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Planning commission backs waiver allowing preservation easement for Homestead Acres with conditions
Summary
The commission recommended the village board approve a waiver to ordinance 14-3-5 so Homestead Acres can record a preservation easement in place of a conservation easement, but added conditions requiring a recorded preservation easement, a stewardship plan and stronger third‑party enforcement language.
The Caledonia Planning Commission recommended that the village board approve a waiver to ordinance 14-3-5 so Homestead Acres Subdivision may record a preservation easement in lieu of a traditional conservation easement, provided the applicant records a preservation easement, implements a stewardship plan and staff refines third‑party enforcement language.
Committee member (Speaker 3) led most of the discussion, flagging a central inconsistency in the draft easement: the document assigns oversight rights to the village but then states the village may not be obligated to enforce the easement. "This is the first time we've ever seen a preservation easement, not a conservation easement," the committee member said, adding that the draft both conveys enforcement rights to the village and then says the village "may, but is not obligated to enforce the restrictions and covenants."
Staff (Speaker 4) said the easement language was drafted with the village legal team and described the intended enforcement structure: primary enforcement would rest with the homeowners association (HOA) and individual lot owners, and the village would retain a reserved third‑party right to step in only in limited circumstances affecting public health, safety or welfare. Speaker 4 said the village would likely hire ecological expertise if it had to investigate complex stewardship issues.
Commission members pressed for clearer, stronger wording to ensure the village could act if the HOA or property owners failed to address serious violations. One commissioner suggested adding a clause that would allow the village to transfer management to a land trust in the future if one becomes willing to accept the easement.
Speaker 2 moved the recommendation with conditions described on the record; the motion was seconded and the commission voted to recommend approval to the village board. The recommendation asks staff to work with the applicant to refine third‑party enforcement language and to ensure a stewardship plan is implemented and recorded with the preservation easement.
Next steps: the planning commission’s recommendation and the revised easement language will go to the village board for final action.
