Minutes - Public Works Committee - 01/15/2002

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Councilmember Zimmerman recommended that staff talk to the County first because he thinks the County is already having conversations with the property owner. He stated that he would like to have some sort of written agreement as to who will buy the necessary right-of-way and what will each City be obligated to as well as the County. Case #3: Consider Interim Private Street Policy City Engineer Olson stated that the purpose of the case was to give the Committee a brief background of the private street issue, provide an update of the private street discussion as well introduce and adopt the proposed policy to be used until Chapter 9 re-write is complete. Section 9.50.30 of the current City Code states, "Private streets shall not be approved. All proposed streets shown on the plat shall be offered for dedication as public streets." This section of the City code was rewritten in 1990. On August 21, 2001, the Public Works Committee discussed whether or not too officially allow private streets. There have been numerous exceptions to the above stated rule since 1990 and the consensus was that the City should allow these streets, but only under certain circumstances. The direction of the Committee was to send it to the Planning Commission for their study and recommendation. On October 4, 2001, the Planning Commission discussed the use of private streets and also concluded that they should be allowed, but only under certain circumstances. The rewrite of Chapter 9 is proceeding and the residential sections are expected to be completed and proposed for adoption at the April 9th City Council meeting. Since the Planning Commission meeting, there have been a number of additional issues that have been discussed including angle of intersection, parking, and length of private streets. Councilmember Zimmerman felt that private streets should be used very sternly. City Engineer Olson stated that it was his opinion that the overall feeling of the Committee has been that the only time they are going to allow private streets is if they are going to be street like driveways to provide access to the units and always require that the main thoroughfare is a public street. Councilmember Kurak inquired if a public easement will be required over all of the private streets. City Engineer Olson replied that that requirement was not included in the interim policy, but it is being discussed as part of the Chapter 9 rewrite. Councilmember Kurak stated that she would prefer that the public easement requirement be included and that the streets be called semi-private drives. City Engineer Olson noted that the City did have an issue in Mallard Ponds where it was discussed whether or not kids should be allowed to bike d°wn the private streets. Public Works Committee/January 15, 2002 Page 7 of 10