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4 Gomez Request, Bluff CreekTrlCITYOF MEMORANDUM TO: Park and Recreation Commission FROM: Todd Hoffman, Park and Recreation Director DATE: October 21, 1998 SUB J: Gomez Request, Bluff Creek Trail On September 22, Mr. Al Gomez, 8748 Valley View Place spoke to the Park and Recreation Commission regarding the Bluff Creek Trail project. Mr. Gomez has expressed concern over this trail from the time he realized it would be constructed. Copies of past correspondence to and from Mr. Gornez are attached. Mr. Gomez is asking that a privacy berm be constructed as a part of the project. Secondly, he questions why the trail is being built on the east side of Bluff Creek. The Commission elected to schedule a site visit prior to their next meeting to better respond to these issues. The Commission will visit the site at approximately 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 1998, after which they will convene for their regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers. STAFF'S POSITION Regarding the berm: Privacy berms have not been constructed at any location along the trail project. A berm would have little effect on privacy in Mr. Gomez' rear yard. Mr. Gomez may elect to construct a privacy fence or berm at his own expense. Regarding the Location of the Trail: The east side alignment connects the neighborhood to the trail and aligns with the existing north terminus and planned south terminus. Relocation of the trail to the west side of Bluff Creek is not an option. ATTACHMENTS Prior con'espondence. c~ Mr. A1 Gomez 8748 Valley View Place g:\ pal-k [}¥' gOlllC?_reqtl¢ st c Olll mlllt21llo.doc ~r- O ITY OF Community Trails Public Meeting Lake Mirmewashta Room - Chanhassen Recreation Cemer December 3, 1997 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Subject: Proposed Bluff Creek Trail Connector I. Introduction Todd Hoffman, Terry Maurer, David Nyberg, Andy Brotzler II. III. Brief Description of Proposed Alignment Co Proposed trail begins at connection with Audubon Road Proposed alignment along existing trail easement, north of Bluff Creek, along back lots Trail proposed to continue through ciD' property to connect to existing trail system Connection to Valley Ridge Trail South Future development plans for city property Questions and Comments IV. Ao General questions about entire segment Specific questions about individual property Concluding Remarks &O 'EO' d 8748 Valley View Place Chanhassen, WIN 55317 RECEIVED DEC 0 3 1997 December 1, 1997 CITY OF CH^NH^SSEN Mr. Todd Hoffman Director of Parks and Recreation City of Chanhassen 690 Coulter Dr. Chanhassen, MN 55317 Dear Mr. Todd Hoffman: I am sorry that I will not be able to attend the Community Trails Public Meetings you are coordinating due to prior travel commitments. I did however want to drop you a note to give you feedback from a resident that is directly affected by these new trails. Todd, I appreciate the time you have given me in the past in reviewing the issues of trails and their impact on Chanhassen Residents. As we have discussed in the past, I am not a proponent of having our tax dollars fund trails that surround the perimeter of every development, and in turn inter-connect. I supported the referendum in purchasing open land for future parks, and enjoy having access to trails to use with my family. I think it is over-kill to have trails surround the perimeter of every neighborhood when we have a tough time generating support to increase taxes to fund our community's educational needs. I will be directly affected by the trail built in the BluffCreek Trail Connector. I have three issues ~vith this trail. First, is the fact that, according to our last conversation, there will be a trail that runs parallel to the one that backs up to my property. I do not understand how xve can afford to duplicate efforts like this. Is it too much to ask to have our residents walk an extra 25 yards to access a trail? Secondly, is the fact that I have three young children (ages 7, 5, & 2). We currently feel comfortable and safe to allow our kids to play in our backyard with relatively little