlands and habitat for wild life, but very unsuitable for any development. The area is also part of the critical Decorah Edge geology which is strongly and appropriately protected by Olmsted County and Rochester City Unified Development Code, which indicates strictest rules apply (thereby deferring to Olmsted County Decorah Edge Ordinance, as no other mention of prevailing ordinance is mentioned within the UDC).
-
The park offers a respite to scores of residents of Rochester who enjoy nature and an opportunity to engage in low-impact activities.
-
The park is part of the Decorah Edge which supplies much of Rochester's drinking water to aquifers.
-
The area covers less than 1/10 of a square mile of mostly woodlands, wetlands, and natural areas.
Use the links in the navigation bar near the top of the page to read more about the various aspects of this precious natural resource our city and neighborhood is so fortunate to have.
​
Friends of NHP has been established to preserve and protect this neighborhood park and natural area.
As concerned citizens, our main focus is to protect the park and its unique ecosystem in the watershed.
Get to Know Us
We are a group of neighbors just wanting to do the best for the Northern Heights Neighborhood Park, as well as, our neighborhood and community.
We are your coworkers, your friends and neighbors of Northern Heights Park, dedicated to preserving the sensitive natural areas of Northern Heights Park and its importance in ecology and watershed.
We will be having park clean up and restoration dates. We would love to meet you and tackle the invasive species and together we can restore the park's natural habitat.
All events meet at: 817 Northern Hills Drive NE
HOW YOU CAN HELP
-
Reach out to the park board and city council members
-
Consider volunteering at one of our clean up and restoration efforts
-
Engage with our members to collaborate next steps
The Park Board gave RASC time to present their revised proposed MTB within the neighborhood park.
We were able to give a presentation on concerns and asked the Park & Rec Board to stop the plan from moving forward. You can watch the meeting in its entirety; both presentations and the Park Boards Responses HERE.
Park Restoration Efforts:
We are just getting started... Stay tuned.
We will update the site with any notable developments.
There is plenty of room for growth and opportunity to engage with citizens to enjoy the park.
Some suggestions are:
-
Living Classrooms
-
Community Rain Garden/Pollinator Garden
-
Sensory Development
-
Snow Shoeing
-
Geocaching
-
Naturalist Activities
