05-16-2016 Planning Commission Packet

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FILE#16-3828 May 12,2016 Page 2 of 7 Background The owner of the property at 2940 Sixth Ave. N. in Orono, Stonegate Farm, Inc. (Susan Seeland) is developing adjacent land in Medina that will be accessed via a new public road to be built through the Orono property. The City of Medina is technically the applicant since the road is being constructed as a Chapter 429 (Assessment) project. The road section in Orono is being built within an easement granted by the owner, rather than via a platted road corridor, which process was found acceptable by the Medina and Orono City Attorneys. Road Maintenance The road is being constructed as a public road to be maintained by the City of Medina. This will be memorialized in the resolution approving the CUP. Road Design and Construction The CUP application is based on the amount of earth movement needed for road construction on the Orono property exceeding the 500 cubic yard threshold for administrative approvals, as well as for wetland filling. Total fill in Orono is estimated at 8,300 cubic yards (6,500 c.y. for road construction plus 1,800 c.y. for a turn lane on Homestead Trail). The proposed location for the access to Homestead Trail was dictated by extremely sloped topography further north in the only other location where the developer's property abuts the County road (see Exhibit D-1). The proposed access point is on the outside of a curve providing good sight distance, while also being located just south of an existing power line easement. A northbound right-turn lane will be constructed in the Homestead Trail (County Road 201) right-of way for traffic inbound to the site (see Exhibits D-5&6). The overall road design was reviewed and approved by Medina. While the proposed road is 24 feet in width, if this was to be a public road under Orono's standards and jurisdiction, the required width for a public road serving more than 10 hames would be 32' paved width. The extra 8 feet in width would provide for additional on-street parking, although the segment of road in Orono is fairly remote from any proposed homes, likely making the extra width unnecessary. City Engineer Bob Bean also notes that the designed curve radii of the road segment within Orono do not quite meet Orono standards (250' designed vs. 275' Orono standard). A road cross-section should be provided for review. The proposed connection to Deer Hill Road at the northern end of the development in Medina will make this a through road. It is anticipated that a future spur off the new road to serve future development of the Orono property would likely be a private road under Orono's rural zoning. That spur as currently depicted would not be built at this time, but its location suggests future additional wetland impacts in Orono which might be avoided by locating it west of the wetland outlet at the time the Orono property develops. It has been noted by the applicants that construction traffic is intended to use the Homestead Trail access rather than the Deer Hill access, which will have the impact of increasing truck traffic, noise, dust, etc. on Homestead Trail during the construction phase of development.