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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 2 of 19 <br />