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FILE # LA23-000045 <br />20 Nov 2023 <br />Page 3 of 4 <br /> <br /> <br />accesses have docks for fishing, and some have ramp areas suitable for launching a small boat. <br />However, most do not have designated parking available, and are primarily intended to serve the <br />neighborhood rather than the general public. A number of these access corridors have steep <br />topography, shallow water depths, undesirable lake bottom conditions, and/or dense vegetation <br />and experience little or no usage. Of the City lake accesses shown on Map 4E-2 (Exhibit G), half <br />of those located outside of Big Island are either undeveloped or closed to public use. <br /> <br /> Orono’s 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan: Chapter 4E Parks, Trails, and Open Spaces <br />• Orono will maintain Lake Access for all residents. With shore land abutting a dozen separate <br />bays in Lake Minnetonka, Orono has a commitment to maintaining access via the dedicated <br />access corridors. It is the City’s intent to permanently retain for public use all existing lake <br />access corridors and fire lanes, regardless of the current level of use or maintenance. <br />(Supports goal 5) To this end, the City will follow these policies: <br />o Requests for vacation of dedicated lake access right of ways will be evaluated <br />carefully, in particular where equal or better lake accesses are not available nearby. <br />The City will identify and take necessary action to preserve the public’s right to use of <br />any such accesses which exist but which may not have been formally dedicated. <br />o The City will endeavor to work with property owners adjacent to lake access <br />corridors to ensure that both the rights of the public and the rights of the private <br />landowner are upheld. <br /> <br />Engineer Comments <br />City Engineer Adam Edwards provided the following comments on the request: “I do not <br />recommend vacating the right of way. Although heavily encroached, the site serves as a draining <br />way for the area. The site has also been identified as a possible future public accessway to the lake. <br />Areas that provide a public purpose should not be vacated.” <br /> <br />Staff Analysis <br />The right-of-way corridor addressed in this application is identified on our Comprehensive Plan Lake <br />Access Point Map as having no public access. The City does not have any Park improvements in that <br />area. The access has a public purpose serving as a drainage way for the area. There are identified <br />lake access points in this area. Sandy Beach is located to the south which is established as a <br />swimming beach, and the City’s fishing dock off of Loma Linda Avenue to the north. Both are less <br />than 500-feet from this location. <br />The challenge with vacating rights-of-way is that vacation is final. Should the public or the City have <br />access or utility needs in the future, the cost to taxpayers to reacquire the property will be at a <br />premium. For this reason, vacation reduces options for the City in the future. The subject right of <br />way secures opportunity for future access to the adjacent properties. <br />DNR Comments <br />At the time of the writing of this memo, we have not received the written comments from the <br />Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). However, staff has spoken with the DNR <br />representative, they have reviewed the vacation request and provided verbal comments: the DNR <br />opposes the vacation. The basis for their opposition is that the proposed vacation does not provide <br />a public benefit nor does it protect future public use of the land to access the lake. Written <br />comment will be provided upon receipt. <br /> <br />Public Comments <br />Comments received from the public are attached as Exhibit H.