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Commission backs easement vacation to relocate storm pond; applicant cites final watershed permit
Summary
Planning commissioners approved an easement vacation and interim use permit to relocate a stormwater pond from 3295 to 3345 Fox Street and to permit grading; staff and the applicant said watershed permits have been issued and the proposal replaces the pond with a rain-garden-style feature in the long term.
The Orono City Planning Commission approved an application to vacate a drainage easement and relocate a stormwater pond from 3295 Fox Street to 3345 Fox Street (LA 24-27), along with an interim use permit for the grading work.
Planning staff (Miss Oakton) said the change would fill the existing pond and create a replacement pond on the southern lot, with a new drainage easement dedicated over the replacement pond. The project requires permits from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and other agencies; staff said those permits were being obtained and recommended approval.
Applicant representative Bruce Voter described the proposal as a move toward a rain-garden-style approach and said the watershed district had issued final permits late the previous week. “Now the Watershed District is accepting rain gardens, and actually my client and the engineering company are proposing not actually a pond, but a rain garden,” Voter said. He also confirmed that older septic effluent material would be removed and disposed of off-site as part of the work.
Commissioners asked technical questions about the easement depiction, the disturbance area, and the implications for future building envelopes; staff and the applicant answered that the change improves buildability on the previously constrained lot. No public speakers opposed the application, and the commission approved the easement vacation and IUP by voice vote.
