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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, February 22, 2010 7:00 o’clock p.m. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 7 of 19 (4. #10-3442 THE EMILY PROGRAM, 2180 NORTH SHORE DRIVE, Continued) And most importantly, draft condition number ten in the request for council action may not be enforceable. This condition appears to limit the property‟s future use to the Emily Program by requiring the applicant to „withdraw the conditional use permit if the property is ever sold or transferred to another owner.‟ However, this condition may not be enforceable under State of Minnesota law. Where others have tried, everyone has lost. So in other words, these are permanent rights granted to the property, not the tenant, with no future approval required for other medical uses. For these reasons, we strongly believe that Emily‟s Program has no place at the Hill School location and that their request for a conditional use permit should be unequivocally denied.” Mattick stated generally what is being discussed as it relates to the CUPs is that you are not allowed to put in a sunset provision. Mattick stated he believes that it is a true statement that a sunset provision is unenforceable. Minnesota Statutes allow a City to limit the time frame on a conditional use permit through the use of an interim use permit, which would be the best option. Orono does not currently have that in their City Code, so it is not an option at this time. Mattick noted The Emily Program has stated as part of the CUP process that they would sign off on the sunset provision. The applicant could agree to withdraw the CUP, but Mattick indicated that has not been tested to his knowledge in the courts. If the City is going to limit the time on a use, the preferable way would be to do it in the form of an interim use permit. Bremer asked what is preventing the City of Orono from changing their code to allow interim use permits. Mattick stated the City Council would need to go through the normal zoning ordinance process, which would require a public hearing and a review by the Planning Commission. Steinhafel indicated that some of the land use individuals that he has spoken to agree to the point that the CUP goes with the land, and if you want the CUP to be withdrawn or expire at some point, you have to change the code in order to make it iron clad. The way the code stands today, an applicant cannot just withdraw it. The concern of the neighbors is the fact that the CUP would stay with the property. Aaron Printup, 2195 Prospect Avenue, stated he has lived in this area for 33 years and that he looks at the Hill School property every day. Printup stated he is a fiercely loyal person to his community but he is opposed to the Hill School becoming a treatment and rehab facility to treat the deadly mental illness of eating disorders. The neighbors have been led to believe that people suffering from eating disorders are nonviolent. In addition, they have been told there will be court orders for some. People with eating disorders are mentally ill and do need help. That help would be better received closer to a hospital or in a hospital. Printup indicated that in his experience people who are under court order tend to be defensive, make poor choices, and are likely to walk away. Printup stated he does deal with mental health individuals in his line of work and that he does not want people who make those bad choices being in his neighborhood because they could make the choice to harm themselves. Printup indicated he does not want to take a chance of any of them harming his 15 month old daughter or any of his neighbors. Printup encouraged people to imagine selling their home and having it listed as a home in historic Crystal Bay, blocks away from the majestic jewel, Lake Minnetonka, for boating and fishing, take walks on beautiful parks and trails, and home of the historic Hill School, school at the end of the road, new home of the treatment and Item #02 - CC Agenda - 03/08/2010 Approval of Council Minutes 02/22/2010 [Page 7 of 19]