Five Priorities

for Wayzata

Protect Wayzata’s small town character

Wayzata has become a Regional Destination, attracting many new visitors to our city. We are a vibrant, creative, beautiful community on the lake – it’s not surprising guests are drawn to Wayzata. However, more visitors means more traffic, crowds, noise, behaviors and increased costs to navigate. It is of utmost importance that we maintain the friendly, quiet and safe small town atmosphere we all enjoy. Now is a critical time to make thoughtful, data-driven decisions to protect Wayzata’s unique character amidst significant growth.

Maximize economic impact from visitors

Wayzata has experienced increased costs associated with our growth as a Regional Destination, particularly with the addition of the Panoway. We should be looking closely at a wide range of opportunities to capture revenue from visitors to cover these increased costs without adding financial burden to Wayzata residents. 

Sensible development with a long-term view for Wayzata’s future

The design, traffic flow, zoning and retail character of our major business districts, including Lake Street and Wayzata Boulevard, have a significant impact on both the character and livability of our community.  Upcoming significant developments will continue to shape our downtown. There are important decisions that will have long-lasting effects on the small town character and charm of our city.

Keep Wayzata’s neighborhoods quaint and livable for residents

Maintaining neighborhoods where residents are able to live, work and play in Wayzata helps to strengthen the fabric of our community. We should be proactive in shaping policies that influence the character of our existing neighborhoods, including how we manage short-term rentals, development proposals and zoning issues that would disrupt the unique small-town feel of our community. Wayzata also has a considerable inventory of rentable property for a community of our size - 34% of Wayzata residents are currently renters. It is critical that we protect those units.

Responsible budgets that deliver quality and value to Wayzata residents

We need to carefully scrutinize our city budget and make sure we are operating as effectively as possible.  We are fortunate that our city taxes are lower than surrounding cities and that the percent (19%) of our property taxes that go to city government is lower than surrounding cities.  We should also be concerned that our city levy increased almost 9% last year. Every line item should be challenged, and the expense justified.  I bring decades of experience in the corporate environment managing budgets of comparable size where we closely scrutinized budgets annually.  We need this discipline and rigor in the city budgeting process.