02/10/2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

COUNCIL MINUTES FEBRUARY 10, 2003 APPROVED 1 City Planner Smyser stated he did not know what letter Councilmember Carlson was referring to. • 2 Councilmember Carlson indicated City Planner Smyser had received it December 6. She stated 3 maybe this should not be discussed at a public meeting, but wonders if there is other information the 4 Council should be aware of and she would like to hear from Mr. Racutt or his attorney. 5 6 Mayor Bergeson asked for City Attorney Hawkins opinion. City Attorney Hawkins offered his 7 opinion that the reasons cited are sufficient for denial. 8 9 Mayor Bergeson asked for public input. 10 11 Mr. Tim Nazelle, Mr. Morton's attorney, asked that Council approve this minor subdivision, citing 12 that his client has a purchase agreement he is trying to execute. He stated there is a lawsuit filed by 13 Mr. Racutt against Mr. Morton to force execution of the purchase agreement, and his client is just 14 trying to move forward with the purchase agreement. 15 16 Councilmember Carlson asked Mr. Nazelle to address the point raised by City Planner Smyser about 17 an easement being open to the public and how that would apply to the purchase agreement. Mr. 18 Nazelle stated he could not comment on that, as it is a jurisdiction issue, but the goal of his client is to 19 proceed with the purchase agreement. 20 21 Mayor Bergeson indicated this is not a court, and the Council could not get involved in legal issues. 22 23 Mr. Don Fuller stated he was filling in for Mr. Racutt's attorney, and is not completely familiar with •24 the history, but indicated there were a few things he wanted to address. He stated that the 25 recommendation of Staff made in November, 2001 is nothing more than what they are asking for 26 now. He offered that regarding the public safety concerns on the easement, the City Planner indicated 27 it would cause a dead-end street, but he does not see the problem in that, as there are any number of 28 dead-end streets in Minnesota. He stated there was litigation going on, and he is hoping if the City 29 approves the minor subdivision, this litigation would be resolved. 30 31 Mayor Bergeson stated it has been a year or more since this was last at the City for action. He asked 32 if there was an urgency or legal requirement for making a decision tonight. 33 34 City Planner Smyser stated there was no urgency, but not necessarily a reason to delay, either. He 35 added that in reviewing the letter from Mr. Racutt provided by Councilmember Carlson, a lengthy 36 reply was prepared, which he obviously does not have with him at this time, but he feels it is not 37 relevant to this discussion. He indicated that the building permit for the house had nothing to do with 38 this issue. He stated that the subdivision would create a flag lot, and the City does not allow flag lots, 39 therefore they are recommending denial. He indicated he could provide the Council with a response 40 to Mr. Racutt's letter but it is really not pertinent to the subdivision request. 41 42 Councilmember O'Donnell indicated he assumes the 33 -foot easement would temporarily be used as 43 a driveway to the parcel. He asked if there would be engineering standards it would need to adhere to 44 if it were a public road. 45 46 City Planner Smyser indicated that typically, if it were a road, it would require construction, including •47 grading, blacktop, etc. As a driveway it would be a half -mile long, not paved, just a long dirt 48 driveway. He indicated he has concerns about getting emergency vehicles through. He added the 9