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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 23, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 18 (5. #14-3690 FRED JOHNSON (CD PURCHASER), PATRICIA PFEFFER (SELLER), 1565 ORCHARD BEACH PLACE continued) Printup stated at the November meeting there was mention about allowing some level of build-ability on the property and what that might look like. Printup noted the Council does not design homes and would need to primarily rely on the applicant to submit something or have Staff suggest something. Printup asked if this lot has sewer. Gaffron indicated there is sewer available and there would be a connection fee. Printup stated he is not sure whether Staff has the time to go into the build-ability of the lot and the degree of variances. Printup indicated he would be more interested in hearing about that. Printup noted it is located 75 feet back from the water, but there are many other variances to consider. Gaffron stated to summarize, there is a 75-foot setback to the lake. Gaffron displayed the front of the proposed house. A grading plan has also been previously submitted that shows there will need to be some grading required to accommodate the house. The grading extends down probably within less than 50 feet from the lakeshore in order to accommodate drainage. The applicants are proposing creating a swale that comes across the proposed driveway and back into the property. Gaffron stated the entire area where the grading is proposed will likely result in the removal of the majority of the trees on the property, which is currently heavily wooded. The applicants are also proposing a 10-foot setback from the west side. Gaffron noted this is a one-acre zoning district and a 10-foot setback would be the correct standard. The normal rear setback would be 30 feet and the applicants are proposing 12.8 feet at the rear of the house. From Staff’s perspective, even at 12.8 feet, that is really close to the lot line. The applicants will also have to perform some grading between the house on the west line and the house on the north line in order to make the drainage work. On the east side, the applicants are proposing a setback of approximately 25.4 feet from the street. Gaffron stated one of the goals of the City is that for a garage that faces the street, one should have at least a 20-foot setback in order to provide for off-street parking. Gaffron noted this is not a heavily used street and this would be the last house on the end of the street, with a City lift station and generator nearby. Gaffron stated from the standpoint of whether they can construct a house that meets the 25-foot setback, the applicants probably can. Gaffron stated in any case, they are talking about more than half of the property having the trees eliminated and grading that will impact more than half of the property. Gaffron stated the most critical variance being requested is the average lakeshore setback. Gaffron noted there is a house that sits on the neighboring property, which is the existing house used for defining the average lakeshore setback. Gaffron stated when you have a property that has lakeshore on one side and a street on the other; they are required to use the setback from the lake of the house that does exist. Gaffron stated if that distance is approximately 140 feet, to get the proposed house to meet a 140-foot setback would be impossible because the lot only goes back 100 feet. Gaffron stated based on that, if there is some intent to approve something on the site, the question becomes which setbacks the Council is willing to vary from. The applicants are proposing building a house 22 feet deep on one end and 26 feet deep on the other end. Gaffron indicated they are not Item #03 - CC Agenda - 04/13/2015 Approval of Council Minutes 03/23/15 [Page 4 of 18]