Title
RESOLUTION REPLACING RESOLUTION NO. 19-0423 VACATING ALL OF THE SKYWALK EASEMENTS AFFECTING MINNESOTA POWER’S BUILDING LOCATED AT 30 WEST SUPERIOR STREET IN DOWNTOWN DULUTH.
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CITY PROPOSAL:
WHEREAS, on April 11, 2019, Minnesota Power petitioned the Duluth city council for the vacation of certain skywalk agreements and/or easements affecting its building located at 30 West Superior Street in downtown Duluth due to safety and security concerns;
WHEREAS, the skywalks and the public’s easement rights in the skywalks affecting the real property legally described on the attached Exhibit 1 (collectively, the “Skywalk Easements”) were created under certain agreements, including but not limited to those agreements described on the attached Exhibit 2;
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 100 of the City Charter and Section 50-37.6 of Chapter 50 of the Duluth City Code, as amended, such petition was duly referred to the city planning commission (PL 19-042) and such commission gave due notice of public hearing and did consider same in a public hearing and the city planning commission found that all of the Skywalk Easements are not needed for public pedestrian passageway purposes if a replacement easement is obtained on or before December 31, 2020;
WHEREAS, the planning commission, at a public meeting held on May 14, 2019, recommended approval of the vacation of the Skywalk Easements;
WHEREAS, the Duluth city council approved the vacation of the Skywalk Easements on June 10, 2019 under Resolution No. 19-0423, contingent on the dedication of a new skywalk easement being executed and recorded in the St. Louis County real estate records;
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 19-0423 contained errors that must be corrected; and
WHEREAS, the City and Minnesota Power have been diligently working together to address and fix certain title issues associated with the property adjacent to Minnesota Power’s building, including this resolution replacing the previous skywalk easement vacation that contained errors.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Resolution No. 19-0423, passed June 10, 2019, is hereby superseded and replaced in its entirety with this resolution.
RESOLVED FURTHER, that the city council of the city of Duluth approves the vacation of all Skywalk Easements affecting the real property legally described on the attached Exhibit 1, contingent upon the condition that a replacement skywalk easement is accepted by the Duluth city council and fully executed and recorded in the real estate records of St. Louis County, Minnesota by December 31, 2020.
RESOLVED FURTHER, that if the replacement skywalk easement is not accepted by the Duluth city council and fully executed and recorded in the real estate records of St. Louis County, Minnesota by December 31, 2020, then this vacation is null and void and of no further effect.
RESOLVED FURTHER, that the city clerk is, pursuant to Section 100 (b)(7) of the Home Rule Charter of the city of Duluth, 1959, as amended, authorized to record, with the County Recorder and/or the Registrar of Titles of St. Louis County, Minnesota, a certified copy of this resolution showing the vacation of all skywalk easements affecting the real property legally described on Exhibit 1, subject to the condition stated above.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This resolution replaces Resolution No. 19-0423 that vacates the existing skywalk easements affecting Minnesota Power’s building to provide for a more secure building. Minnesota Power has expressed concern in the vacation petition that having “public pedestrian passageways (the skywalk) inside and immediately adjacent to the Minnesota Power building poses a significant concern for the physical security of our region’s critical energy infrastructure.”
When considering the vacation of the skywalk, the Council must determine that those passageways are not needed for public access to important services and facilities. At the time of construction of the skywalk within Minnesota Power’s building, it provided public access to commercial uses in the building, as well as public parking below the building and the adjacent plaza. However, those commercial uses have ceased with the Jolly Fisher restaurant closing (27 years ago) and other commercial spaces having since been converted to office space for use by Minnesota Power. Additionally, the general public no longer has access to or uses the underground parking lot beneath Minnesota Power’s building, so there is not a need to retain public connectivity from the parking lot to the skywalk system. Therefore, the skywalks through the building are not needed for public access to commercial spaces and parking.
Minnesota Power is currently undertaking a large construction project to add to and improve its building. The plans for the project include a new stairwell on the lower side of W. Superior Street, between Lake Avenue and 1st Avenue West, that will allow access to the skywalk bridge connecting to the upper side of W. Superior Street. Once the new stairwell is completed, Minnesota Power will conduct a survey to provide a legal description for the stairwell and provide an easement to the City for public use of the stairwell. This easement will replace the easements being vacated in satisfaction of the condition included in this resolution.
A map depicting an aerial view of the skywalk easement areas to be vacated, together with the future easement area to be dedicated, is attached as Exhibit 3.
This resolution is one of several items related to a larger real estate transaction between the city and Minnesota Power, as more further described in Ordinance No. 20-027.
On May 14, 2019, the Duluth city planning commission held a public hearing on the proposal and voted 6 yeas, 0 nays, and 0 abstentions to recommend that city council approve the vacation. The staff report is attached as Exhibit 4.
The motion to approve the vacation by the city council must prevail with at least six affirmative votes.
PL 19-042