01-19-2021 Planning Commission Packet

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Orono City Mayor Dennis Walsh Orono City Council Members October 26, 2020 Page 5 Mr. Barnhart admitted that the proposed ALS, identified in Exhibit 5 as Line C, is arbitrary (see the recording of the City Council Meeting dated September 14, 2020 at approximately the 42:50 mark) and that views will be compromised (see the recording of the City Council Meeting dated September 14, 2020 at approximately the 44:30 mark). Thus, the sole purpose of arbitrarily adjusting the ALS for the Jacobs property is to allow significantly greater density of homes than is presently permitted under the City of Orono's ordinances. At the September 14, 2020 City Council Meeting, concerns were raised about the ability of an owner to convert their property into a better ALS by subdividing the property. The Council appeared to be in agreement that if a single-family home were to be built on the Jacobs Property, the established ALS would apply. However, some Council members advocated that the council could ignore the established ALS ordinance and arbitrarily establish new ALS lines C & B, in order to accommodate a higher density subdivision of the Jacobs Property.3 This position ignores the detrimental impact such action has on neighboring property owners that have relied, for decades, on the ALS line established under ordinance, and clearly circumvents the City's own codes and variance standards. No authority was cited for the City's ability to use a plat approval as a means of circumventing its own ordinances other than some suggestion the City may have done it before. A mistake in the past is not justification for a mistake in the future. In our review of the city Ordinances, we have not identified anything in Sec. 78-1279(6), its history, or any other Orono ordinance that suggests or provides that long-standing ALS rules established by the City for the protection of neighboring property owners can be circumvented by the City arbitrarily modifying the ALS. We respectfully request that the City identify its authority for ignoring the established ALS and subjectively inserting its own new ALS for the property. In the absence of such authority, we believe an ordinance change is required to give the City authority to so modify the ALS. Impact of Circumventing ALS When the ALS ordinance is not enforced, property views quickly become compromised, building density and watershed increases, and property values can be adversely impacted. That is evident from the present circumstances. In recent years, the Jacobs Family Trust sold a number of parcels of land that were previously part of the current Jacobs Property. See Exhibit 6. The premium prices obtained for these parcels doubtless had some basis in the ALS limitations and the general public's understanding of the impact of the ALS on housing density and location around Lake Minnetonka. After obtaining premium prices for parcels previously sold, some of which were owned by the Jacobs Family Trust, the Jacobs Family Trust now wants to undermine the very ALS that supported higher prices by increasing the housing density of their remaining property to maximize its value. This is an unfair result to adjoining property owners, including property owners who purchased high priced neighboring lots owned by the Jacobs Family Trust, yet now are having their property ownership values impacted by the proposed arbitrary re-writing of the ALS to support a new seven lot development of 1700 Shoreline Drive. 3 Mr. Barnhart, at the City Planning Commission Meeting dated August 17, 2020, at approximately the 2:14:40 mark, stated the City goal was subdivisions and not to initiate or create variances. 5 6573570v1