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� <br /> : WINSTON LAW OFFICE <br /> August 12, 2005 ���°��',���� <br /> ,�ii G � � 2005 <br /> Orono City Council �'� ��` ��F ��'�pN� <br /> and <br /> Orono Planning Commission <br /> c/o Mike Gaffron, Planning Director <br /> Orono City Hall <br /> 2750 Kelley Parkway <br /> PO Box 66 <br /> Crystal Bay, MN 55323 <br /> RE: Draft Wetlands Protection Ordinance and Application No. 05-3095 (Gregg <br /> Steinhafel Application for Conditional Use Permit to Install a Permanent <br /> Dock Structure at 2265 North Shore Drive, Orono, Minnesota) <br /> Ladies and Gentlemen: <br /> On February 23 of this year, Gregg Steinhafel, the owner of the property at 2265 <br /> North Shore Drive (the "Property"), filed an application for a conditional use permit to <br /> allow him to install a permanent dock type structure extending a short distance over a <br /> wetland area, from one side of the Property. The Property consists of approximately 45 <br /> acres, and includes hundreds of feet of lakeshore on Lake Minnetonka. The Property is <br /> unique by reason of its size, extensive lakeshore, privacy and low density development. <br /> The Steinhafel application for a CUP has been tabled pending the City's adoption <br /> of a wetlands protection ordinance. Because the provisions of that ordinance will have <br /> a direct bearing on the Steinhafel CUP application, we address first those provisions of <br /> the draft ordinance which may affect the application. As no replacement, restoration or <br /> alteration of the wetlands on the Property will occur, and as there will be no activity <br /> which "has the potential to adversely impact a wetland," as that phrase is defined in <br /> Section 78-1601 of the draft ordinance, we can turn to Sections 78-1606 (permitted <br /> uses) and 78-1607 (conditional uses), for a discussion of the applicability of the <br /> ordinance to the proposed dock type structure. <br /> Section 78-1606(a)(4) of the draft ordinance provides that "docks which provide <br /> reasonable access to the lakeshore and do not exceed 4' in width" are a permitted use. <br /> [The same four foot width limitation is set forth in Section 78-1606(b)(3).] The following <br /> Section 78-1607 provides that other "private and public recreational uses," which <br /> include (presumably, without timitation) "golf courses, impervious trails, picnic grounds <br /> and boat ramps" are conditional uses. If one assumes the City's adoption of the 4-foot <br /> wide dock limitation as the limit of a permitted use, the Steinhafel application would <br /> continue as an application for a conditional use under Section 78-1607, to allow a <br /> "private recreational use," which in this case would be the use of a private fishing and <br /> 3912 IDS Center,8o South Eighth Street,Minneapolis,Minnesota 55402 <br /> Telephone: 6i2.34i.9800 Facsimile: 6i2.332.i2i5 Email: winlaw@qwest.net <br />