supervision. By opening this trail, we lose the ability to do so. I know you feel that the trail will only be used by the residents of our neighborhood, but I strongly disagree. This trail will connect our Chanhassen Lakes with Chaska, creating a lot of traffic in the summer of both residents and non-residents. Again, this seriously affects the safety feature we now enjoy. The last point is that we paid a very high premium for these lots because of the privacy feature they offered us. Our builder indicated that there would be nothing built behind this property. We felt we did our homework in calling the city planner and confirming that this was the case. The city planner indicated that there was nothing to be built behind our lot, but failed to clarify that he ,,vas referring only to structural buildings. There was no mention by the city planner to check with the Parks & Recreation Department with regard to trails. The point is that there is the option to build the trail across the water preserve that now sits in the Bluff Creek Corridor, and minimize the impact it has on these specific residents. The city accomplishes its goal to provide trails and entice people to move to Chanhassen, and the residents retain the safety and privacy features that these lots initially offered us. I would like to touch base with you in person to discuss this matter. If the aforementioned suggestion is not viable, I would like to review the option of the City of Chanhassen building a fence surrounding the perimeter of our development, in order to ensure us the safety and privacy we thought we bought into. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to call me at 361-6774, and please leave a message ifI am not available. Continued success, A/Gomez MEMORANDUM December 22, 1997 RESIDENT: FROM: SUBJECT: Al Gomez, 8748 Valley View Place, Chanhassen, MN 55317 David E. Nyberg, P.E.- Project Manager BLUFF CREEK TRAIL SEGMENT 1998 CHANHASSEN TRAIL PROJECT This correspondence is in response to your letter dated December 1, 1997. In that letter, you requested a meeting with us in person to discuss the above project. Meetings with individual residents will be scheduled early in January, sometime between January 7th and January 10 th. A representative from the City of Chanhassen will be contacting you to schedule this meeting. Until then, if you have' any questions or would like to discuss the project, please give me a call at 644-4389. HHoward R, Green %m ny t~;~ ~ CO:'qSULTiNG ENGINEERS 1326 Energy Park Drive · St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 Phone: 612/644-4389 · Fax: 612/644-9446 · Toll Free1-800/S88-36S-Z389 © sr,c',~0~230'.c30-2s',l ~'~ M5 Date: To: City of Chanhassen 690 City Center Drive, P.O. Box 147 Chanhassen, MN 55317 (612)937-1900 10/21/98 Development Plan Referral Agencies From: Planning Department By: Sharmin Al-Jarl, Planner lJ Subject: Request for a rezoning of 16.4 acres from RR, Rural Residential to RSF, Residential Single Family; preliminary plat of 16.4 acres into 17 single family lots with variances. The property is located on the south side of Lake Lucy Road just north of Lake Lucy, Lake Lucy Estates, Contractor Property Developers Company. Planning Case: 95-3 SUB and 95-1 Rezoning (File 2) The above described application for approval of a land development proposal was filed with the Chanhassen Planning Department on October 16, 1998. In order for us to provide a complete analysis of issues for Planning Conmfission and City Council review, we would appreciate your comments and recommendations concerning the impact of this proposal on traffic circulation, existing and proposed fi~ture utility services, storm water drainage, and the need for acquiring public lands or easements for park sites, street extensions or improvements, and utilities. Where specific needs or problems exist, we would like to have a written report to this effect from the agency concerned so that we can make a reconm~endation to the Planning Commission and City Council. This application is scheduled for consideration by the Chanhassen Planning Commission on Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Chanhassen City Hall. We would appreciate receMng your comments by no later than November 6, 1998. You may also appear at the Planning Commission meeting if you so desire. Your cooperation and assistance is greatly appreciated. 