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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, July 22, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 15 of 20 (10. CITY LAKE ACCESSES/FIRE LANES, Continued) Bremer indicated she is aware of a fire lane where the adjoining property owner planted a number of very small trees just along the fire lane, and when the property was sold not that long ago, the people who purchased it found out that there lot was not as big as what it appeared to be. Bremer noted the City has not decided to clean up the trees in that situation. Bremer stated the question then becomes how much ownership should the City claim over them, which implies that the City would then assume the responsibility of maintaining them. Gaffron stated there are one or two fire lanes where they run down the middle of two homes and the owners of those properties functionally have to utilize the fire lane. Gaffron stated the idea that people can come through an area that is 15 feet wide between two homes is difficult for the property owners to accept. McMillan asked whether something should be included in resolutions when properties abut fire lanes. Gaffron stated Staff has been looking at that. Gaffron stated when an application was submitted on Ivy Place, the fire lane was looked at and the adjacent property owner was required to remove some of the items that were placed in the fire lane. Another application on Highwood dealt with the rebuild of a house, and while there were no private improvements located in the fire lane and it was very obvious that people have been using the fire lane, the person had questions on how to keep them off their property. In different situations the City has allowed the property owner to put vegetation or some other demarcation along the area and in some situations the people maintain the fire lane as yard, which is usually fine with the City. Levang stated in her view at the time a survey is required, that would be a good time to mark the area. Levang commented since each case is unique, a trigger point could perhaps be when a building permit is applied for. Gaffron stated that is one time Staff is focusing on and that there have been two or three applications recently where there have been encroachments into the fire lane. Anderson asked if the property owners are aware that there is a fire lane when they purchase the property. Gaffron stated they should be and that the City has sent out notices to the property owners as well as realtors informing them of the fire lane. Levang stated that should be an automatic trigger. Gaffron stated Staff is sometimes not made aware of the property being sold until after the sale is completed. Bremer stated quite a bit of this information is public information and that it is not necessarily the City’s responsibility to notify the new property owners of the fire lane. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 08/12/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 07/22/2013 [Page 15 of 20]