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Community profile: Bayport

Note: This is one of a series of community profiles, intended to highlight issues faced by local governments as they begin the process of updating their comprehensive plans.

Long stable in population, the city is ready for a growth spurt

Unless hundreds of cars are pouring out of Andersen Windows at the end of the day shift, Bayport is a fairly quiet town. The main street through town (not to be confused with Maine St.) is lined with homes, small businesses, a school, churches, city hall and a city library.

“We’ve got small town feel here, the recreational pluses of the St. Croix River and lots of other amenities,” said Mayor Rick Schneider. Because it is an older community, much of the housing is still relatively affordable, he added.

Bayport’s early history shapes the present. The city was once three villages – Baytown, Bangor and Middleton – platted by lumbermen in the 1850s. The villages were combined to form South Stillwater in 1873, and the name was changed to Bayport in 1922.

In 1913, Andersen Windows, located in Hudson, Wisconsin, built a new factory with 59 workers in South Stillwater. One year later, the state opened a new prison there. Today, Andersen employs 4,500 workers at its Bayport facility. The prison employs 550 people and houses 1,400 inmates, close to half of the city’s population.

Stable population ready for a growth spurt

The population of Bayport has stayed relatively stable for several decades. But now that Inspiration has hit, growth is coming.

Inspiration is the name of a new development on top of the river bluffs in the western part of the city that comprises 245 acres, 70 percent of which are set aside in permanent conservation easement. On the remaining land will be 253 single-family homes and a 62-unit cooperative for senior citizens. The conservation easement and part of the housing development is being restored to native tallgrass prairie, oak savannah and wetlands.

When completed, the development is expected to add an estimated 1,000 people to the city. Sewer is also being extended to a small infill project that includes 12 new homes and 13 additional parcels along Highway 95. The Metropolitan Council forecasts that the city’s population will grow from 3,162 in 2000 to 4,600 in 2010.

Looking to the future

Bayport provides services, including fire protection, to Oak Park Heights and nearby townships. The city recently extended municipal water service to Baytown, which has problems with polluted private wells. According to city administrator Mike McGuire, Bayport “has no interest” in annexing land from adjacent townships. As development spreads more intensely into the county in the future, he said, “at some point it might make sense.”

Access to the city is easy via Highway 95, which intersects Hwy. 36 just to the north of the city and I-94 a few miles south. Schneider said he doesn’t think a new bridge crossing over the St. Croix north of the city will have a huge impact on Bayport other than making it more convenient for workers in Wisconsin to get to their jobs at the prison and Andersen.

The city is currently redeveloping its four parks, including refurbishing the beach and bathhouse at Lakeside Park. Bayport is also working jointly with Oak Park Heights, Lake Elmo, Stillwater and the Stillwater School District on plans for a major community center. Courage Center, the YMCA and United Way are also part of the discussion.

McGuire doesn’t anticipate any contentious issues or major changes as the city updates its comprehensive plan by 2008. They will hold public meetings to get input, but the meetings aren’t likely to draw as many people as did the hearings about the development that ultimately evolved as Inspiration, he said.

-- published July 2006 --