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~nc~ ~-~.~u.~ (~Iag~l a Thomas R. Paschke Roseville City Planner 2660 Civic Center Drive Roseville, MN Dear Mr. Paschke: June 24, 2010 We are writing to express our strong opposition to the proposed variance to allow the subdivision of the property at 2218 Highway 36. The proposed change will have a profound and deleterious affect on the character and the quality of the environment in the Manson Hills neighborhood. We have lived at 2230 Marion Rd., three lots up the road from the property, for almost 20 years. We have come to appreciate the beauty and serenity of this neighborhood, in spite of the intrinsic disadvantages associated with its proximity to major highways. Our neighborhood is bordered on the north by one of the busiest stretches of highway in Minnesota, where highways 280 and 36 come together with interstate 35W. At all hours of night and day there is heavy traffic on these freeways, with accompanying noise and pollution. One of the critical factors that mitigate the negative effects of these roads is the presence of a large number of mature trees in the neighborhood. These trees help filter out the noise of the highways, as well as filtering out some of the pollutants released by the constant vehicular traffic. The proposed change will require the removal of a number of these trees. Mr. Morgan, the previous owner of this property, fought unsuccessfully for decades for improvements in the noise abatement wall to both reduce traffic noise and to protect his .trees from the damages of heavy road salt use. As his pleas were regularly ignored, it is only fair that the situation not be made worse by subdividing this property and further degrading the environment of this neighborhood. The relatively large lots associated with the homes in Manson hills have helped compensate for the lack of parks in this part of Roseville. The western end of our city has no public parks, with the nearest parks being in Falcon Heights to the south. The closest Roseville park is almost two miles away. In part because of the dearth of parks, many children and adults walk, skate, jog and bike on the city streets in the neighborhood, which have no sidewalks. The safety of these pedestrians is put at risk by increased vehicular traffic that will accompany splittin~ larger lots into small building sites. In addition, we are afraid that this variance will establish a precedent that will lead to the fragmentation of the beautiful large lots in Manson Hills into higher density housing, significantly degrading the character of this unique neighborhood for Roseville. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to protect the Manson Hills environment by denying this request. Sincerely, Paul A. Lefebvre Carolyn D. Silflow 2230 Marion Rd. Roseville, MN 55113