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Planning & Zoning Board December 11, 2002 Page 16 APPROVED MINUTES even occurs virtually every year. In my opinion to build extensive housing in this area without basements is, to put it as diplomatica lly as I can, very unwise. Yes, I know the building code does not require basements and ye s, I know that there are already extensive developments in Lino Lakes and elsewhere th at do not have basements. These are not reasons to continue to make this mistake. At the very least a shelte r capable of protecting all the residents without basements should be bui lt in the development. (This is required in trailer parks.) Mr. Uhde’s suggestion wa s that residents could build a tornado proof room within their housing unit. How many people will opt for this? My guess is very few. I personally experienced the tornadoe s (2) that struck Fridley in 1965. Over 500 homes were destroyed. Because virtually a ll of these homes had basements only 2 lives were lost. If a similar event were to stri ke one of these new, high density, multi-story development with no basements, the loss of life will be much greater than it needed to be. Sometimes there are more important things to consider than a developer’s desire or the dictates of the Metropolitan Council. If this housing cannot be built with at least partial basements or some other shelter for torna do protection, in my opinion, it should not be built at all. At the November 7 meeting se veral of the residents, including myself, requested additional information on items of great concern to us. I requested plans showing the elevation of a proposed storm se wer with respect to the elevation of my driveway and plans detailing proposed tree preservation. Our addresses were recorded and it was promised the information would be se nt to us. Mr. Uhde delivered some plans to my house in person last night (12-10). I a ppreciate his effort, de spite it’s lateness to comply with my request. Unfortunately the plans he provided did not supply the information I requested. The preliminary gr ading plan he supplied shows the contour of the property the way it is now, not the way it will be after the project is completed, and is therefore of little value to me in evaluati ng possible future water drainage problems. A call to Mr. Uhde this morning produced a prom ise that I could see an elevation plan of the development after it’s completion at toni ght’s meeting. Hopefully this will be the case and I will be satisfied with what I see. Hopefully the board and city engineers have had this information for some time and had a ch ange to evaluate it. I also found the plans showing tree preservation to be very deficien t in terms of accuracy and detail. In some cases tree preservation areas are right next to or actually intersect with proposed houses – this can not be. I expected to see some act ual tress (sic) plotted rather than just huge areas shaded in. The lack of any detail makes it look as though these plans are merely going through the motions without a serious intent to preserve any trees at all. Also, seeing a final contour plan would make any tree preservation much more believable. If the property is to be seriously re-contourte d it will be virtually impossible to preserve trees. I hope that the board will give my wr itten comments as much weight as if they were presented orally at the meeting. I ofte n cannot find the time to attend the meetings. I also, like many people, find it difficult to express myself in a public speaking setting. Especially the intimidating setting of th e seven board members up on their ‘thrones’ looking down on the citizens at the podium. (A less authoritative setting would produce a freer exchange of thought, if th at is truly what is desired.) I also think I organize my thoughts much better and more completely in writing. And it should even same some time at the meeting. I would however apprec iate some minimal feedback, if that is possible.” Mr. Hyden stated with respect to Carl St reet he was still unsure about that and he requested information from the police and fire department, as well as some hard data on