01-16-1996 Planning Commission Minutes

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• MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 16, 1996 (#I I - #2098 Kan and Paul Rompord - Continued) Gaffron reported that the neighborhood is made up of small lots. This lot is 40' wide at the road and 50' wide at the lakeshore. The lot is in the I acre zoning, where 140' is the required minimum width. The property is 8550 s.f, or 115 acre, with an average width of 45'. The existing house is located down slope from the street. The required street setback is 30', with the proposed setback 25', and existing at 75'. The side setback requirement is 10', The proposed side setback is 8' at the northeast side and 6.8 -7.1' on the southwest side. The lot coverage allows for 15% or a minimum of 1500 s.f., which would be 17.5 %. It now exists at 690 s.f., or 8 %. The proposed coverage is 1795 s.f., or 21 %. Hardcover of 25% is allowed in the 75 -250' zone, but now exists at 29.7 %, and is proposed at 46 %. No hardcover is proposed in the 0 -75' zone. Gaffron noted that the code section regarding sloping lots which might allow a building some additional height and a lesser street setback, where the slope exceeds 25 %, would not be met by this proposal, therefore, requiring a variance. Gaffron posed the question to the Planning Commission regarding how they view a small lot with a small house, and upon total replacement, requiring street and side setback variances, hardcover variance, and lot coverage variances. Gaffron noted that the Planning Commission has normally looked at these situations as opportunities to meet standards. He asked if the standards should be held to in this instance, citing the need to • find justification to allow the different variances. • Hoarn, the designer of the project, commented that the original house was not suitable for remodeling. He said he tried to give good spacing from adjacent buildings and setback from. the lakeshore, while still gaining off - street parking, since there is little parking available on Highwood. Horn said the layout of the house within the 25% slope allotment was not very probable. Horn said the design could be altered to gain the necessary 10' separation from the garage on the adjacent Iot. Horn said the drainage could be re- routed if necessary. Gaffron said the City Engineer should look at the situation. A neighbor, Ai Seran, was said to be under the impression that the existing catch basin was on his own property. Gaffron said there was no problem with the swale. He noted that Al Seran had recently rebuilt his home. It was noted that the width of the house would need to be no more than 26' wide in order to meet the 10' side setbacks at the midpoint of the lot_ The design is for a 25' wide house. The deck could be brought out and the garage brought in to meet side setback standards. Gaffron said elimination of the deck and porch would enable the property to nearly meet the lot coverage requirement. 16