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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, October 12, 2020 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 5 of 24 <br /> <br />(Ressler and Gettman). Council should review the application and determine if practical <br />difficulties are met for the variance. <br /> <br />Dan Murphy of Kuhl Design Build acknowledged a 3-2 vote in denial and noted the neighbors <br />are very much in support of this project; the issue they are running into is that it is a very old <br />structure and is non-compliant as it is. He stated they could rebuild it there, but to rebuild the <br />roofline - because it is very flat, old and beaten up – to meet the building code they would have <br />to get another variance anyway. He clarified no matter what they do, they would need to get a <br />variance on the roof because it is such a flat pitch and in looking at the packet, the Council can <br />see there is only a very small area of the roof that actually requires the variance; most of the <br />structure is fine. Because they are changing the pitch, a tiny sliver of it comes into play when <br />dealing with the setback issue. He noted the drainage issue came up at the Planning Commission <br />and the issue was addressed, they showed it to the neighbors and discussed it with them, and <br />neighbors are completely on board because it will look a lot better in the neighborhood. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh appreciates the neighbors not having a problem with the building, but asked if it <br />meets the practical difficulty standard for a non-conforming structure. He can’t think of an <br />example where they’ve allowed someone to expand to a non-conforming on a setback. He hasn’t <br />seen what the practical difficulty is yet that would require the need to do the project. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy replied the practical difficulty is that if they do anything, they must build it to code <br />and if they build it to code they need a variance. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh stated they are then creating their own practical difficulty. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy stated there isn’t another option with what they need to do with the structure right <br />now because the roof is going to give way soon, so it’s either let it continue to dilapidate or build <br />the structure back up so it looks good in the neighborhood and can stay, otherwise it is just kind <br />of an eyesore. If the y could put a new roof on it without having to get a variance, they would. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh said they could put a new roof on the exact way it is. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy said if they start taking the beams off to give the support that is necessary by code, <br />then they can’t. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh stated they can build like-and-kind without having to go up further in a non- <br />conforming use, and that is the issue. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy asked can they supersede code. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh noted they are not superseding code, they are getting like-and-kind and added they <br />could tear the whole house down and build like-and-kind; the same height, the same footprint. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy asked doesn’t it have to be built to code.