11-26-2018 Council Meeting Packet

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111 Robinson Drive Lino Lakes, MN 55014 October 28, 2018 Members of the Planning and Zoning Board City of Lino Lakes 600 Town Center Parkway Lino Lakes, MN 55014 Dear Planning and Zoning Board Members, We are writing to share with you an issue that came to our attention regarding our driveway at 111 Robinson Drive, and to express our desire to obtain a variance. We purchased our home, built by Capstone Homes of Ramsey, MN, on March 23, 2018. Due to our home being built over the winter season, our driveway was installed by Capstone’s subcontractor, C&S Blacktopping of Rogers, MN, on July 10, 2018. Subsequent to moving in last March, but prior to the driveway being installed in July, one of Capstone’s repairmen mentioned to us at our home that if we desired to have our driveway installed from the third stall straight down to the street (rather than at an angle as standard), we could contact C&S Blacktopping directly to get a price and have the change made when they came through to complete that work for Capstone. We had chosen to forego this during the purchase process during the fall of 2017, as we were expecting our first child in addition to the expenses of our upcoming move. However, when Capstone mentioned this was still an option after we had moved in, and we realized we could afford to do so, we contacted C&S Blacktopping and agreed to pay an extra $1,000 for the driveway to extend straight down the East side of the driveway from our third stall, which was how it was installed in July. On October 10, we received a brief email from Capstone informing us that the driveway had been installed incorrectly per city code, and that they would be coming through that same week to cut away the excess and replace it with sod in order to comply with the code. While not the fault of the city, this notice was both confusing and unapologetic, while also giving us little to no opportunity to respond timewise. Our driveway measures approximately 27’ wide, while we have come to understand that the maximum per city code is 26’. It was extremely disappointing for us to find out the approximately 1’ of the width of our driveway, for approximately 15’ deep, would be required to be trimmed away per this code. Although a small cut, it feels like a waste of $1,000 we spent, at Capstone’s suggestion, to have a driveway at a uniform width with straight edges. Apparently we erred in trusting that our builder Capstone and their subcontractor were fully aware of and complying with city code. We felt pressured by Capstone by indicating that they were coming to cut our driveway that same week; additionally, when we reached out to the city, we did not feel encouraged by the variance process due both to the cost (up to $950) and the fact that staff would not recommend the variance to the Planning & Zoning Board or the City Council. Therefore, we wrote the Mayor, City Administrator, and City Council,