06-10-2019 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, May 20, 2019 6:30 o'clock p.m. NEW BUSINESS 1. LA19-000017 STEVE AND JENNIFER PAIDOSH, 4300 NORTH SHORE DRIVE, RIGHT-OF-WAY VACATION, 6:32 P.M. — 7:18 P.M. Steve Paidosh, Applicant, was present. Curtis stated the applicants are requesting to vacate the unimproved right-of-way of Bluff Street and a portion of the undeveloped right-of-way of Forest Boulevard directly abutting their property to the east. The rights-of-way were originally dedicated with the plat of Saga Hill Revised. There is an existing City storm water catch basin and pipe in the right-of-way. Part of the applicant's proposal includes providing an easement over these structures. The challenge with vacating rights-of-way is that vacation is final. Should the public or the City desire access to the lake or have utility needs in the future, the cost to taxpayers to reacquire lake frontage will be at a premium. Vacation reduces options for the City in the future. While the City will consider requests for vacations, these particular rights-of-way have improvements and vacation is not supported by state statute. The importance of access to the lake is outlined in the Comprehensive Plan. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has reviewed the vacation request and provided comments. The DNR opposes the vacation. Their analysis indicated that the proposed vacation does not provide a public benefit, nor does it protect future public use of the land to access the lake as the statute dictates. Written comments from the other abutting neighbor have been received and have been included in the Planning Commission packet. The Planning Staff should review whether the requested vacation follows the Comprehensive Plan, whether the request meets the statutory requirements for approval, and whether approving this action would set a precedent for future lake access vacations. Staff recommends denial of the request to vacate the two rights-of-way because the vacation does not meet the criteria for approving a vacation as outlined in the state statute. Erickson stated he noticed in Staff's report that it references the draft guideline in Sections 4A and 4E, but for the quotation of Section 4A, the second half was left out. Erickson asked why that was omitted. That section reads as follows: "In addition to Orono's relatively small lake access corridors, other governmental agencies own and operate significant larger lake access properties in Orono. These include the DNR Maxwell Bay access, Hennepin County's North Arm access, and Hennepin County's Noerenberg Gardens Memorial Park. These three large facilities benefit from metro transit bus service on County Road 51 frontage and are used regularly by visitors from the greater metropolitan/Hennepin County area and beyond." Erickson noted that the Hennepin County boat ramp at 3700 North Shore Drive is a two -minute drive from the site that is being considered now and the state DNR boat ramp at 3366 North Shore Drive is a three-minute drive. Ressler asked whether there are any questions for Staff regarding the application.