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From:Julie Thometz <br />To:Richard Crosby; Aaron H. Printup; Victoria Seals; Denny Walsh; Matt Johnson; Jeremy Barnhart <br />Subject:Orono City Council agenda item 18 - 1360 and 1370 Baldur LLC <br />Date:Friday, July 10, 2020 3:25:56 PM <br />This proposal is a very reasonable solution for a site that contains enormous practical <br />difficulties. It delineates two homesites on over an acre of land on Lake Minnetonka <br />by combining seven legal lots of record. At city staff’s request, the proposal includes a <br />large cul de sac which takes up more land than an average building site on Baldur <br />Park Road. The proposal includes a 20 foot right of way paved to 18 feet which is <br />wider than any pavement anywhere on Baldur Park Road west of Birch Lane. The <br />building sites meet the 66 percent rule for lot size described in chapter 78. <br />Paved width of Baldur Park Road <br />The first 2/3 of Baldur Park Road west of Birch Lane has only 17.5 feet of pavement <br />width and it narrows to 15 feet in width at 1400 Baldur Park Road. The final 1/3 of <br />Baldur Park Road, before its termination at lot 20, is 12 feet wide or less. It narrows to <br />11.5 feet at 1392 Baldur Park Rd (3 lots from its current termination) and, at its <br />current termination on Lot 20, pavement width is only 12 feet wide. Since the road <br />was recently rebuilt about five years ago, it seems unlikely the City will be widening <br />Baldur Park Road. <br />To require 20 feet of pavement width after the road has narrowed to 11.5 feet is not in <br />keeping with the character of the neighborhood. However, the proposal provides 18 <br />feet of pavement width which exceeds the existing pavement width anywhere on <br />Baldur Park Road west of Birch Lane. To meet city staff’s request, a 20 foot right of <br />way has been provided as well as a huge cul de sac. <br />Dry Buildable Area <br />The dry buildable area estimated by city staff is incorrect. Not all floodplain is wetland. <br />The vast majority of the land between the ordinary high water elevation of 929.4 and <br />931.5 is not impacted by wetlands as was delineated by Jacobson Environmental. <br />The two lots proposed (with 16,954 and 14,526 sf of land) meet the 66 percent rule <br />outlined in chapter 78 of Minnesota Rules and are approximately 50 percent larger <br />than all but one of the other lots on Baldur Park Road. Furthermore, most of the <br />homesites on Baldur Park Road fall beneath the floodplain elevation of 931.5. <br />Conclusion <br />This thoughtful solution by Gronberg and Associates overcomes many practical <br />difficulties in providing two well-spaced homesites on over an acre of land along with <br />a large cul de sac requested by city staff and therefore merits City Council approval.