(posted Feb 4 2026)
I've spoken with many residents who have concerns about more development, both residential and commercial. There are pros and cons to everything, and there's also a general perception that Cottage Grove has had a recent surge in denser residential properties (such as HeyDay and Glen Grove).
My stance on development is twofold: we can't refuse everything, and a balance is best. In the past two years, the village board has rejected or otherwise not approved every single proposed development that's been brought to us. Villages and municipalities cannot go out "shopping" for residential or commercial projects - we have to negotiate on the opportunities that come forward. However, if we vote no or delay too long, applications and permits expire and these opportunities don't come back. Having zero development inevitably leads to only one option: paying for essential services like fire/EMS via referendum.
The correct approach in my view is to set conditions on developments. We can request that developers pay for expensive infrastructure like road upgrades, water & sewer, or many other service costs - and most of the time they are more than willing to do so! I also follow the market research from experts like the Chamber of Commerce, who found that there's more demand for the "missing middle" of housing. This falls between typical single-family homes and high-density apartments, and includes things like duplexes, "2x2" rentals, townhouses, courtyard complexes, and so on.
We could cut every single “optional” service like youth sports, parks, library programming, senior services - and we still would have plain old inflation increasing the cost of basic operations. Our taxes wouldn't go down, and we'd have no nice green space in which to sit and lament our lack of options. There is absolutely a need to consider our spending carefully, but just slashing budgets will never sustain our future.