06-27-01 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JUNIv 27, 2001 Scalze pointed out that Allen Avenue is a public street and is maintained by the City. However, the cul-de-sacs are private and there is inadequate right-of- way to turn them into public streets and still have conforming setbacks. LaValle pointed out that it was typical to have private street in a townhome development. He noted that street maintenance costs in these instances are handled as part of association dues just as grass cutting costs. Helgeson pointed out that Park View Court was put in as a public street because the City has seen the error of its ways with the private street situation. Iielgeso^ asked that out of fairness to the Pitrina Park property owners the City take the responsibility for the Pitrina Paii< cul-de-sacs. Helgeson felt that the City needed to look out for its citizens not for developers. Scalze pointed out that it was clear from the onset that the developer did not want the cul-de-sacs as public streets. Scalze suggested that when the property owners purchased their townhomes they could have checked with the City on the ownership of the cul-de-sacs. Helgeson reported that he has the documents that were given to him at the time he purchased his townhome. He indicated that there is nothing in these documents indicating that the cul-de-sacs were private streets. Scalze felt that that was an issue between the property owners and the developer. Anderson pointed out that when a development is proposed, the City has no way of knowing who the ultimate buyers will be in order to obtain input from them. The City relied on the developer to communicate what he wanted to build, and the purchasers of the townhome units should have been informed about the conditions under which they were buying. If the developer did not given notice of those conditions, they the purchasers may have an action with the developer. Anderson pointed out that the City's responsibility is to make certain the codes are met. If the City takes actions after the fact that result in non-compliance with codes, no one will come in and expect to be held to compliance. Fahey suggested that the City could have required in the deve]opment agreement that as a condition of approval purchasers be notified that the cul- de-sacs are private and maintenance costs are the responsibility of the homeowners association. Fahey felt there may have been a problem with communication between the developer and the homeowners_ Scalze felt that the City's function was to set policy and follow the code, not to tell developers what to communicate to their firture purchasers.