05-21-91 CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

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�E- %1�c -aA -7I June 21, 1991 To: Lake Elmo City Council Re: Public .Hearing Regarding Demontreville Park Access We the residents of the Demontriville Highlands neighborhood are asking the City of Lake Elmo to vacate the Demontreville Park walkway access easement. between lots 13 and 14, block 3, Demontreville Highlands 4th addition, Lake Elmo, Mn., and abandon all improvement plans for this access site. While agreeing with the principle of a public walkway into the park, we do not feel that the above mentioned third access site would comply with this principle nor serve the intended purpose. When the walkway easement was originally recorded the purpose was to allow public access to proposed baseball fields and tennis courts in that portion of the park. Since that time it has been determined that the lay of the land in this portion of Demontreville Park is more conducive to a wildlife area, and in fact the upper park area on Hytrail Ave. has since been developed to accommodate our need for ball fields, etc. Since the original park plan which required the need for a ( walkway in this location has been abandoned, so should the easement be abandoned. We currently have two formal accesses into the park; one on the northern end on Hytrail Ave„ the other serving the southern end of the park on Demontreville Trail. Both of these access points are currently being improved, eg., brush cleared, signs posted, etc. These improvements will eliminate any confusion that may have existed as to access locations. In addition to the above mentioned accesses, we have , as many parks have, many "informal" access points. The addition of a third access site is unnecessary. Users of this proposed walkway will need to walk along a 420 ft. fenced path between private property to reach a portion of the park already accessible from the Demontreville road access, a portion of the park that is only approximately 200 ft. wide where the proposed walkway would enter. In addition, the entry from Demontreville Road provides users access directly into the heart of the park and then follows a meandering creek deeper into the wildlife areas of the park. This seems to be a more suitable way to enter such an area. _ Standing on the corner of Highlands Trail and Demontreville Road one can see the existing access site as well as the proposed site, and they are close enough that you could probably throw a stone to each from that comer.