Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Easement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners continue decision on Tanglewood Park wall easement after heated debate over park impacts and utility easement
Summary
A request from RSPD Riverwalk LLC for a construction and permanent easement to build a brick screening wall at the edge of Tanglewood Park was debated at length May 7 and continued for two weeks so staff can provide detailed survey, topo, utility, and maintenance information.
A contentious request to grant a construction and permanent easement across a portion of county-owned property at Tanglewood Park was continued for two weeks after extended debate May 7.
RSPD Riverwalk LLC asked for an easement so it could construct a brick screening wall required under prior rezoning conditions; utilities staff said an existing sewer transmission easement prevented placing the wall entirely on private land, and the developer proposed moving the wall a foot or two off that easement, which would place a portion of the wall on county property. The developer's updated compensation offer for the easement was $23,969, according to the record.
Commissioners raised questions about long-term maintenance, tree impacts, whether the county should permit infrastructure on parkland to resolve a private developer's constraint, and whether the wall was truly a retaining structure or a decorative/screening wall requested as a condition of approval. Parks staff and planning staff said the wall was requested to protect the golf course sightlines and to buffer the park from the proposed adjacent development; staff also said much of the subdivision site has already been graded and that construction has advanced on infrastructure.
Because board members differed on whether to approve an easement across Tanglewood Park, a motion to reject the easement was put forward and then the board instead voted unanimously to continue the item for two weeks. Staff were asked to return with precise surveyed boundaries, topo, proposed planting and restoration plans, confirmation of the wall's exact setback relative to the sewer easement, and clarified conditions addressing slope, restoration, and maintenance responsibilities.
Chairman Martin and other commissioners said they were reluctant to permit use of parkland without clearer assurances; other commissioners said the screening wall is an important condition of approval that protects park uses and golf-safety concerns. The discussion highlighted competing priorities between protecting public park property and accommodating development obligations on adjacent private land.
