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<br /> <br />Item # 5.4. <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: Mayor and City Council <br /> <br />FROM: Lori Johnson, City Administrator <br /> <br />DATE: May 10, 2007 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Private Roads in Townhome Developments <br /> <br />The topic of maintenance and replacement of private roads has come up in the past and the <br />Council has decided that it was not in the city's best interest to take over these roads. This <br />issue has been raised again and the Council asked that it be discussed at a worksession. As <br />requested, very preliminary information regarding private roads will be presented to the <br />Council verbally on Monday. The Council can then decide if it wants to explore this topic <br />further. <br /> <br />Of the private roads that currently exist in the city, approximately half of them are in town <br />home developments. The remaining half are almost exclusively gravel roads with the <br />exception of a couple of commercial areas. In the case of the town home developments, <br />the developers requested that the roads be private in order to increase density. Some of the <br />other private roads were former township roads that were taken over when the city <br />consolidated with the township. In many cases, these private roads function as driveways. <br /> <br />City Engineer Terry Maurer, Community Development Director Scott Clark, Stteet <br />Superintendent Phil Hals, and I have met several times to discuss the issues surrounding <br />private roads. Some of the issues are simple, but some of these are more complex than they <br />appear on the surface and additional research will be needed. One of the first things that <br />comes to mind when talking about taking over private roads is the substantial additional cost <br />involved in maintenance and long-term replacement. However, there are many other issues <br />including the standard to which the private stteets were consttucted, ownership of the road <br />and dedication of rights of way, patking, access points, amending town home association <br />documents, and the need fot specialized equipment to access the narrow roads, to name a <br />few. <br /> <br />Staff would like direction from the Council how you want to approach this issue. If the <br />Council wants to continue exploring this issue, staff will dedicate time and resources to fully <br />research all of the issues and eosts associated with taking over ownership of private roads <br />and bring it back to the Council for consideration at a later date. One step we would like to <br />