According to a report, planning consultant Ryan Mathisrud spoke to Minnesota’s Nevis City Council on Tuesday regarding an application from Gary Nicklason with Daisy Lake LLC to gain access to property situated in Nevis Township, which is outside city limits. He is developing a 32-unit seasonal RV park.
The property is situated at the end of Wildwood Avenue, designated by the city as a minimal maintenance road.
Member of the council Teresa Leshovsky read a memo from Mathisrud that outlines four alternatives to grant Nicklason and his patrons access to the property which includes extending Wildwood Avenue past its current end.
Other options include rehabilitating a platted right-of-way in the north and running parallel to North Street, improving a shared right-of-way between the city and township along Flagstone Road, and privately accessing the parcel via County Road 2.
Mathisrud explained that one of the challenges for the city is that Wildwood Avenue (currently Nicklason’s only way to access the property), isn’t an official city right-of-way. It’s a challenge to maintain.
“You can’t put underground (utilities) into it. You can’t expand the width of it. You can’t do drainage improvements, all that stuff, without acquiring a true right-of-way, and that needs to be obtained from adjacent property owners,” said Mathisrud.
The issue that the town has to address is that in the event that Nicklason or a successor decides to increase or alter the purpose of the site, the city would be left with no planning or zoning authority over the property.
Brent and Trevor (Nicklason’s sons) have also discussed the matter with members of the council. They were concerned about the city’s maintenance responsibility and the increased amount of traffic affecting Wildwood Avenue. They pointed out that, in part, the property in question is located within the city.
In reference to a section of Mathisrud’s memo, which discussed blocking the last stretch of Wildwood Avenue, the Nicklasons stated that this would lead to their family being able to own property in the city and paying taxes to the city on it, yet not having access to the property.
The council voted to table the matter until the review of the recorded deed and the discussion of the planning commission which will be at 6 p.m. on October 25 at city hall.