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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.b. Accepting Private Streets into the City Street System - Westport Neighborhood EXECUTIVE SUMMARY City Council Work Session: December 12, 2016 AGENDA ITEM: Accepting Private Streets into the City Street System - Westport Neighborhood AGENDA SECTION: Discussion PREPARED BY: Kim Lindquist, Community Development Director AGENDA NO. 2.b. ATTACHMENTS: Adopted Policy, Map APPROVED BY: ddj RECOMMENDED ACTION: Provide Staff Direction SUMMARY In May 2016 the City Council approved a policy for accepting private roads into the public road system. The policy is attached for the Council’s information. The policy was drafted to layout guidelines for when the Council would consider taking over maintenance and ownership of private streets. While the policy covers the entire City, the discussion was prompted by a request from the Westport neighborhood, a 35- single family home neighborhood in the Crosscroft development. Over the last few months, staff has worked with the City attorney on this issue and had engineering staff review the existing roads and construction plans. There are a few issues that remain which are enumerated below. The Council should determine if these issues prompt denial of the private road take over, or if these issues can be mitigated under the current conditions. Based upon the direction of the Council at the work session, if affirmative, staff would ask the Council to take final action on December 20, 2016. The following are the policy criteria for acceptance of private roads and the response addressing the existing condition: Policy 1. To be considered for acceptance by the City as a Public street, the private street must meet the following minimum requirements: a) Basic Requirements a) Accepting the streets must serve a public purpose. Determined by the City Council b) The private street must be accessible from an adjoining public street. The neighborhood has one access from Connemara Trail, a public road. Unfortunately due to the configuration of the neighborhood, the remainder of the private road system requested for public takeover, is connected to two private roads. Access and maintenance, primarily snowplowing will occur across other private roads. It would not be surprising if a request is received in the future to have the City take over the remaining portions of Crosscroft Place and Crosscroft Path. The current request is to have the City take over the portion of the two roads adjacent to traditional single family dwellings only, not the detached townhomes on the eastern portion of the above two mentioned streets. 2 c) Each adjacent dwelling unit must be on its own legal parcel or have a separate property identification number (PIN). All properties served by the private road are separate lots of record. d) The private street was approved as part of the City subdivision approval process. Driveways or common drives will not be considered as private streets. The private street was approved as part of the City subdivision approval process. The street was platted as an outlot and the outlot would be given to the City as part of this process. The HOA attorney and City Attorney have verified that the HOA Board is able to give the Outlot to the City and the action does not require the approval of each individual homeowner. e) The minimum right-of-way required to be established and dedicated to the City is 60 feet centered over the street The outlot is approximately 32’ in width, which is the width of a typical road section. Lands adjacent to the outlots are part of each individual single family lot. There is a 15’ drainage and utility easement on each parcel. In asking the City Attorney she indicated it is unclear if all traditional uses of ROW boulevard are allowed in a drainage and utility easement. She is looking into this question and I hope to have a response by Monday night. If not similar enough, individual homeowners would have to grant additional easements (snow storage, street lighting, sidewalks) over the existing drainage and utility easements to ensure the City can conduct their normal business. The proposal does not technically meet these policy criteria. In a typical development there would be a 32’ wide road, 15’ boulevard (within the public ROW) and a 30’ front yard setback (which would have a 15’ drainage and utility easement). As proposed, there would be the 32’ road, and a 30’front yard setback which contains a 15’ drainage and utility easement. Where there is a sidewalk that is also located within the 15’drainage and utility easement. f) Structure setback must meet the ordinance required setbacks; the City will not grant variances to properties that do not meet the ordinance requirements. In traditional single family districts the setback is 30 feet from the right of way line. The structures on each lot met the 30’ setback standard from the front property line. The property line is not moving in response to this request although the separation from the street to the residence is less than typical. Usually the City would obtain 60’ of right of way which would result in another 15’s setback from the road pavement as compared to the existing condition. However, the dedication does not change the front yard setback from the current condition. g) The private street must serve single family detached housing. The properties in the HOA all contain single family detached housing. b) Design Requirements a) The private street must have a minimum width of 32 feet in single family residential areas and 28 feet in multifamily areas The paved road is currently 32’ in width. b) The private street must be constructed with pavement and subgrade sections equivalent to the current city design standard, that being 2” bituminous wear, 2” bituminous base, 8” of Class 5 gravel base and 2 feet minimum of granular material. The City initially designed the road and it has been verified that the road was designed to city standards. c) The pavement condition of the private street must have a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 75 or greater as determined by the City Engineer. The Engineering Dept has verified that the PCI for the four streets involved in the request are all above a 75PCI rating. d) Sidewalks must be in place according to city standard. Sidewalks are located along portions of Crosscroft Path, Crosscroft Place and Crossmoor Ave. The sidewalk placement is consistent with sidewalks in surrounding neighborhoods. e) Street lighting must be in place at 300’ intervals per city standard Street lighting is in the neighborhood and is consistent with surrounding neighborhoods. 