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Item No. Staff Report No. Meeting Date: September 20, 1999 Type of Business: Work Session WK: Work Session;PH:Public Hearing; CA:Consent Agenda;CB:Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor & City Council From: James Ericson, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: Request to Allow a Driveway over and across Unimproved City Right of Way. Date of Report: September 16, 1999 Background: Spencer Mistelske has requested that the City Council consider a proposal to allow for a driveway to be constructed over and across unimproved City right of way. Mr. Mistelske has entered into a purchase agreement with the property owners of Lots 2 and 3, Block 1, Smuder Addition. This agreement is contingent upon favorable wetland analysis, soil borings and City allowance of said driveway request. Mr. Mistelske has stated his willingness to sign a limited use agreement which among other things would absolve the City from any potential liabilities and indemnify and hold harmless the City in any and all events. He further states that at some point in the future if Laport Drive is constructed, he acknowledges that he would be accordingly assessed for the adjacent improvements. The properties are located to the west of Edgewood Drive on an unimproved section of Laport Drive. These lots were never built on and the street remains unimproved due to the presence of wetlands which made construction and installation of utilities prohibitively difficult. It now appears that after the installation of Highway 10 (formerly known as Trunk Highway 118), the wetlands south of the highway have been drained and the boundaries shifted to the point where construction could occur. This has not been verified by a delineation, although studies are currently being done which should soon shed some additional light on the overall development potential of this area. Discussion: The properties, after an inspection by staff, SEH Inc. and other parties, appear to not be within or abutting the wetland areas as so indicated on the City's wetland zoning maps, which were created in the 1980s based on national wetland inventory data and aerial photos. The boundaries as shown on the wetland zoning maps represent contours or land elevation levels within which the wetlands were assumed to be contained, and as such, probably do not reflect the actual and true boundaries of the wetlands in the City. The maps have remained essentially unchanged over the years, having been produced for reference use only and not intended to be survey-quality delineations. That caveat being stated, it can be seen on the attached wetland zoning map that a small section of the wetland extends onto the northwest corner of the combined lots, which are outlined in bold. There is clearly room for a driveway to be located on the right of way and onto the property without encroaching into the wetland. In addition, it can be seen that there is ample room for a