10-12-2020 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 12, 2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. 16. LA20-000057—MICHAEL GALLUS CONSTRUCTION, INC., 1985 FAGERNESS POINT ROAD, VARIANCES Matt Briggs, Applicant, was present. Staff presented a summary packet of information. The Planning Commission could not support the Application as proposed, however with amendments, which included removal of an encroachment into the average lakeshore setback, it might make for a stronger variance application. The Commission found that the practical difficulties were not met with a 5-0 vote to deny. Staff recommended denial for the original application of the 4 proposed variances and Council should review the amended plans, determine if practical difficulties are met and give direction to Staff for a resolution. Mayor Walsh stated he was at the Planning Commission meeting, and said the neighboring properties had existing grandfathered conditions and this application is a new property that was built. Essentially, the Applicant wants to back themselves in to old, grandfathered-in conditions. Ms. Oakden replied many of the homes on Fagerness are original and dealing with existing conditions. She noted the Applicant's home was built in 2009 and worked to meet all the City setback standards. Now with different scenarios and reasoning they are asking for this addition to their house. Johnson noted there was a corrected average lakeshore setback in the packet and asked if there is any dispute about that. Ms. Oakden said there was some clarification in the beginning of the submittal process but the survey that went to the Planning Commission and the survey in front of the Council have the corrected/accurate average lakeshore setback shown. She noted they reduced the addition by two feet and cut out a corner of the proposed addition to meet the average lakeshore setback line. Matt Briggs, 1985 Fagerness Point Road, gave background noting he built the home in 2009 and at that time the garage was within feet of Fagerness Point. They have always want to follow the rules and built the house accordingly; what is important to understand is that the neighborhood is designed and all home have garages within the setback. Mr. Briggs came to the Council meeting, listened to the review and it was all thoughtful and spent a lot of time going back and virtually eliminated 3 of the 4 variances down to a single variance that has to do with the road setback. Some improvements they have made to the property include the watershed and grading; he believes the design of the home is actually more consistent with the neighborhood with the current design of the house. Their house is very vertical and feels very tall and this addition would soften it up. They got the design idea from 1973 Fagerness Point Road, which was recently completed. He has done some research on practical difficulty and noted he is a business owner and everyday he deals with problems and finds solutions. The problem in this case was they had 4 variances and they have whittled it down to a single variance, which is a setback that is consistent with the neighborhood. Not granting the setback is arbitrary and capricious because Page 8 of 24