01-09-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING DECEMBER 12, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 11 of 14 and they have not seen an actual plan. Mr. Johnson is asking to take over public space to create what? They do not know if it will be 3 lots, 5 lots, 7 lots. As property owners, they all have a right to know because they all bought property around this beautiful, pristine area based on what the area was. As the City Council their obligation is to the entire City not just to Mr. Johnson or one property owner. Until he comes up with an actual plan that they can all stand behind and look at, she does not think it is fair or ethical to make a recommendation that he gets this public land. Printup thanked the public for their comments. Seals asked to clarify if in 2018 the City Council was not in support of the non-conforming lots but were in support of vacation of the easements. City Planner Curtis replied in the affirmative. In 2018 the application included the 10 acre piece to the west which showed a number of lots that did not meet width requirements of the district. She noted the 10 acre piece is zoned 2 acres and those on the east side of Hattie Place are one acre lots. Crosby clarified legitimately one could put in three lots there. Curtis replied in the affirmative. Crosby noted in 2018 the City Council supported a vacation. Seals asked when they vacate easements of a similar nature, what is the order of events. Do they vacate roads first, does one need to show the plans first, or is it flexible. Curtis replied a vacation request can come with a development plan or it can be done by a property owner wishing to vacate the public space within their property for whatever purpose. After application, City Staff does analysis, they publish to the utility companies, publish to the DNR if it accesses the lake, they receive feedback and once determination is made that decision goes to the County. The County looks at the original plat and assigns that land to the parcels. For example, the western 30 feet of Hattie Place has been vacated and is now part of the 10 acre piece; the 30 feet would be assigned back to the eastern half and is fully within the home park plat and will not be vacated to the property to the north because it did not come from that land originally. Crosby spoke about precedence noting other lots have had vacations so the homes are there. He is a property rights believer and as long as people are abiding by the rules with setbacks and conformity, it is not up to the City to direct that. Cleaning up some of these issues around the City is important noting some easements are there because of horse and buggy trails which are not applicable today and some go right through the bottom of the lake. He asked what is the purpose in having them there? Basically it is to prevent someone from building on their private property or to control what they can do with their own land. Crosby asked the man who said to look at the crowd tonight to look in the mirror as he would not want that done to his private land.