Laserfiche WebLink
MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br /> Monday,July 21,2014 <br /> 6:30 o'clock p.m. <br /> The applicants are proposing a house that meets the side setbacks,the 75-foot lake setback,the street <br /> setback, and sufficiently separated from the sewer line that comes across the property and up the side lot <br /> line. Staff is hoping to acquire easements for the sewer line that apparently were not acquired at the time <br /> the sewer line was originally installed 30 to 40 years ago. <br /> Gaffron stated there are a variety of factors and site conditions which have an impact on development of <br /> the property, including the following: <br /> 1. The narrow width of the lot restricts the width of home that can be constructed to approximately <br /> 30 feet. The applicants are proposing a house that is 29 feet wide. <br /> 2. The small lot with a hardcover limitation of 25 percent of lot area coupled with the required street <br /> setback of 30 feet forces the property owner to balance the necessary hardcover amenities to <br /> make the site functional, against the size of home that can be constructed. <br /> 3. Location of existing municipal sewer lines within the property and the necessary easements to <br /> allow for their maintenance has an impact on the allowable location of the proposed home. <br /> 4. The sanitary sewer lift station centered in the narrow 20-foot right-of-way abutting the southeast <br /> corner of the property limits access to the site. The applicants have been working with the Public <br /> Works Department to determine the feasibility and costs of replacing the lift station cover and <br /> controls to make the lift station drivable. <br /> 5. An Encroachment Agreement would be required to allow the driveway in the right-of-way of a <br /> street that has not been opened to public use. <br /> 6. The sloped topography makes access to the site difficult,resulting in a steep driveway and <br /> impacting the vertical house design in order to have a functional garage entry. The applicants <br /> have revised their plans to just meet a 10 percent slope. <br /> 7. The steep slopes and narrow lot width force runoff to be managed within narrow 10-foot <br /> corridors adjacent to the house, which becomes more difficult with the proposed retaining walls <br /> and window wells in the side yards. There are retaining walls proposed on the south side. <br /> Gaffron noted the lot consists of 10,578 square feet in area and is located in a one-acre zoning <br /> district. The proposed house is under the 15 percent structural hardcover limit and is under the <br /> 25 percent hardcover restrictions. <br /> 8. The property will be served by a private well. Locating a well may be difficult given the <br /> proximity of existing municipal sewer lines and required separation between wells and sewer <br /> lines. Future maintenance accessibility must also be taken into consideration. <br /> As it relates to the average lakeshore setback, the line is based on the location of immediately adjacent <br /> lakeshore homes. More than half of the proposed home will extend lakeward of the average setback line. <br /> The buildable area of the site, after taking into consideration the setbacks, is approximately 600 square <br /> feet. The lot is functionally not buildable for a typical residence without an average setback variance. <br /> Gaffron stated the property to the east also includes the lot that is located on the north side of the <br /> applicants' property and those two properties have been subject to a Special Lot Combination Agreement <br /> Page 8 of 30 <br />