Laserfiche WebLink
<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />~ORANDUM <br /> <br />LA+KIN, HOFFMAN, DALY" LINDGREN, LTD. <br />AttorneYI at Law <br />1500 Norwelt fiJiancla1 Center <br />7900 Xerx~1 Avenue South <br />Bloominaton, Minnesota 55431 <br />Telepnono:(612) 835-3800 <br />PAX: (612) 896-3333 <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />Mayor Henry A. Duitsman <br />Members of the City Council <br /> <br />Peter Beck, City Attorney <br /> <br />January 16, 1995 <br /> <br />Landscaping Ordinance <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />DATIt: <br /> <br />RE: <br /> <br />It is my understanding that the City Council will be considering <br />propbsed amendments to the City's Land~caping Ordinance at its <br />meeting on January 23, 1995. For the most part, this ordinance <br />involves purely policy decisions which are outside the scope of <br />my role in serving the City Council. I would only note that the <br />ordinance is considerably more lenient and "developer friendly" <br />than many of the ordinances I see when representing developers in <br />metro area communities. <br /> <br />The one section I did want to comment briefly on is Section <br />.900.30(5) (4), which provides for a financial guarantee to assure <br />that landscaping improvements are completed. I do recommend that <br />the Council adopt this concept, if not: the specific language <br />proposed. <br /> <br />The concept is that persons who receive development approvals <br />conditioned on making specific landscaping improvements post a <br />guarantee to ensure that the improvements will in fact be <br />installed. The idea is that if the applicant does not install <br />the ~mprovements agreed upon the City can use the guarantee to <br />encohrage that the improvements be installed or, ultimately, to <br />actually have the improvements installed. In most instances I do <br />not believe the proposed financial guarantee would be very large. <br /> <br />I recommend the Council adopt this approach because we have had a <br />number of situations over the years where an applicant has agreed <br />to install certain improvements and has failed to do so. When <br />this happens the Council has to decide' whether to give up on <br />having the landscaping installed or to have me start a zoning <br />prosecution action for the applicant's failure to abide by the <br />terms of his agreement. In most cases this zoning prosecution <br />will cost the City more than the value of the landscaping <br />improvements or the proposed financial guarantee. <br /> <br />~ 'd <br /> <br />S9~~968-~l9 H3~9aHIl ^l~a H~W~~OH HI~~~l wo~~ <br /> <br />S~:~l S66l'6l'l0 <br />