CR 01-090 Request for Vacation of Easement 110 Wayside Road
July 12, 2001
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Council Report 2001-090
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Request for Vacation of Easement
110 Wayside Road
Proposed Action.
Staff recommends the following motion: Move that Council deny the request for
partial vacation of the drainaae and utilitv easement at 110 Wayside Road.
Overview.
The property owner at 110 Wayside Road has asked that the city vacate a
portion of the drainage and utility easement running along the west side of
Highway 169. The owner would like to construct a 24' x 32' storage building in
his backyard and he would like to position the building as far back into the corner
of his lot as possible. The 35' - 42' wide easement prohibits this building
placement. The easement was obtained in the mid-1980's when County Road
18 was reconstructed and prior to the sale and subsequent improvements to this
property. Located within this easement area is a 16" water main and ~he
embankment rising up to the Hwy 169 sound wall. The water pipe is rocated
about 18-20 ft from the east easement line, near the base of the sloPied
embankment. City staff maintains that when this water pipe needs m\aintenance
or repair it will be necessary to have room for the excavation plus equlpment and
trucks on the west side of the pipe. The east side of the pipe is the erhbankment
area and wouJd not be useable for vehicles/equipment. Staff recommends denial
of the partial vacation.
Primary Issues to Consider.
. Is a compromise possible?
· . How old is the pipe and how likely is the need for
maintenance/repair?
Supportina Information.
· June 18, 2001 letter addressed to Hopkins City Council
· Aerial photograph
· Photographs from easement/backyard area
. Property survey
~~draWing
Steven J. Stadler
Public Works Director
Council Report 2001-090
Page 2
Analvsis of Issues.
· Is a compromise possible? No. Even with a minimum excavation width
of 4' from the bottom of a trench (see attached cross-section drawing),
there is only about 16-17 ft from the easement line. All of this space
would be needed for excavation equipment, trucks, stockpiling of
excavated soil, etc. If there were useable space on both sides of the pipe
it would be easier to give a few feet on the west side of the pipe. This is a
unique situation with the adjacent embankment and sound wall.
· How old is the pipe and how likely is the need for maintenance/repair?
The pipe is 20 years old. It is difficult to predict when this pipe may need
maintenance/repair. It could remain in service trouble-free for several
more decades or we could be surprised with a leak developing within the
next few years. It is prudent to ensure that there is sufficient space to
maintain/repair this pipe whenever the need arises.
June 18, 2001
To: Hopkins City Council Re: Partial vacation of easement- 110 Wayside Road
East
We are requesting the vacation of a portion of a large easement on our property
to help facilitate the construction of a storage garage.
We bought this property as bare land consisting of recombined surplus lots from
old Hennepin County Highlway 18 19605 condemnations, at sealed bid from
Hennepin County in 1987~ Our goal Was to bLJjld a one level accessible home.
After difficulty, we were able to obtain. a "Set back variance from the abandoned
portion of Wayside Road East, and built this home in 1988-9. We have been
quiet owner-occupiers since.
In recent times, we became aware of cities (and our city) proposing/enacting
ordinances dealing with uncovered vehicles/campers/boats, and since we fit this
category of homeowner, we began to. plan a storage structure.
The home is located on the higher north end of the property, so we looked to fit
this new building into the south' corner of the lot where it has the lowest elevation
with heavy foliage and can better blend in. .
We knew about the easement and water line running thru it, and called the city
water superintendent, Mr. Lauseng, tq o~tline our plans and he came out and
located the water main. (I wanted to do this first, because some of the problems
with our earlier home setback variance in 1988 was because of an incorrect map
of this area at city hall. 1 wanted to be sure to physically site the structure away
from the water line.) The water line was 2 fe~t up from the base of the noise wall
hill and 18 feet from the wall itself. I asked Nlr. Lauseng what is the normal size
for a water easement for a water main and his response was 10 feet on either
side of the line. 10 feet from the water pipe to the west placed it on a line to the
south telephone pole corner marker, what I figured to be the west boundary of
the easement. Subsequent research by Mr. Hill of the engineering department
disclosed that, in fact, there was an additional 1 0 'feet to that line for a total
easement width in the south of over 3~ feet tapering to 35 feet north near the
house.
This means that this west side easement is 20 feet rather than 10 feet from the
water. This added 10 feet is making it difficult to properly site the building with
the topography/sideyard setback and aesthetics.
In phone conversation with Mr. Stadler, he indicated that easement vacation was
not something that he was likely to favor.
Mr. Stadler apparently fee-Is that easement reduction will adversely affect
possible future water line maintenance, and wants the 35-39 feet to remain. 1.
have been assured by equipment operators and contractors that we are leaving
enough room for necessary trucks/backhoes/heavy equipment.
Mr. Stadler also indicated by email that our request "is not in the best interest of
the city"-Certainly having a large taxable easement is an advantage for the city,
but this configuration fashioned by Hennepin County when it owned the homes
and properties, puts future private owners in a poor position with their property.
Over 1/4 of our lot and over 8000 square feet are consumed by this easement.
We are asking to pare 1/8 from that, and feel that the result will not hurt the
city-now or in the future.
In our original request to Me Stadler, we had asked to pare 10 feet from the west
side of the easement. We asked if he had any other suggestions on this issue,
but have not given him much time to respond. We could get by with leaving the
easement north end as it is, and allow us to move the south end 10 feet east,
and redraw the boundary line from that. (see survey maps) The 1985 Hennepin
County survey west boundary line was based on a bearing shot from the south
monument at the telephone pole, so a new bearing should work. This approach
will still ensure maintenance access while allowing us to reasonably site the
structure. We. also narrowed the building from our original plan. This gives a
setback of 12 feet on the south end of the building to the water line and that
dimension increases to 17 feet at the north end.
Also, we feel that the easement west of this "telephone polefl marker that
extends through the Dalbec's lot at 401 Hollyhock Lane is likely excessive and
should be looked at for vacation.
We enjoy our neighborhood and hope that the council will work with us for a
common sense solution to deal with our different lot.
We believe that the best way for council members to get a good understanding
for this request, is to visit us and the site-all the way to the end of Wayside Road
in Hobby Acres, Thank you ~
Dan, Kathy and Kate Lapham
11 o Wayside Road East
933-2435 dig pager 612-538-5434
lapham3@aol.com
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