Commission approves vacation of 20‑foot drainage easement at 4050 Leversey Road, with requirement for replacement easement at time of development

The Waterloo Planning and Zoning Commission on June 10 approved the City of Waterloo’s request to vacate a 20‑foot drainage easement on Lots 4 and 5 of Wharf Second Edition adjacent to 4050 Leversey Road, provided a drainage easement is dedicated and shown on a future site plan at the time of development.

Tamala, planning staff, told commissioners the easement being vacated is no longer needed for existing drainage. Staff noted the area is designated industrial on the future land use map and is zoned M2P Planned Industrial District (rezoned from A1 Agricultural District on Sept. 20, 2010). No portion of the area to be vacated is in a floodway or floodplain, according to 2024 FEMA maps. Staff cautioned that vacation could affect drainage and said a replacement easement would be required at the time the lots develop; that replacement easement must be shown on the site plan for any building expansion or new development.

Commissioner Dunant asked whether the easement issues raised in packet materials had been resolved; Schrader, planning staff, replied the developer plans to dedicate an easement further from the building to allow a building addition and that the drainage system would function with that arrangement. Commissioner Poe moved approval, subject to the replacement easement requirement; the motion carried by voice vote.

Staff described nearby features including a 10‑foot utility easement to the south, a 60‑foot sanitary sewer/drainage/utility easement to the west along Leversey Road and the Waterloo Regional Airport to the northeast. Vacating the 20‑foot easement is intended to aid future development of the lots, with the caveat that a drainage easement be dedicated during site planning for any development.