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Lake Elmo beats back developers and Met Council—but at a cost.

Prior Lake residents take note. Lake Elmo has been battling developers, sprawl, and the Met Council for over 30 years. Residents there don’t want more roads, housing projects, tacky strip malls, gas stations and all the traffic, noise and environmental degradation that comes with them. In elections they’ve sent pro-growth council members packing along with eight city managers of the same stripe. Even the mighty Met Council, and its threats of million dollar fines, has been forced to back down. What’s been done there can be done here, but it takes a united effort, and it leaves scars. Read on: