New pathway set in motion for Aldine Street right-of-way
City council declines to vacate the right-of-way in a split vote
The resident petition to vacate the Aldine Street right-of-way was not approved and a motion to pursue an official city pathway was passed at the June 8, 2025 Roseville city council meeting.
During the meeting, the city council received the results of a pathway feasibility study, heard over an hour of public comment from residents on both sides of the issue, and asked questions of city staff, the pathway consultant, and city attorney. After each councilmember and the mayor shared their perspectives, the city council took two votes.
The first was on a resolution to vacate the right-of-way as brought forward by a resident petition. Wayne Groff, Dan Roe, and Julie Strahan voted against the motion to vacate. Matt Bauer and Robin Schroeder voted in favor.
Those in favor of vacating the right-of-way cited tree preservation, budget concerns, and the number of people who had expressed support for vacating the ROW through public comment, petition, and messages to the city council.
"This was not part of the whole process and our budget is really tight. For us to spend money in an area we were not planning for shows that we’re not taking our budgeting seriously," Schroeder said. She also cited the over 700 people who signed a petition in favor of vacating the ROW.
"Just because we can build doesn’t mean we should build," Schroeder said.
Bauer echoed Schroeder's comments and emphasized his concern about tree preservation, the budget, and listening to the broader Roseville community.
"We are stressing already on the upcoming budget and the dollars that we’re talking about right now—it’s very difficult to solve that when we’re looking to make cuts elsewhere in the budget," Bauer said. Later in the meeting he encouraged the public to get involved in the budget planning process to share their input about their priorities.
The estimated cost for the pathway is $120,100, according to TKDA—the consultants who conducted the pathway feasibility study.
Those against vacating the row cited the city's goals of increasing community connectivity as the primary driver of their decision as well as a desire not to give up public property that has been serving as a public good for people in the neighborhood.
Strahan suggested that the adjacent property owners would benefit from increased property values if the ROW was vacated and that this was about more than just the trees, in her opinion.
"I think you're being very disingenuous. If you don’t want it in your backyard because you don’t want people walking in your backyard, then that’s what you should say. Trees, yes they are important. Trees don’t vote. Trees don’t pay taxes. We should all be working on this together. We do need to find ways to pay for it," Strahan said.
Groff's decision was about the permanence of the proposed vacation and the city's goals to increase connectivity in neighborhoods.
"If we vote to turn the right-of-way over to the owners, that is final. This is going to be it. Then we’re finished. This land is gone. There’s no option for a pathway in the future. There’s no options in the future for this connectivity. We have talked about connectivity since I started on the council. Connectivity of neighborhoods, the ability to walk different places. Right-of-ways are for transportation and walking is a means of transportation also," Groff said.
Mayor Roe spoke about his experience of discovering that people used the ROW as a connection, something he knew nothing about over all his years serving as mayor.
"I get concerned about removing something that has been used by a significant number of people for a connection. We are about making connections available for people to move around the city," Roe said.
He expressed concern for the oak trees and said he was uncertain on his decision before he came to the meeting.
"I can’t say with certainty that if we don’t vacate the right-of-way and we plan for a pathway and we construct a pathway that there won’t be impacts on oak trees. I can’t say that if we vacate the right-of way that there won’t be impacts on oak trees," Roe said.
During the questions with staff, there was discussion about adjacent property owners with sheds and fences encroaching on the right-of-way which are having active impacts on the oak trees.
Immediately after the resolution to vacate the ROW failed to pass, another vote was taken on a motion to direct city staff to initiate a pathway planning process for the area, following Option 1 as outlined by the consultants. This Option involves a combination of stabilized gravel and raised boardwalk to protect tree roots. Groff, Roe, and Strahan voted in favor; Bauer and Schroeder voted against.
A timeline has not been set for construction of the new pathway and budget has not yet been allocated. That will need to come from a future budget process.
Learn more
Watch a recording of the June 8, 2026 city council meeting:
The meeting documents are available on the city website here.
Read more about the backstory:
Naomi Krueger
