04-13-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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April 13, 2020 To the honorable Orono Mayor Dennis Walsh and City Council members Re: Retaining wall in alley between 4156 &4167 Highwood Rd We are aware of the landscape project that occurred in the alley between 4156 and 4167 Highwood Rd, blatantly extending into the “alley or easement” owned by the City of Orono without prior permission from the city planners or its inspectors. No written notification was sent to surrounding neighbors for input, approval, or rebuttal of the project. I was at the council meeting in 2012 when the variance to build 4156 was issued. At that time, it was made clear to the homeowners that there would be restrictions on developing their lot, and that alley was used by many in the neighborhood for recreational access to the lake. As I have stated before the ally has been used by many folks in this neighborhood over the years for as long as I have lived here (1993) to gain recreational access to lake Minnetonka. This access needs to be maintained for future generations that will live in this neighborhood. The homeowners had blatant disregard for the rest of the neighborhood in trying to absorb the alley as part of their property. They knew from the day their house was permitted in 2012 that they had restrictions on their lot size to deal with. They should have contacted the city, pulled permits and followed the rules to deal with their erosion issues. there’s No excuses. We are opposed to any after the fact permit request. We ask council to reject the permit request, demand removal of the illegally built wall and restore the easement to full original continuous width to allow public access without restriction. We would also ask that the city consider marking the alleyway so it could be Maintained and used freely by the neighborhood without any opposition of the adjoining landowners Sincerely, Jim Cusack & Christine Grace 4140 Highwood Rd Orono, MN 55364 763-219-2787