Aldine Street right-of-way debate comes back to City Hall
City council to discuss pathway feasibility study and petition to vacate the ROW.
The decision whether to vacate the Aldine Street Right-of-Way will have a public hearing at the June 8 city council meeting. This is almost a year since the debate last roiled the neighborhood at City Hall.
We covered this three separate times last year, and we're back with an update now that it's decision time. Here's what you need to know to catch up:
What is the Aldine St. Right-of-Way?
The ROW is a 30-foot wide segment of land between Roselawn Ave. on the south end to where Aldine St. intersects with Ryan Ave. at the north end. It's between private properties on Mid Oaks Lane to the east, and private properties bordering Roselawn and Ryan to the west. The city has a right-of-way here, which means it's city-owned property. There are public utilities under the ground too, so the city will maintain a utility easement regardless of the ROW decision.
What's the backstory?
In 2025, the Public Works department determined this ROW was no longer needed by the City of Roseville (along with several other ROWs) and recommended vacating it. In other words, changing ownership of the land from the city to the property owners adjacent to it.
Unbeknownst to city staff, this strip of land has been used for decades by neighbors to cut between the neighborhood to the north and Roselawn Ave. to the south. There's an informal footpath here that walkers and cyclists have used, some since they were small children growing up in the neighborhood.
The property owners would prefer the ROW to be vacated so they can control the land and stop the rest of the neighborhood from walking near their properties. In public comment and in emails to city council, the property owners expressed their desire to have more ownership of the land so they could protect the mature oak trees and rid the land of invasive plants.
What did city council decide?
After passionate public testimony from both perspectives in the neighborhood last spring and summer, the city council ultimately voted (in a split vote) on July 17, 2025 not to vacate the ROW and the status quo was maintained. But that wasn't the end of the story. On July 21, the property owners brought forward a petition requesting the vacation of the right-of-way. Previously, the resolution to vacate had come from city staff. Now it was coming from the property owners and could be reconsidered.
As a result, the city council asked the Parks and Recreation Commission to "evaluate the recreational value of the corridor and its potential role within the City's parks and recreation system."
What did the Parks and Rec Commission decide?
In August and September 2025, the commission received public comment, toured the site, reviewed tree inventory and topographic survey, and discussed issues related to accessibility, cost, and environmental impact.
The commission took two votes on the matter:
Motion #1: "The Parks and Recreation Commission acknowledges that the Aldine Street Right-of-Way has value for the Parks and Recreation System."
Vote: 7 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstention
Motion #2: "The Parks and Recreation Commission recommends that the City Council direct staff to engage a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for a non-traditional pathway through the ROW, evaluating: (1) pathway alignment options, and (2) specific tree impacts; and that a final decision be made immediately following the receipt of the study."
Vote: 8 Yes, 0 No
Pathway feasibility study
At the Oct. 27, 2025 meeting, city council directed staff to solicit proposals for the study and on Jan. 26, 2026, the council authorized an agreement with TKDA to complete the feasibility analysis. In response to requests from residents, the City also worked with Three Trees Horticulture to provide an independent arboricultural review of potential tree impacts identified through the study process.
What did the studies find?
In order to create an ADA-compliant accessible public pathway (required of all official city pathways), TKDA looked at two options:
Option 1: a combination of stabilized gravel and raised boardwalk, which would better protect the roots of the oaks.
Option 2: Stabilized gravel and no boardwalk.
A bituminous (paved) pathway had been previously ruled out in favor of a more natural trail.
The biggest environmental impact would be to the mature oak trees on the property, whose roots could be harmed with the construction of a pathway. Both options could negatively impact the trees, with Option 1 harming two trees and Option 2 having "extremely negative impacts" on fourteen trees.
The study did not evaluate the impact to the trees if no action is taken and people continue to use the area as an informal trail, without it being improved to meet ADA accessibility guidelines and designated an official city pathway.
What's next?
Now, the studies and the decision about the right-of-way is coming back to the city council at the June 8 meeting for more discussion and a decision.
Before the city council is a resolution to vacate the ROW, brought back by petition from the owners of the eight adjacent properties. It will need three votes in favor to pass.
If it doesn't pass and no further action is taken, the status quo remains and the city continues to own the right-of-way. The city council could choose to vote in this meeting on whether to install an official pathway or leave it as-is.
If the council votes to vacate the ROW, then the property owners would have full control over what happens with that land.
What are residents saying?
In an email to The Roseville Reader in September 2025, resident John Reinart said:
"Vacating Aldine serves no public purpose. Preserving it, however, strengthens neighborhood connectivity, increases equity in access to green space, and safeguards our natural resources—all at a reasonable cost."
He also wrote that this neighborhood needs this trail because it is one of "only six percent of neighborhoods in Roseville without a park within a 10-minute walk."
At city council meetings and parks and rec commission meetings last year, residents said that the footpath through the Aldine ROW helps connect people in the Mid Oaks neighborhood closer to Evergreen Park and Brimhall Elementary School without needing to walk along Roselawn and Fairview Avenues. Residents who live to the north appreciate that the trail connects them to the University of Minnesota Agricultural fields south of Roselawn.
Tim Brown, a property owner on Mid Oaks Lane whose property abuts the ROW, submitted a memorandum to the city council in response to the feasibility study.
"This study makes it clear the risks and costs of this proposed project far outweigh the benefit to the City at large. It also warns of a potential tragic loss of many of these quality trees inside and ouside [sic] of the ROW. Once these trees are damaged or gone, they cannot be reclaimed," Brown wrote.
Property owners of four of the five adjacent properties on Mid Oaks Lane, who would benefit from the vacation of the ROW, have requested a "Tree Conservation Restriction" be added to their property records if the city council vacates the right-of-way. One of these property owners, Tamara McGehee, owns two of these lots. McGehee is a former city councilmember.
Their goal is to "permanently limit property owners from removing or harming the existing city-identified and tagged white oak or bur oak trees for convenience or construction."
The city attorney will provide feedback on this conservation request at Monday's city council meeting.
Melinda Erickson, one of the Mid Oaks Lane property owners, has submitted a second petition with 730 signatures from residents across Roseville (representing 600 households) supporting the vacation of the ROW.
Dozens of residents emailed the city council expressing support for vacating the right-of-way and opposition to installing an accessible trail in this area with concerns about tree preservation. A copy of those messages are included in the June 8 city council meeting documents.
Public Hearing
Since this matter involves a public hearing, the city was required to publish legal notices in the city's legal newspaper of record, which is the Pioneer Press. Notices were published on May 25 and June 1 and mailed to affected residents on May 28, 2026. There will be opportunity for public comment during this hearing.
The June 8 city council meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.
Click here to view the agenda and meeting documents.
Catch up on previous coverage of the Aldine St. ROW:
Naomi Krueger
Naomi Krueger
Naomi Krueger
