06-24-2019 Council Work Session Packet

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CITY OF ORONO MEMORANDUM DATE: June 24, 2019 TO: Mayor Walsh, City Council members FROM: Jeremy Barnhart, AICP, Community Development Director RE: City Property At the request of an adjacent property owner, the City Council discussed 4 lake lots owned by the city on Crystal Bay Road at their workshop on May 13th. Later that evening, the Council discussed potential interest in another city owned parcel east of the Long Lake fire station on Willow Drive. For these issues, the Council directed staff to research and bring back additional information on all city lots for further Council discussion. The City of Orono owns or has control over a diverse list of properties, parcels, and rights of way. These properties and parcels are graphically shown by copying and pasting the following link in your browser: http://arcg.is/*XuDb. Paper maps are also provided. The dynamic map will be available at the worksession. The maps includes the 50 lake accesses as identified in the comprehensive plan, and 172 parcels which Hennepin County identifies as owned by the City of Orono, the Town of Orono, the Vil or Village of Orono. The map also shows land owned by Hennepin County Tax Forfeit, but the taxpayer is the City of Orono. Lastly, the map shows all of the Right of Way within the city, regardless of ownership/ control. City streets are shown in Blue, and non -city streets (private, County, or State) are shown in black. All 218 parcels (four parcels and lake accesses are duplicates) are included in the attached spreadsheet, along with a brief description of how these parcels are used. Staff has not researched how the parcels have been acquired, any deed or use restrictions, or the permissible method of distribution. The Council is asked to review the list, and provide initial feedback regarding its' appetite to pursue disbursement. Crystal Bay Lots The city owns the 4 lots on Crystal Bay Road, and may dispose of these at any time. Should an adjacent property buy the parcels, to place improvements on the property, current city ordinance requires these parcels to be combined; it does appear that the County will allow this combination. Be advised that sale and combination does not extinguish the bathing and boating rights already placed on the property. Developable land. On occasion, the city owns land or unimproved right of way that could be attached to adjacent developable land. The right of way at the northern end of Wildhurst, parcel 18, and parcel 15