03-27-2013 Additions II - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 26, 2013 As noted in documents formerly submitted by Jan and Mike Bilek to the Little Canada City Council on the development of Pines Tree Ponds, we continue to take issue regarding the vacation of the 33' street easement abutting our property at 2925 Labore Road. The Pine Tree Ponds development plan assumes the vacation process will be approved by the City Council and that the property will be awarded to Masterpiece Homes for the development of Pine Tree Ponds by Ramsey County. Our issues relate to access to the developable 85' x 155' lot at the back of our property which fronts the west side of the street easement and the legal sales contract agreement betweeen Masterpiece Homes and the Kupferschmidts intending to save the row of pines on the former 2945 Labore Road property abutting the street easement on the east. The current development plan calls for the removal of at least 42 of the 62 ea. 50 year old pines that border the easement. The purchase contract between Masterpiece Homes and the Kupferschmidts addresses the row of pines specifically and states the buyer's intent to save the row of trees. This clause was added to the property sales contract due to our discussions with the Kupferschmidts and their family prior to the sale in order to protect our privacy by keeping a tall physical and visual barrier from the planned development. The wording in the contract was misstated and the contract states that the trees are "in" the easement, when in fact the crown of the trees are along the easement on the 2945 Labore Rd property. The branches all extend into the easement, but there is no row of pine trees as expressed in the contract "in" the easement. Mr. Howe verbally agreed to save the trees in the negotiations for the property as well as assuring the Kupferschmidts again after the Planning Commission meeting that the trees are not coming down, when in fact they are planned for removal and the City is trying to negate the intent of the agreement. The City Engineer continues to state that the trees need to be removed in the current plan to facilitate a change in drainage in order to accommodate lot #11 and fit the house pad onto the planned lot. This lot as planned meets only the minimum square footage and setbacks required by zoning. The drainage grading which I was told could not be changed to accommodate saving the trees, in fact would be changed if we sold the back of our property in order to add yet another lot to the development according to the City Engineer. We believe options such as eliminating the southwest curve on the new road which creates the tight lot tolerances on lot #11 or eliminating this lot from the plan in order to honor the purchase agreement for the 2945 Labore property are valid options to be considered.