1. ..City Departments City Attorney .~.'~it~ Park Director ~..45ire Marshal ~.~/Buildin~ Official (~?~' Water l~esources Coordinator  Forester 2. Watershed District Engineer 8. Telephone Company (US West or Sprint) 9. Electric Company (NSP or MN Valley) 10. Triax Cable System 11. U. S. Fish and Wildli£e 3. Soil Conservation Service 4. MN Dept. of Transportation 12. Carver County a. Engineer b. Environmental Services 5. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 13. Other 6. Minnegasco 7. MN Dept. of Natural Resources RESIDENT: PROJECT ~EPRE~ENTATIVE: DATE OF~!EETING: SUBJECT: Mr. Al Gomez ~748 Valley View Place ............... j_a.!?lary 9, 1990 David F Nybc. r0` P F - Project Manager T~dd H,.~rr[r,~,'~, Park & Recreation Director January 8, 1998 - BLUFF CREEK TRAIL SEGMENT 1098 CHANH^$SEN TRAIL PROJECT The rneetln[; started with a f.lUe.'~fi(~, f..;[ Al ¢~.uarrll.0 Ibc. opel~ area across lhe wetland frsm his properly. H,,, wh~ther development wodld o~ur across lhe creek. Todd told him tha~[ thc ama wes cu~cntly zor'.¢d industrial/commerda] and that dG. vCl09~C~t WOUld I~¢IV ~lappen at soma futura time. Al asked whal ~ ,auld b~ppen to t~e ~11 s~ros~ the creek from his propeAy. TOdd said t~t tl~e ~111 may come down depen,.:~9 on how the ama Is developed, It could be ~uvelupud withuut [Jm~ h~ll buh~g com~elely down using ~O~le kind of telr~:i~U u~lll{M AI'$ cor~cern~ are primarily thc tact thai t~¢ PaKJ e p.'cmlum for tr, e lc] that he live5 on, He asked his builder and t~;e developer whether a trail would be constructed near r, ls house and they assured him that a Ir211 would '10t be constructed ir1 b~;k ul' hi~ house. Huw-~ve~, uaw we are corllif, g throbgh and placing a trail in bar.'~: ~:,r his Im.~. H~. I'.~Is II-mi ho. was misled by this development. AI'$ other c(qcern i3 with children. Childrc,1 in his nOJ~hb0rho0d Play In tho ~.ackyard areas and the neighborhood is concerned with security. ~wen t~e tact t~at the trail wi:l car~' pedestrians from ot~er ncighbor~oo:s into their backysrd8. Wa snowed Al, on the plans, .ow the trail i~ F, rupu~ed [,J be quilu d:sl~Ce fror~ his backyard and down LJrl the slope of Ilt~ h~nn luw~d IhH w.I]~.'l This wall provide additluual s~,:ur;ty for the neighhorhnnd At said h~ is inf~r~t~d in talking lo his neighbors 8bo~ buJMing a fence ale~ ;~ the back propc~y linc, Todd 8a;d thc] this would be tine, thc City will n~l ~c doing any fcncing w;th i~lis project, however individual residents may Cut up smnce at their own disc?etlon. Al ~2id ~nat he can t.,~aersta~d the need for a frail, however f,e wishes he would have been Lg]d Ihat ~ ball wuuld be placed h~ ~ls backyard pdor ~o pLu'chas~ of II,ix Inl Al ~i~l .m.~l .[ hi~ ~igl':bors did~'t Iknow about the p,c, posal for., h-ail ~nd they alan ¢~cl fh~ .~am~ ~s he (Joes. They feel they were mbrGprcscntcd by thc developer, a,',~ that a trail w0dld not be placed in their b~ckyard. Al d:d say hG. w3¢ p;eased lO ~ae that t~e trail Is clDser to the wetlan~ than I:~ had ~d~ir~u ly ~huught. H~ feared thai li~,3 ~rai[ wOUld be YeW close to hl~ yard. We again looked at the l)l~n~ a;.I a~;~ur.d him the trai', will b~ mud: ulosu~ Lu tile we]let, ds Lh~n to hTs own pmCedy At fh~ ~n~ nC fh~ m~fin0, we told A~ Ih~l ~: h~ had a~y [ul.m q.esliens he could ce~air.[y g~ve u5 a ca:~ and w¢ could d[scds~ the matter fudh¢ Al dad say he wa~ interested in gaining ~omc d;A from t~ projcd al:d that he would like to bc 8bid to t¢~ to Ibc contractor, at t~e time the proj¢O~ iS 6,~Cu¢¢iC9, tO get l~ls wo~ down. I told Al that ,,vnen t~e pr qect starts we will d0 cons:ructlo~ newsletters :o update residents er~ the p~ugre~s ut contractor, a~d at tn~ I~Hie lie c'uu~d hy al~d ~:~uidJria[r the iss~e witl-J Ih~ r~Rtl'ant~r nr rdlr inspector Tn ~3el Ihi.~ w(nk 4UUU'ING ENGINEER,~ 1~26 Energy Park Drive · St. ~aul. Mienesota 55108 Phc~' 612/fi44-42B9 · Fax: ~12/844-0446 · Toil Frcc 1-8¢0/888 ~ C '¢rc/,gC 138C,: ~0 AM2 TOTAL P. Fl~