06-22-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, June 8, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 21 lot of things to be more efficient and have things align with more common sense. He believes the variance aligns with that. Everyone they have talked to has said, “Yeah, that kind of makes sense, the neighbor did that.” He said they respect the City Council’s decision but ask for their support. Printup stated it is a very valid point, because what do you do when the neighbor goes back as opposed to the conventional wisdom of when a neighbor goes forward. Walsh said there have been a number of instances when the house has been way back, and if somebody is trying to build a house where it is so far back, it has created a practical difficulty. He can visualize that the house the applicant is in currently, when it was built, was built with plenty of room and gave themselves some flexibility. Because the house next to them went backwards, it created a practical difficulty for them. They did not create it; it was created for them. He thinks it is pretty reasonable to be able to keep the existing line that was there and to be able to build into that and solve the problem they have. It is also in line with what they have done in the past, houses that are already way back that the Council has kind of let come up within a reasonable sight line. Crosby stated he went out to the site and visited with the homeowner, and the neighbor’s house is fairly far forward to allocate for their pool, and so forth. It is not a practical difficulty that the Applicant created and it is a practical difficulty to him. Johnson noted that by the other house moving back, it put the existing house in nonconformance. He said the Council thinks about that all the time in other areas, but a house going backwards is not as common. He noted people do not come to the Council for permission to move their house farther back; that is not seen at their level. He indicated that was his only hesitation when he first reviewed the information, but he agrees it has created a hardship that the Applicant did not create. Somebody would not know to go to their neighbor and say, “Hey, don’t put your house back there because I want to put a screen porch up.” He also noted the Applicant is way beyond the 75-foot mark. He is in support of the variance. Seals said usually they get called out when there is a narrow lot. She was surprised when she went out there that there was the issue because it does not feel like they were encroaching upon the lake, and she is also in support of the variance. Printup moved, Crosby seconded, to direct Staff to draft a resolution reflecting approval of LA20- 000028 – Baycliff Homes o/b/o David and Wendy Jacobsen-Gretsch, 2440 Old Beach Road – Variance. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. 15. LA19-000031 – DALE GUSTAFSON, 2927 CASCO POINT ROAD, VARIANCES Staff presented a summary of packet information. Johnson said he was at the site, and the stairs are exceptionally steep. To him, it is a reasonable request to find a reasonable route down to the shore. He is not sure if the shed was ever a lawful shed in the first place and is not in favor of allowing the moving of the shed. Walsh noted there is the replace-in-kind issue, but it has to be where it is and the owner is kind of stuck with it. Normally, the owner couldn’t get anything. Otherwise, people would be moving things all over the place.