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B <br />DESCRIPTION OF APPLICATION <br />FOR AMENDMENT AND EXTENSION OF <br />CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT <br />WJM PROPERTIES. L.L.C. <br />12520 Wayzata Boulevard <br />Minnetonka, Minnesota 55305 <br />Regarding Property: 2605 Wayzata Boulevard West, Orono <br />EXTENSION <br />WJM Properties, L.L.C. (Applicant) requests that the construction <br />completion deadline for site improvements pursuant to its Conditional Use Permit <br />be extended to December 31, 2004. The extension is necessary because Applicant <br />has not yet obtained the acceptable permits from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed <br />District for site improvements (impervious surfaces). While an Application for Permit <br />was properly submitted, the Watershed District imposed unacceptable conditions for <br />approval of Site Plan work. The Site Plan proposed by Applicant involves minimal <br />grading and elevation changes. The Watershed District has insisted on wetland <br />protection for more than 76,000 square feet (1.74 acres) of claimed “wetland" and <br />“buffer" areas. <br />Specifically, the Watershed District imposed as a condition for permit approval, a <br />Perpetual Wetlands Declaration protecting all claimed wetlands on site with a 16.5 ft. <br />buffer surrounding each wetland. Such a Declaration is unacceptable to the Applicant <br />since 4 of the 5 wetlands on site are not subject to the Watershed District’s jurisdiction. <br />The Wetland Conservation Act expressly exempts certain wetlands from its regulations. <br />Exemptions are provided for public and private drainage systems and for wetlands that <br />occur as a result of actions that were taken for a purpose other than creating wetlands. <br />(Wetland Conservation Act; Chapter Two, Exemptions 2 and 5) <br />Four of the five wetlands delineated on the project site are manmade drainage <br />ditches which are exempt from regulation. WJM Properties intends to proceed with <br />formal procedures to determine the exempt status of wetlands on site. It is expected <br />that the procedures will be time consuming to complete. In the interim. Watershed <br />District Regulations do not allow any additional hard cover without a Watershed permit. <br />Said Regulations also prohibit changing the rate or volume of surface water flows <br />without a Watershed permit. Consequently, Applicant can not proceed with Site Plan <br />improvements that will add impervious surfaces or change drainage patterns until the <br />exempt status of wetlands have been determined Applicant intends to continue with <br />site improvements that do not add new impervious surfaces and do not change <br />drainage patterns. These site improvements will include parking lot lighting on the east <br />parking lot. and planting islands in the east parking lot.