3 f) Private storm sewer serving the public street, including ponds will need to be in compliance with city standards. The storm sewer system was designed by the City and has been installed consistent with plans. I have been working with the City Attorney on the transition from private to public streets. They are available to do the legal work necessary and the HOA has indicated they will reimburse the City for expenses. Staff is trying to confirm the direction Council would like to take now that all the background information relating to the criteria for public takeover of private roads has been compiled. RECOMMENDATION Provide direction for staff. If the Council would like to accept the four road segments as public roads, a resolution memorializing that decision will be scheduled for the December 20th City Council meeting. CITY OF ROSEMOUNT POLICY RELATING TO ACCEPTING PRIVATE STREETS INTO CITY STREET SYSTEM Purpose The City Council of the City of Rosemount (City) desires to establish its position on considering the acceptance of existing private streets into the City street system. Background The City has several miles of privately owned streets for which the City provides no maintenance services. Periodically, the private street owners, generally homeowner’s associations (HOAs), inquire about the possibility of having the City assume ownership and ongoing maintenance of their private streets. This policy defines the conditions under which the City Council will consider accepting private streets into the City system. Policy 1. To be considered for acceptance by the City as a Public street, the private street must meet the following minimum requirements: a) Basic Requirements a) Accepting the streets must serve a public purpose. b) The private street must be accessible from an adjoining public street. c) Each adjacent dwelling unit must be on its own legal parcel or have a separate property identification number (PIN). d) The private street was approved as part of the City subdivision approval process. Driveways or common drives will not be considered as private streets. e) The minimum right-of-way required to be established and dedicated to the City is 60 feet centered over the street f) Structure setback must meet the ordinance required setbacks; the City will not grant variances to properties that do not meet the ordinance requirements. In traditional single family districts the setback is 30 feet from the right of way line. g) The private street must serve single family detached housing. b) Design Requirements a) The private street must have a minimum width of 32 feet in single family residential areas and 28 feet in multifamily areas b) The private street must be constructed with pavement and subgrade sections equivalent to the current city design standard, that being 2” bituminous wear, 2” bituminous base, 8” of Class 5 gravel base and 2 feet minimum of granular material. c) The pavement condition of the private street must have a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 75 or greater as determined by the City Engineer d) Sidewalks must be in place according to city standard. e) Street lighting must be in place at 300’ intervals per city standard f) Private storm sewer serving the public street, including ponds will need to be in compliance with city standards. 2. An agreement, provided by the City and in the City’s format, must be approved by the majority percentage specified in homeowner’s association documents to give public ownership or easement, The agreement must include all private streets which are the responsibility of an HOA. A copy of the agreement is attached hereto and made a part of this policy. 3. Upon receipt of the agreement, the City will perform an Basic Engineering Study on the private streets, examining the private street under consideration for conformance with the policy stated Basic Requirements, and identifying condition, maintenance, and safety issues. The cost of the Basic Engineering Study shall be the responsibility if the HOA. 4. If the Basic Engineering Study indicates that the Private streets cannot meet the Basic requirements due to ROW or setback issues, the analysis will be suspended and the private street will be deemed not suitable for acceptance. 5. If the Basic Engineering Study indicates that the private streets meet all of the basic requirements, a Design Engineering Study will proceed to examine the details of the existing design. This will include a review of the original and as-build construction documents, site surveying and measurements and subsurface geotechnical investigations, and pavement condition analysis as required by the City Engineer. The cost of the Design Engineering Study shall be the responsibility if the HOA 6. If the Design Engineering Study indicates that the Private streets meet all of the Design requirements the private street can be considered for Final acceptance. 7. If the Design Engineering Study indicates that the private street cannot meet the Design requirements, the private street will require reconstruction prior to acceptance. The street can be considered for Preliminary acceptance at this time. 8. At the time of preliminary acceptance of the private street into the City s ystem, the type of reconstruction project to be administered shall be determined as follow: a. For Streets requiring a Mill and Overlay due to PCI less than 75 and greater than 35, but meeting all other Design Requirements, a) The street must be milled and overlayed according to the specification of the City Engineer b) The Homeowners pay 100% of the total cost of the mill and overlay project; b. For Streets requiring reconstruction due to a PCI rating less than 35, an inadequate street width, pavement and subgrade section not equivalent or greater than the city standards, or any other upgrades necessary to meet city design standards, a) The street must be completely reconstructed on order to achieve all required City Design Requirements b) The Homeowners pay 100% of the total Reconstruction project cost 9. The HOA must, by the vote as specified in the HOA documents, grant an easement or fee title for the right-of-way without cost to the City, free and clear of any encumbrances. 10. When accepting a private street as a public street, no special consideration for maintenance ( i.e. snow removal), will be given priority over public street maintenance policies and procedures. 11. The City Council' s final action to accept a private street as a public street shall be a combined action including: a) Accepting the easements or right of way dedication b) Adopting the assessments for street and utility reconstruction. c) Accepting the street. d) Awarding a contract for street and utility reconstruction. 12. The final action will occur after all required public hearings for assessments with notification to property owners. Westport Document Path: T:\GIS\City\Maps\Departmental Maps\CommunityDevelopment\Kim\CrosscroftPrivateStreets.mxd