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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. <br />4800 Olson Memorial Highway, Suite 202, Golden Valley, MN 55422 <br />Telephone: 763.231 .2555 Facsimile: 763.231 .2561 planners@nacplanning.com <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Little Canada Planning Commission <br />FROM: Stephen Grittman <br />DATE: June 7, 2013 <br />RE: Little Canada — Cul -de -sac Length <br />FILE NO: 758.10 — 13.02 <br />Background and Analysis <br />Staff has discussed the application of the City's regulations relating to cul -de -sac length, <br />and the restrictions that apply to flexibility in those regulations. The current language <br />reads as follows: <br />B. Local Streets and Dead -End Streets. Local streets should be planned so as to <br />discourage their use by non -local traffic. Dead -end streets are prohibited, but cul- <br />de -sacs shall be permitted where topography or other physical conditions justify <br />their use. Except for "Temporary cul -de -sacs as described in Section <br />1006.030.(d), cul -de -sacs shall not be longer than five hundred (500) feet in <br />length, including a terminal turn - around which shall be provided at the closed <br />end, with a right -of -way radius of not less than fifty (50) feet. Such length shall be <br />measured from the centerline intersection with the nearest street to the end of the <br />cul -de -sac. The City reserves the right to require, without the need for a variance, <br />longer cul -de -sac Length where additional natural resources will be preserved <br />without negatively impacting public safety. The requirement for a longer cul -de- <br />sac shall not be applied solely because a subdivider wishes to increase lot count in <br />a subdivision. <br />The concern is that the language allowing the City to approve longer cul -de -sac streets <br />is overly limiting. The proposed language follows: <br />... The City reserves the right to require, without the need for a variance, longer <br />cul -de -sac length where additional natural resources, public utilities, or other <br />objectives of the City's Comprehensive Plan and land use objectives, as <br />determined by the City Council, will be preserved or accomplished without <br />