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:! <br />r* <br />September 14, 1989 <br />Alan G. Carlson <br />3125 Fox Street <br />Long Lake, MN 55356 <br />Jeanne A. Mabusth <br />Building & Zone Administrator <br />City of Orono <br />Following the report of Sunde Engineering, I believe it is <br />appropriate for my application to contain my position on the <br />legal basis for the use of a portion of the treed acre for road <br />puarposes. <br />The first basis is that the treed area does not fall within the <br />definition of a protected area. The Orono Code defines a <br />protected area to be a low area that is "subject to periodic <br />flooding or overflow." The treed area does not flood and it does <br />not take overflow from other areas. I understand that Orono <br />originally designated the protected wetlands approximately thirty <br />years ago based upon aerial photographs. Since that time, the <br />nature of the treed area has changed. The ditch system has kept <br />water from other areas out of the treed area and the trees have <br />flourished. Today, this treed area does not fit the definition <br />of a protected area. While the entire ten acre of trees could be <br />redesignated, I am not asking for that. I am not asking to use <br />the ten acres for home sites. I am only asking that that one- <br />third of an acre of that treed acres be used for a road. <br />The second legal basis for using the approximately one-third acre <br />for a road is that, assuming the land were protected wetlands, a <br />variance should be granted under Section 10.08, Subd. 3 of the <br />Orono Code, because the variance "will not alter the essential <br />character of the locality." As Mr. Sunde discussed, the road <br />path is, in fact, environmentally superior to the peripheral road <br />alternative. <br />Very truly yours. <br />Alan G. Carlson <br />t