"It's just a driveway!": Homeowner at odds with Silver Lake after crews bulldoze his driveway on their property line
MCLEOD COUNTY, Minn. – A young man with a new home is hitting some serious roadblocks with his driveway.
Monday afternoon, Silver Lake city crews bulldozed his driveway, cutting off access from the street in front of his home on Grand Avenue. City officials said it was their property and he must enter his lot from another street in Hale Township.
"I don't even want to live here anymore because like all the problems I've been having," Aaron Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen bought a uniquely shaped lot in Hale Township that sits on the edge of Silver Lake. He initially received an address on Grand Avenue in Silver Lake, but the city isn't allowing him to cut the curb for his driveway.
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"I went to the city council and asked for a permit and I offered to replace the whole curb, pay $500 a year to use the road, agree to all the city ordinances, be annexed," he said.
The city denied his request for a driveway citing zoning issues because of his modular home with a septic system.
"I don't get what the big issue is, it seems like I'm doing something crazy, but it's just a driveway!" he said.
The city of Silver Lake said Rasmussen could build a driveway but it would need to be on the Railroad Street side in Hale Township where his property is located. Because of the shape of the lot, he says the driveway would cut through his entire backyard, go under power lines, through trees and cost him upwards of $20,000.
"I don't see why all of a sudden they would make such a deal over this," his grandfather Don Kielas said.
Now with no driveway, Rasmussen worries about his grandfather and a lack of emergency vehicle access.
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"If I knew about this, I would have never built the house here," he said.
Rasmussen said he got all of the proper permits in Hale Township before purchasing the lot. Last week, crews removed his Grand Avenue address and he was issued a new one in Hale Township off Railroad Street, where he currently does not have a driveway.
"I think I'm pretty much just stuck at this point, I don't know," he said.
The city of Silver Lake directed questions to its attorney. Rasmussen also has also obtained legal counsel.
