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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 7 of 24 <br /> <br />Johnson replied yes, potentially that is what it means. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy asked if that is a practical difficulty. <br /> <br />Johnson said not in his definition. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh again said they cannot create their own practical difficulty by rebuilding. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy said he is not creating the code, so isn’t that code creating the practical difficulty for <br />him? He noted it is a very old structure and the roof is falling in. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh said he guesses he could see the argument that if the y had to tear the roof off <br />because it is falling apart and instead of 2x4’s they had to use 2x12’s, then use 2x12’s and if that <br />makes it go up 3, 4, or 5 inches, he thinks that would be a practical difficulty, but not going way <br />up like what is shown in the packet/onscreen. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy responded he would still have to come in for a variance at that point. <br /> <br />Johnson said yes. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh said that would be a practical difficulty if the Applicant said they were going to <br />replace the roof as-is, but code requires raising it up 4 inches because they must use 2x12’s <br />instead of 2x4’s. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy stated when they started the design process and he found out he would need a <br />variance because it is a non-compliant roof, he noted there is a little part that was brought into <br />question because if they did anything on there he would have to get a variance for it. At that <br />point, the Applicant said they should match the architecture of the house, then showed it to the <br />neighbors who were much more supportive of that than the original design. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh said they are not in the design business but are trying to tell Mr. Murphy what he <br />can get and what a practical difficulty is. He said he would not have a problem granting the <br />variance for the additional space needed for the lumber to bring the roof to code. <br /> <br />Johnson asked if they would be redoing the side walls. <br /> <br />Mr. Murphy said no, they aren’t changing the side walls but now they will have to. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh said if the trusses need to be 4 inches higher for code, that is a practical difficulty <br />and the Applicant can have that, but anything beyond that is not a practical difficulty. <br /> <br />Walsh moved, Seals seconded, to table LA20-000056, 3249 Casco Circle, Variance. VOTE: <br />Ayes 4, Nays 0. <br />