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Maintenance costs rise, homeowners ask cities to take over private streets - StarTribune.c... Page 1 of 2 Attachment L SOUTH METRO As maintenance costs rise, homeowners ask cities to take over private streets By Emma Nelson (http://www.startribune.com/emma.nelson/2618002n/) Star Tribune OCTOBER 31, 2015 — 10:00PM When Misba Rehman and his family moved to Rosemount, they knew their brand-new house came with a neighborhood full of quiet, winding streets. They didn't know the street was private, and that they, not the city, would be responsible for its upkeep. "It's going to be a huge cost to rebuild in the future, 20 years down the road," Rehman said. "It doesn't make sense to have homeowners pick up that kind of cost." I`For residents, private streets offer seclusion and a lower upfront price tag. For -f developers; they're an opportunity to build without municipal costs and dew constraints. But homeowners in Rosemount and elsewhere, faced with road 'V maintenance costs that will only rise as streets age, are asking local officials to make T their streets public. That transition, however, may not be easy. Private streets often.skir,- city codes — using`:' thinner asphalt, for example, or providing less right of way — so integrating them into a'l public network can be tricky °said_John Bradford, Woodbury's city engineer: "It really poses a maintenance burden on;the rest,o_f the taxpayers in.the,qom- munity,.tlo: take those, over," he said. Private streets and the homeowners associations that control them started popping up nationwide in the 1970s — a symptom of home buyers wanting greater control over their communities, said Robert Nelson, a University of Maryland professor who studies homeowners associations and the privatization of neighborhoods.'He said cities have agreed+to developenproposals forprivate ittfrastructure; ldied by the prospect of a tax b2senc�ease ac�thout.the burdMR. new streets to m?intain. `4 The private model works as long as homeowners associations have the spending power and wherewithal to keep up with maintenance. But for those that haven't planned well or simply can't afford it, future fixes loom large. "It's not surprising that some of them might have said, `well, we might have made this deal originally, but we'd rather have the government take care of these things,"' Nelson said. Sometimes residents don't realize they live on a private street until they're faced with maintenance costs. In 2012, Eagan started marling private streets with brown signs instead of green signs to show where the city's responsibilities ended and residents' began. Rehman said he and his neighbors, who spent more than $13,000 on a preventive seal coating a couple of years ago, are worried they won't be able to meet the cost of rebuilding as the street ages. After hearing from the neighbors, the Rosemount City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow the city to acquire private streets. But there's no consensus yet, said City Administrator Dwight Johnson. Upgrades can be costly In the late 2000s, Prior Lake got a slew of compleint3 about or ivate street maintenance from homeowners associations. "We heard a lot of psjust like even one else, yet we have to eopleay. five pay taxes maintain our own streets,"' said Cine Engineer Lang PAppler.,"That was hind of tix cry from a nt.mber_of neighborhoods." (http://stmedia.startribune.comAmages/2arnelsoni l Oi l5.jp- UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND Robert Nelson, a University of Maryland professor who studies homeowners associations and the privatization of http://wWW.startribune.Comlas-maintenance-costs-rise-honleovvners-ask-cities-to-take-over... I 1 /?/?015