Agenda - Council - 02/11/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'92- Councilmember Elvig noted that on the concept plan the cottage area had a very beautiful layout, but as' it is presented on the plat, it is .not as appealing. Principal Planner Trudgeon explained that the City has a new ordinance that requires a public street through al/townhome developments. Because of that requirement, the design was changed to accommodate a public through street. Mr. Trudgeon reviewed the proposed trail alignments within the development. Parks/Utilities Supervisor BoOs stated that the Park Commission did review the plan discUssing many issues including tree conservation and trail alignment. At the time of the meeting, it was noted that the plan was being changed based on recommendations of the Planning Commission so the Park Commission indicated that they would like to see the plan again once it was revised. Th~ one strong consensus the Park Commission had was that trails are an important aspect providing a continuous loop around the neighborhood. The developer is willing to provide a public easement on .the private trails so that they could be used by everyone. The developer proposed the trails and. the City should be careful of taking less than :what the developer is offering. Councitmember Strommen stated that there is. a sidewalk on Potassium Street that .would provide a.continuous circle. She could not require people to have a sidewalk in their front yard and a trail in their back yard. Councilmember Elvig inquired as to who would pay for the' maintenance of the trai1. Parks/Utilities Supervisor Boos replied that it was his understanding that the maintenance-would be paid for by the homeowners association. Councilmember Elvig stated that he lives in the Fox Ridge neighborhood and agrees that having a continuous Walking loop is a very important thing, but he does not see a problem with walking on the street. Councilmember Cook stated that a walldng trail provides a di.fferent recreation than a sidewalk; but he does see a problem with the trail on the north east side of the development because it will be so close to the units. His recommendation was that they provide for larger backyards on those lots by possibly eliminating one of the lots. He stated that when the developer was asked to take the trail out of the back yard, they did itin an area where they had a 25 foot buffer on the lots, but where people were complaining about the lots being too narrow, they did not do anything. He had no problem with using the sidewalk in that situation. · Principal Planner Trudgeon presented a survey from residents regarding the trail, which was overwhelmingly opposing the backyard trail. Mayor Gamec stated that he did not understand why they would need the trails When there was already going to be sidewalks within the development. City Council/JanuarY 21, 2003 Page 4. of 9 ! I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ! I I I