11-12-2019 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 28, 2019 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 9 toilets made predominantly out of concrete. Wood and other burnable material will be used as little as possible, which naturally drives up the costs. Walsh noted the visitor’s center has already been improved and security cameras have been installed. Seals moved, Johnson seconded, to approve the Outdoor Recreation Grant Agreement with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for Big Island and to authorize Mayor Walsh to sign the agreement on behalf of the City. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT 16. LA19-000067 ALEXANDER DESIGN GROUP ON BEHALF OF MARK AND KRISTIE TIES, 3129 CASCO CIRCLE, VARIANCE – RESOLUTION NO. 7038 Sven Gustafson, Stonewood; Kathy Alexander, Alexander Design Group; and Mark and Kristie Ties, Property Owners, were present. Curtis noted at the last meeting the City Council directed Staff to draft an approval resolution. Since that time, the City has received a letter from the neighbor’s attorney, which has been included in Council’s packet. Staff is requesting the Council adopt or amend the resolution that has been provided. Walsh stated he will allow three minutes for each party. Phil Kaplan, Attorney–at-Law, noted the City received a letter from Attorney Steinhoff that said the City Council has broad discretion in granting variance requests. While that is true to some extent, there are bounds to the City Council’s discretion and this variance request is out of bounds. Legally the City cannot grant this variance request because it does not meet two requirements under the statute and the ordinance. Variance approval would not be consistent with the intent, purpose, and spirit of the average lakeshore setback and no practical difficulties have been demonstrated that justify the variance. The second point to address is the language in the resolution and in Mr. Steinhoff’s letter regarding the distance from the proposed house to the shoreline. The average lakeshore setback would be 202 feet away from the lake. The variance would put the new house 156 feet from the lake. At this point Ms. Marks’ house is 181 feet away from the lake. Because these two lots are parallel, it does not make any sense for the new house to be 25 feet closer to the lake than Ms. Marks’ house. Kaplan stated that leads to the overarching problem with the variance. The applicants are not asking for something that they need in order to preserve the view. If the applicants get what they are asking for, it will require Ms. Marks to sacrifice a lake view that she should not have to sacrifice, and they will be getting a better view than what currently exists. Kaplan requested the City Council deny the request. Sven Gustafson stated he does not believe anything new was presented in the letter from the neighbor other than some mockups that misrepresented the views. Overall the project improves several nonconformities, such as reducing the side and lake yard setbacks, reducing the number of structures on the property, and is similar to many other requests that have been approved by the City in the past.