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property to be vacated, and a hearing preceded by two weeks' published and posted notice, all as <br />required by Minn. Stat. § 412.851. The council may vacate any publicly owned utility easement or <br />boulevard reserve which is not being used for sewer, drainage, electric, telegraph, and telephone, <br />gas and steam purposes or for boulevard reserve purposes, in the same manner as vacation <br />proceedings are conducted for streets, alleys and other public ways. A boulevard reserve means an <br />easement established adjacent to a dedicated street for the purpose of establishing open space <br />adjacent to the street and which area is designated on the recorded plat as boulevard reserve. <br />4 Orono's 2020-2040 Comprehensive Plan: Transportation Chapter 4A - Lake access, preservation and <br />management <br />Orono's lakes provide a significant recreational resource for all Orono residents. This value was long <br />ago realized by City leaders. In order to provide lake access for the general public, as well as to <br />provide for fire department access to the lake as a water source, a number of lake access corridors <br />were created as the shore land developed. These typically are platted, dedicated rights -of -way leading <br />from the local road system to the shoreline, and are commonly from 16' to 66' in width. <br />These rights -of -way (often referred to as "fire lanes" or "lake access roads") vary considerably in <br />their proximity to traffic, parking availability, proximity to housing, lakeshore conditions, and other <br />factors that effect their recreational value. Some of these corridors have been maintained by the City <br />for local swimming beaches or as winter snowmobile and ice -fishing accesses. Certain accesses have <br />docks for fishing, and some have ramp areas suitable for launching a small boat. However, most do <br />not have designated parking available, and are primarily intended to serve the neighborhood rather <br />than the general public. A number of these access corridors have steep topography, shallow water <br />depths, undesirable lake bottom conditions, and/or dense vegetation and experience little or no usage. <br />Of the City lake accesses shown on Map 4E-2 (Exhibit J), half of those located outside of Big Island <br />are either undeveloped or closed to public use. <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. (Supports <br />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 carefully, <br />in particular where equal or better lake accesses are not available nearby. The City will <br />identify and take necessary action to preserve the public's right to use of any such <br />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 corridors to <br />ensure that both the rights of the public and the rights of the private landowner are <br />upheld. <br />28 <br />