10-12-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, September 21, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Mr. Enger said they have an easement with the neighbor and is a shared entrance to both of their driveways and has been in place for many years. Ms. Curtis said she’s not sure what the distinction is, it might just be new bituminous as it’s an As-Built survey from the home’s construction, noting sometimes the surveyors like to get creative with their textures. Erickson asked if Mr. Enger has any comments regarding bicycle traffic or pedestrians. Mr. Enger said there are kids in the neighborhood with bikes and adults who walk regularly and there are many pedestrians that walk past the property every day. Erickson said in reading the Staff report, he finds that the Applicants make a strong argument, identifying safety, the busy roadway, the property’s unique design, slope and driveway as Practical Difficulties. He finds that very convincing and there is also supporting documentation. It should be noted the homeowner has significant neighborhood support as well, but to Erickson, it is the Practical Difficulties that he feels are unique to the property; therefore he is inclined to support the variance. Libby said for the same reasons Erickson and the Applicant articulated, he supports this. He noted he is fortunate enough to have a driveway that is large enough to turn around and drive out and his habit is to back out because he has the space and visibility to do that. Because the new development has had such heavy traffic, both from construction and new residents, he tends to turn around and go out facing the street so he has that peripheral visibility in both directions. He supports the Staff’s decision on this because he thinks it’s very practical and a safety issue. Chair Ressler noted he believes Staff recommended denial. Libby said it was Practical Difficulty. Chair Ressler clarified Commissioner Libby feels Practical Difficulty has been met for approval. Gettman added that the Applicant was kind enough to answer his question, which is “who is to blame,” and found out it was the designer when they were out West. Mr. Enger noted he did a good job on the rest of the house. Kirchner said hindsight is always 20/20 and having just built a home 12-18 months ago, it is hard to imagine every minor detail and he understands that within the overall task of building and designing a home, he sees how a driveway may be overlooked. He noted although he is not typically one to support any bit of deviation in making hardcover worse, he believes there are Practical Difficulties here and he can empathize based on his law enforcement career with the safety of backing onto a road. He believes the Applicant has demonstrated line-of-sight issues and for those reasons he would support this one. Chair Ressler said this long lot is difficult to navigate, they can’t make the driveway any smaller and they can’t take space from the existing driveway to create room for a turnaround, unless they wanted to drive through grass to get to the road. He said he will caution the Applicant the Commission has had these applications before on Casco Point Road in recent memory that have been denied, which is most likely where Staff finds their recommendation because of that. Chair Ressler can see this one is a bit different