Correspondence re LMCD variance application

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Eric Berg Variance Request Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Eric Berg bought his home at 2965 Casco Point Road in 2000. At the time, he was told by the realtor that he had the right to keep a dock on the riparian shoreline of Lake Minnetonka, as his predecessors in title had all done. His lot is configured in an unusual way and it has only 20.00 feet of riparian shoreline on Lake Minnetonka (at OHW 929.4). Mr. Berg has since confirmed that the prior owners used a dock configured with a single straight stringer running from the concrete steps centered on his lot and leading down to the shore. Mr. Berg kept a dock and a boat at the shoreline without objection until 2004 when the LMCD staff notified him that his dock & boat must be removed. Eric Berg makes this variance request without prejudice to his right to keep a dock on Lake Minnetonka as a legal non-conforming use. Relevant Facts: Prior to July of 1977 the City of Orono was aware that a portion of the traveled public street adjacent to 2965 and 2969 Casco Point Road was not constructed within the platted right-of-way. While the City maintained the public road, it had no recorded easements for the traveled route. Furthermore, the right of way that had been originally laid out and dedicated in the area was too close to the shoreline of Lake Minnetonka to be of practical use for road purposes. In July of 1977, the Orono Planning Commission suggested that property owners adjacent to the improperly located right-of-way consider combining a formal request for vacation of the unimproved platted right-of-way and an offer to convey a portion of their land to the City for roadway purposes (some of which had been improved as a road many years earlier and was then in use as a public road). As a result of these discussions, Hamilton and Charlotte Moran appeared before the Orono Planning Commission to discuss their existing rights as the property owner of homes at 2965 and 2969 Casco Point Road. (Note: both homes were located on a single parcel of land.) The City Planning Commission encouraged the Morans to assist the City in resolving the poorly defined right-of-way in the area. While appearing before the Planning Commission, the Morans were encouraged by the Planning Commission to subdivide their property into two separate legal parcels. The Planning Commission members were aware that the Moran's had two separately occupied single family homes on their property, that said homes had been in existence for more than 50 years, and that each home had a separate mailing address. The Planning Commission members were also specifically aware that each home used a separate seasonal dock on Lake Minnetonka. At the Planning Commission meeting on August 1, 1977, the proposed plan for subdivision was reviewed and a Public Hearing was held. Upon the Planning Commission's recommendation, the City Council of Orono passed Resolutions in September 1977 and in January 1978 granting variances to , ; �, � ,� � , ,; �, ��I ,`_ � � �� " �,� � I . � � �� ,, „ � ; � ., lOL! ' '� ;( �; �;� �i.�C± �� ' " ; �� . �_I'i_! ' '� �__� r)'__-----------__-----