Published: November 07, 2008 03:45 pm            

City makes recommendation regarding Skyline Drive issue

The City of Pella received a petition recently requesting that the City utilize eminent domain to acquire a private drive known as Skyline Drive. The reasons stated for the request were related to issues between the developer and the residents of Skyline Drive.

City staff stated during their Policy and Planning potion of Tuesday’s meeting that it is unfortunate anytime there are issues between parties. However, they felt it is important to distinguish between general policy matters involving the public at-large and individual property owner disputes.

In considering this request, council considered the following points:

Private Drives versus

Public Streets

In evaluating the request, it was important to understand that when this subdivision was approved by the City, Skyline Drive was approved as a private drive. This is important because the infrastructure standards and costs for a private drive are significantly less than a public street. Due to this fact, staff recommended that before any private street is accepted by the City, it should meet full City standards for public infrastructure. In addition, the City could be setting a dangerous precedent if they deviate from this standard—specifically, in dealing with future developers and other property owners within the City who own private drives.

The City has also had a number of developers that have installed public streets in residential developments. In this particular case, if the City were to acquire this drive and upgrade it to a public street without charging the abutting property owners, we could be facing questions about fairness from other property owners and developers in the City.

Cost to Upgrade Skyline Drive to a Public Street

Due to the additional right-of-way (ROW) and radius requirements of public streets, staff doesn’t believe it is feasible to upgrade Skyline Drive to a public street without causing other unintended consequences. If you do not factor in the additional ROW needed for a public street, the costs to upgrade Skyline Drive would be estimated to be $120,300. That cost does not include additional ROW needed to become a public street.

Additional ROW requirements needed in order to convert Skyline Drive to a public street:

-60 feet of ROW would be needed for a public street versus the 40 feet required for a private drive, including additional ROW around the cul-de-sac to accommodate the increased radius in the paving.

-The curve radius on Skyline Drive is only 50 foot, which does not meet the minimum 300 foot public street radius.

Previously, council had requested the amount of property taxes paid by the development. City staff believes the development pays approximately $30,000 annually in property taxes. The City’s share of this total is approximately $10,000.

As city staff stated, it is unfortunate any time disputes arise between parties. However, from the staff’s perspective, Skyline Drive was approved as a private drive and not as a public street. As a result, they believe this issue is a private dispute between the parties involved in these real estate transactions. Therefore, the City would not recommend the use of eminent domain in this matter.

Furthermore, staff recommended that they follow the City Code requirements for accepting public improvements in this matter. Specifically, they would recommend that before any private drive is accepted by the City, that it meets the standards for public infrastructure. They also felt any deviation from this practice will result in significant policy issues for the City in accepting future public improvements.

No formal action was taken by council on the matter.

        

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