05-18-2020 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday,May 18,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. hostile and then they want to come to your property,traipse through a garden in order to maintain the fence, it becomes an issue. He wanted to give an easement to ensure the property owners could maintain the boathouse. He is trying to solve all of the problems at the same time. He understands that the Planning Commission is struggling with the boathouse, but it is already subpar, and making it a few more feet subpar does not upset that property in any manner, considering that it was never usable space and was filled with noxious weeds the whole time. He is trying to put the boundary where it really belongs. The land is what created the crest of the hill.He did not do that and the neighbor did not do that. The land did it and it's done it for a long time. He noted that his neighbor two houses up got a variance in order to have the house located closer to the street.He asked how the land caused that person a problem so that his house could be located closer to the street. He said one big practical difficulty the Commissioners have not considered is the waterfall that's been over the property line for 18 years and, in two different litigations,two different judges left it there. He has not heard any discussion about it. It is really important because when those people sued him the last time,he had to buy the house to solve the problem. He is trying now to solve the problem forever and make it clear and obvious so there are not any more problems and lawsuits. He indicated he could go through a legal action and try to get it solved that way,but he thought it would be easier working with his City and having people understand that all of these properties are unique, it is a unique hill between a couple of properties,and the Commission could understand how that might cause an issue. He suggested resolving the issue by moving the property line over. It would solve the waterfall issue, solve the weed issue, solve the maintenance issue, and solve everything else so there aren't issues in the future. He said the City lets fencing go right on property lines now which creates issues. That is not what he is suggesting. He is trying to set it up so the people on that property will be able to maintain that boathouse and will have legal access through an easement in order to do that. He is getting all of the compromising done ahead of time to try to improve the situation. Ressler said that the Planning Commission has to rule on what they can see,what they have,and what they have in front of them.He can understand giving legal access to maintain a shed,but right now the variance is not necessary based on the lot line that has been placed in front of the Commission, and that clearly poses a problem. Providing an easement is certainly a solution. He suggested that Staff could give the applicant options as far as where he can go from here. He stated removing the waterfall may be something that could be brought up or done another more conforming way. Bollis noted the boathouse is his hangup and he knows they are supposed to vote on what they see,but the simplest solution may be to create an easement that runs along the property line for maintenance and it would run on both sides so each neighbor can maintain each side of the property line as they need to. That would possibly forego a lot line rearrangement and other nonconformities. Roll Call Vote: Ayes 7(Kirchner, Gettman,Bollis,McCutcheon,Erickson,Libby,Ressler),Nays 0. 3. LA20-000028 BAY CLIFF HOMES,2440 OLD BEACH ROAD,VARIANCE,7:04 P.M.- 7:29 P.M. Bill Worms, o/b/o Bay Cliff Homes, Applicant, and David Jacobsen-Gretsch, Property Owner, were present. Staff presented a summary of packet information. There were no questions for Staff. Page 8 of 29