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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, November 18, 2019 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 9 of 46 <br /> <br />was put in the right location relevant to setbacks that were afforded, there would not be this mess. There <br />does not appear to be any circumstance that would mitigate a reason to place the structure within the <br />proposed setback. The slippery slope is a real thing, because if it gets approved here, it sets a precedence <br />for others. If this goes to the City Council, regardless of the Commission's recommendation, they could be <br />in support of it. That's why there are two Councils: One to give recommendations; the other one to rule. <br />The Commission provides feedback based on fundamentals, and the Commission has seen the ruling from <br />the City Council to be different. He cannot support a fundamental reason to create a variance for what <br />appears to be a mistake by the initial fence installer. <br /> <br />Mr. Evenson asked when the fence installer installs the fence, whether it's an error on the Surveyor who <br />did not denote that. <br /> <br />Ressler said it does not appear the fence was located by the Surveyor, so he did not know if the Surveyor <br />could be faulted for something that was not included in his survey. <br /> <br />Mr. Evenson said the hard part is, they did not know and they thought it was approved. They spent <br />thousands of dollars for the backyard project. They built it to-scale and it is a major project; it would not <br />be as simple as bumping everything back. He is open to trading some space where the wildflowers are. He <br />understands the Commission does not want the slippery slope, but it is a very unique circumstance. He <br />noted there are people who wrote letters of support that were originally against this. <br /> <br />Ms. Evenson stated she doesn't know how many people are going to have a fire and ask the Commission <br />if they could take that into consideration as well. They have footage elsewhere to make up for the 4 1/2 <br />feet they are asking for. <br /> <br />Ressler said he appreciated the realistic comments, and it is tough to place blame for who becomes <br />accountable. Regardless of what the Commission's recommendation is, it does not stop the Evensons from <br />going in front of the Council and stating their case. The City Council might feel differently, but he is <br />having difficulty with the information he has that would support a practical difficulty. <br /> <br />Mr. Evenson said they never saw anything that showed where the Easement line was until the third survey <br />came out. <br /> <br />Ressler agreed they are just homeowners, they don't know what to look for, where to locate a setback, etc. <br />He said that would be a good question to ask the fence installer, and they may have the burden to <br />resolve/to make sure they are placing it in a location they legally can. <br /> <br />Mr. Evenson noted this is the first time they have built a home, and they assumed everything was taken <br />care of. He realizes not knowing is not a defense, but nobody came to them and said they couldn't do that. <br />