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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />February 21, 2023 <br />6:00 o'clock p.m. <br />variances for the expanded retaining walls. Staff supports setback variances for the new wall footprint as <br />long as the change does not adversely impact neighboring properties and the slope stability on those <br />properties. The applicant provided a letter from their engineer with an opinion regarding the stability of <br />the slope on the neighboring properties and it was included in your packet as Exhibit H along with <br />comments from the public. Staff recommends approval of the setback variances for the wall <br />improvements as proposed and as they are constructed. Staff does not recommended approval of any <br />walls which encroach into the neighboring properties, and the applicant should be asked to confirm that <br />the work was not conducted beyond the property lines. If the applicant needs to construct improvements <br />on the neighboring properties, they should be providing consent for that work, and we should include that <br />in the permit. Staff further recommends the vegetative screening of the walls be implemented to screen <br />the new walls from the lake as much as feasible. <br />Libby asked if the destroyed walls that had to be removed had been permitted. <br />Curtis responded there is no record of a permit, but they have existed for quite some time. <br />McCutcheon asked to clarify if the last retaining wall is yet to be built on the very top. <br />Curtis explained the upper wall is constructed, but the applicant has decided they don't need to construct <br />an additional wall. They would like to make that wall 1.7 feet taller to accommodate the grade. <br />Josh Prust who works for Valdes Lawn Care and Snow and resides at 16016 Hidden Valley Road in <br />Minnetonka and Joe Valdes of Hastings, MN represented the applicant. <br />Mr. Valdes explained his company was hired to replace the burned -out retaining walls and stairs. His <br />recommendation would have been for a boulder wall because of the difficulty with constructing a timber <br />wall but that would have exceeded the allowed hard cover. Some of the problems included reduced <br />vegetation because of trees that were burned in the fire and the discovery of rotting timbers behind the <br />front timber walls. He said they tried to minimize the damage to the bluff and achieve good drainage <br />behind every single wall so there would not be any erosion going into the lake. He said all this required <br />more excavation than typical. The slope is too big and there is no way to control the bank as there is no <br />vegetation. The snow this year will cause the soil to wash out in the spring more than usual. There's <br />nothing holding the bank anymore. He said they were under a time crunch because it was November. His <br />workers were digging by hand with pics to avoid damaging existing roots. We have to do anything in our <br />power to protect the bluff and any vegetation. We had to work from the top to the bottom. We cannot <br />work from the lake because there is no space to have any machine there. Work was halted in November <br />and the Planning Commission did not have a December meeting. So I apologize that we did what we did. <br />There is no way to be able to do this in the kind of winter we are having this year. <br />McCutcheon asked about the neighbor's retaining walls. This is a big project, I can see that. And when I <br />look at it, and I see all the neighbors, it's almost like you kind of work together? Because it seems like <br />every has the same problem. Everybody has a need for this to be successful. He asked Valdes if what he <br />has built and is proposing will hold. <br />Page 2of19 <br />