10 - P & Z Admin Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

From: Charles Marohn [marohn @communitygrowth.net] Sent: Monday, May 02, 20114:29 PM To: 'Larson, Ken(DOT)'; 'Dan Helbling RV Resort Village'; Dawn Bittner Cc: 'Dirlam, Gary(DOT)'; 'Hallgren,Jim(DOT)'; 'Konickson, Paul (DOT); 'Pikula,Vince (DOT)' Subject: RE: TH 371 entrance closure south of CR 168/CR 107 jct. in Pequot Lakes, RV Resort Village at the Preserve Ken, The City has asked me to take a look at this. If Mn/DOT wants to shut this entrance,the City does not have a mechanism to address that.As part of approving the RV Resort,we followed your request and prohibited the resort from accessing TH 371 directly through this access.They were required to make improvements to local streets,the county road system and then to coordinate with you on TH 371 improvements to address increased traffic. On the issue of the existing house and driveway access, Mn/DOT18s July 3, 2006 letter indicated that the one residential property could keep their access but that the access could not be expanded to serve the resort.The City agreed with this request. On the date of a subsequent meeting on this matter(February 15, 2007), Mn/DOT sent another letter indicating that they now wanted the one residential property accessed closed as it had changed ownership and was now owned by the developer. It is not clear to me when this letter was received, but on that same day the Planning Commission voted to approve the development consistent with M'n/DOT[Es original request. We are not aware of any authority that the City has to force the removal of an existing access.We have denied the new resort all non-emergency use of this access and, as far as we are aware,they have never used the access.The single-family home is occupied and being utilized consistent with its historic use. It is unclear what grounds the city would have relied on®even if it did receive Mn/DOT©s comments prior to the meeting IN to close this access. That being said,while I don[Ot speak authoritatively for the City Council,the Planning Commission or the City Attorney, I do not see a mechanism whereby the City can intervene between'Mn/DOT and a property owner in a dispute over an access removal. If Mn/DOT finds that the historic use of this property as a single-family residence conflicts with public safety or some other Mn/DOT objective,there are many ways Mn/DOT can address that issue. I recommend you contact the property owner and see what can be worked out. -Charles Marohn Pequot Lakes City Planner