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Item No: 7B Meeting Date: July 24, 2006 Type of Business: PH & CB Administrator Review: ______ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing, Introduction and First Reading of Ordinance 777, an Ordinance Approving a Partial Vacation of a Drainage and Utility Easement Associated with the Hidden Hollow Major Subdivision Introduction: The City Council approved the Hidden Hollow final plat on June 28, 2004. The plat created seventeen new executive home sites south of County Road H2. Most of the lots have been sold and developed and the project is nearing completion. One of the last lots to be developed is Lot 5, located directly south from County Road H2 and situated on the bend of Hidden Hollow Court. Dave Regal Construction (DRC) has submitted a request for a new home to be constructed on Lot 5 and have a buyer for which they intend to construct a handicapped accessible home. While preparing the floor plan for the home, it was discovered that the easement dedicated for drainage and utility purposes encroached too far into the lot to allow for the preferred design alternative to be constructed. As a result, DRC is requesting that 1,563 square feet of the easement be vacated. Discussion: The applicant has enlisted the assistance of Plowe Engineering, Inc. to assess the accuracy of the dedicated easement. Plowe’s report indicates that the easement, as drafted by Sunde Engineering for developer ProCraft Homes, was intended to protect the 100 year high water level of the stormwater management pond that was dedicated over the southern lots in Hidden Hollow. The easement in question, as it relates to Lot 5, covers area in excess of the 100 year elevation. Plowe recommends vacating that part of the easement area beyond the 100 year elevation. After receipt of the request from DRC, staff forwarded Plowe’s report and the certificate of survey to Sunde Engineering to get their opinion given that they drafted the easement for dedication. Staff discussed this with the engineer from Sunde who confirmed that the easement area appeared to cover land beyond the 100 year pond HWL and saw no reason to not approve the requested vacation. Staff forwarded the applicant’s submittal and Sunde’s response to Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik and Associates (BRAA) who reviewed this ProCraft Homes stormwater management component for the City. To vacate an easement or other public interest in a parcel, the City must determine that the easement no longer serves a public purpose. In this case, our consulting engineer BRAA confirms that the requested vacation of the 1,563 square feet would not be detrimental to the overall function of the easement area in that this section of the easement was dedicated in excess of the intended area and in excess of what was needed to cover the stormwater management pond.