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<br />CASE # 9 <br /> <br />CONSIDER DRIVEWAY PAVING INCENTIVE <br />By: Steven Jankowski, City Engineer <br /> <br />Background; <br /> <br />City Council has expressed a desire to initiate a discussion for an effort to eliminate <br />unpaved driveways within the City. The benefit of such a goal would be the elimination <br />of sediment migrating onto paved city streets and into the storm water drainage system. <br />Secondary benefits would be improved neighborhood appearance and higher property <br />values. This case is intended to begin a discussion on what type of program and <br />incentives might be considered to achieve this goal. <br /> <br />The City of Coon Rapids initiated a similar effort several years ago by passing an <br />ordinance requiring all driveways to be paved within a period of several years from the <br />time of adoption. In an effort to facilitate compliance with the ordinance the city solicited <br />interested parties and put together a driveway paving project that assessed the full cost <br />under the chapter 429 process (special assessment). Participating parties needed to sign a <br />waiver of the public hearing required by the process and also agreed to be responsible for <br />turfrestoration and landscaping issues. Approximately 50 to 55 properties signed up for <br />this program. The bids which were received were quite favorable for the market <br />conditions at the time, possibly owing to the facts that the low bid contractor was setting <br />up a new driveway paving crew and the relatively large number of driveways that the <br />project offered to the contractor. This project covered perhaps 25 % of the unpaved <br />driveways in the city. The City is currently considering undertaking a second program at <br />this time. <br /> <br />Several of the issues to be considered are identified below: <br /> <br />Incentives Offered - The discussion which has initiated includes a monetary incentive for <br />residents by having the city pick up a portion of the cost of the paving. Should the paying <br />exceed beyond the property line, generally 15 to 21 feet? A legal issue may arise as to <br />whether city funds can be used to fund improvements on private property. Perhaps this <br />city could pick up all or a portion of the paving costs within the public right of way, if <br />this proves to be an impediment to the program. <br /> <br />Scope of Required Paving - This issue addresses what the length of the mandated paving <br />should be. A few drives in the city extend for over a quarter mile. Perhaps the required <br />paving should be limited to the first 50 to 100 feet from the paved city street. Alternately <br />the length could be based upon the grade of the driveway approach, as steeper driveways <br />present a significantly higher erosion potential. <br /> <br />Mandatory paving - Should an ordinance be adopted requiring paving or should the <br />program be strictly voluntary with financial incentives to achieve goals? If paved <br />driveways are.to be required by ordinance, consideration should be given for hardship <br />