MEMORANDUM 06-76
TO: Mayor Hornaday / Homer City Council
FROM: Walt Wrede
DATE: May 3, 2006
SUBJECT: Proposed Right of Way Dedication / Town Center
As you know, the Fred Meyer Development is proceeding through the permitting stages. One of the most important permitting items, both for Fred Meyer and for Town Center development, is the subdivision of land.
Attached is a proposed preliminary plat that is scheduled to be considered by the Planning Commission on Wednesday, May 3. This plat attempts to accomplish several things recommended by the Town Center Plan. The most important is the road alignment and the dedication of road Rights of Way. The road alignment proposed in this plat is consistent with a Town Center Plan alternative. Depending upon one’s interpretation of the City Transportation Plan, it may or may not be completely consistent with that. Both the Planning Commission and the Transportation Committee are expected to discuss this issue in some detail.
There are several important issues that the Council should be aware of regarding the proposed plat. The first is that the City would be vacating some existing road rights of way and also giving up some proposed right of way granted through court settlement. The roads to be vacated are North Avenue, a Right of Way that encompasses about 16,000 square feet and Beluga St., a ROW that encompasses about 5,000 square feet. In addition, the City would relinquish its interests in two small CIRI owned lots that were set aside for future access to Main St. We no longer see a need for either North Ave. or Beluga St. North Ave. will become part of the Fred Meyer development and access to the Sterling Highway will be provided by a different road alignment. A different access will be provided to Main Street also, thus eliminating the need for the small parcels.
The proposed roads are all 80 feet in width. This is consistent with the Town Center Plan and will allow for construction of Boulevards and/or on-street parking. You will see that the proposed road alignment crosses a parcel owned by the City. If the Planning Commission approves this preliminary plat, the City will need to either deed this property as right of way or dedicate right of way as part of this platting action. The area to be dedicated amounts to about 11,704.80 square feet. I think dedicating this land as ROW is worth it to the City because it helps with development of the Town Center and it provides the City with constructed access to its land in the Town Center, vastly increasing its value and making further development possible.
When we started looking seriously at how to implement the Town Center Plan, we told the Council that we would have to consider some land trades and the moving around of lot lines to make the Town Center happen. This is an important first step in that process. Both CIRI and the City are making significant contributions through this plat.
RECOMMENDATION:
If the Planning Commission approves this preliminary plat, authorize the Manager to take the necessary steps to provide the ROW described above.