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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, March 15, 2021 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />terms of should a dock or can a dock be placed there. He is in favor of sharing the dock and also believes <br />the site may qualify as either grandfathered in or a variance as part of that. Mr. Thull noted they have had <br />a long-term dream of building a cabin out there and are now in the position to actually move forward with <br />that. Mr. Thull has one question in regards to the information about the Public Works Director and what it <br />entails getting approval from them. <br /> <br />Curtis believes the Public Works Director, being that it is a City right-of-way, would want to have approval <br />of the dock location should it change, or in addition to the dock that is there, and where that storage location <br />would be in the winter. <br /> <br />Bollis thinks the Applicant has done a good job of answering the neighborhood questions and asked if they <br />would be interested in adding those as additional conditions to the permit if the Commission gets that far. <br />Such as no modification to the platted rights-of-way, Bollis assumes the Applicant is not using this dock <br />for recreation but just for access, that type of conditions. <br /> <br />Mr. Thull said sure. <br /> <br />Chair Ressler opened the public hearing at 6:33 p.m. <br /> <br />Jud and Aleya Champlin, 210 Big Island (next door), live at 2643 Thoroughbred Lane. He thanked the <br />Staff and Commissioners for doing all this and noted he is kind of surprised that his neighbors Freddy and <br />Nancy are not here, but Freddy has had some health problems the past couple of years and Mr. Champlin <br />guesses the snow storm kept them away. As Curtis will attest, there are very deep feelings going back from <br />them and their belief as to how that dock should be allocated. Mr. Champlin said this is a tough thing <br />because by filing this it automatically takes away Freddy’s dock access. He noted it is a very kind thing of <br />Mr. Thull to offer some alternatives and at the same time it gives this quite valuable piece of property to <br />Mr. Thull – Mr. Champlin can certainly understand the predicament. In his reading of the City code, one <br />of the requirements for granting this access is that there are no reasonable alternatives. Mr. Champlin thinks <br />there are reasonable alternatives and they have not really explored them all. Other than being asked for an <br />easement, this is the first he has heard about it and he thinks if they went around the island, usually people <br />team up and help each other and it is generally a pretty good community. It is when this sort of thing starts <br />happening is when some heads get butting. One thing Mr. Thull said is that the primary access point is <br />down next to 460 Big Island and in an email to Mr. Champlin, Mr. Thull also said that is the most convenient <br />access way. One does not have to put a dock there to get access; the requirement of the City’s code is not <br />that one access a dock, it is that one has reasonable alternative access. It is very easy to nose a pontoon <br />boat in there, even at the end of the Power Squadron property that is very close. There are other dock <br />locations that could be looked at as well. Having trouble putting in a septic system, a shower, and running <br />water might be good reason to renew the membership to the Minnetonka Power Squadron and as a past <br />commander he can say that would be very good. Mr. Champlin thinks if the Commission went around and <br />asked neighbors, they would find a lot of people helping out. There is a reason that Freddy does not have <br />a dock there: he does not want that in front of his house. This pretty much shows there are reasonable <br />alternative ways to access property on the island. Freddy does not have a dock. He asks his neighbors to <br />dock there, and can use Mr. Champlin’s dock any time, he pulls his pontoon boat right up in front and walks <br />right through. Mr. Champlin’s other concern is the pathway through the woods – right now it is all wooded <br />– there has not been a survey done recently so he is not quite sure where the boundaries are but he thinks it <br />will either be going over Mr. Champlin’s property or Freddy’s property or through the woods. If they are <br />familiar with the island it is a big effort to increase ground cover and leave things as natural as possible and