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I MEMORANDUM To: From: Date: Subject: Evelyn Turner Mike Gaffron, Asst. City Admin. -Long Term Strategy 1111b November 10 , 2009 ~~ 340 Big Island -Request for Vacation of Portion of Metacomet A venue PC Exhibit H Our Comp Plan listing of lake access points for Big Island includes the south end of Metacomet Avenue as "Access Point F". Similarly, it includes the most southerly point of Massasoit Avenue (at the southerly comer of Lot 1, Morse Island Park Second Addition) as "Access Point G". These were included on the list based on the Hennepin County plat maps showing that they both ran to the shore of Lake Minnetonka. However, neither of them actually touched the shore in the 1887 plat of Morse Island Park no r in the 1922 plat of Morse Island Park Second Addition (see attached plats), and based on recent surveys on file , they don 't reach the lakeshore today. The stretch of Massasoit A venue road right-of-way between them was vacated in 2002 , partly because that stretch didn 't touch the lake at any point, it didn 't provide access to the lake for anyone, and parts of at least two cabins were within it. The applicant has valid points. The right-of-way gives the public the ability to walk down Metacomet Avenue to within 30-40 ' of the shore; and the public probably has no clue that they are on private land when they walk to the shore. I assume there are also utilities in the right-of- way , as well as portions of the septic system serving applicant's house. The neighboring cabin's doorstep walks out onto his property , and the fact that that has become a weekly rental might be fairly annoying compared to the probably relatively minimal use of that property in the past. In 2002 the Planning Commission wanted to condition the vacation of the connecting road on obtaining a strip to connect Metacomet to the shore , but the three benefiting owners didn't control the land needed to do so. A point can be made that the public and the other owners of land on the Island should be able to continue their use of the Metacomet right-of-way , if for no other reason than to view the lake , to picnic , etc. The opposite point can also be made , that such use is detrimental to the safety , security, and enjoyment of the abutting property owners in the neighborhood. I think that , given the public discussion that resulted in 2002 (read the minutes in file #2749) this should be an interesting application. I do not strictly oppose it, but approval will remove some future options for interior access to the Island that would remain at least 'possible' if the vacation is denied. (BTW -3 names of roads in the plat of Morse Island Park are names of Wampanoag Indian chiefs in the 1 ih century New England area: Massasoit, Metacomet, and Anawan) t