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. <br /> Mr. Michael P. Caffron <br /> Page 2 <br /> February 21, 2006 <br /> remote location �f Mr. Wagener's residence with respect to Lake Minnetonka. <br /> Mr.Wagener's residence appears to be located more than 330 feet from the lakeshore and <br /> is setback from the lakeshore farther than any other residence on Bohn's Point along the <br /> shoreline shared by Mr. Wagener and the Munsons. The existing home on the Munsons' <br /> property already extends beyond the average lakesh�re setback line, and the Munsons <br /> second design revision merely seeks to increase the height of that portion of the residence <br /> that extends bey�nd the average lakeshore setbac;k line by approximately 12 feet. <br /> The circumstances of the Munsons' property appear to be unique, at least with <br /> respect to Bohn's Point. As mentioned, on the s�uth side of the Munson property, the <br /> Wagener residence is located farther back from the lakeshore than any other residence <br /> in that area. Furthermore, a line of trees and large bushes planted on the Wagener <br /> property all along the boundary with the Munson property all of the way down to the <br /> shoreline block the Munsons'views to the south. Moreover, because the residence on the <br /> adjacent property to the north of the Munsons' property is anly set back approximately 76 <br /> feet from the lake and is the closest residence to the lakeshore in the area, this <br /> combination of visual obstructions resu(ts in a very narrow view af the lake from the <br /> Munsons' residence. Due to these unique circumstances, and as noted in the Minutes of <br /> the meeting last month, the farther one is from the lakeshore on the Munson property the <br /> more the Munsons' lake view is diminished. A{ready the Munson residence is practicaily <br /> twice the required distance from the lakeshore without consideration of the average <br /> lakeshore setback, so strict enforcement of the average setback requirement unc�er these <br /> circumstances would impose undue hardship on the Munsons. <br /> I refer you ta three photographs of the area in question taken from the lake side of <br /> the properties on September 29, 2005. (Those photographs are attached to your Memo <br /> to Chair Rahn and the Orono Planning Commission dated January 12, 2006). The trees <br /> behind the Munsons' residence to the west (away from the lake) and those separating the <br /> Wagener and Muns�n properties rise two to three times the height of the current Munsan <br /> residence. Moreover, most of the trees separating the Wagener and Munson residences <br /> are evergreen trees. While I have not been allowed access to Mr. Wagener's property, it <br /> appears that Mr. Wagener would not even see the two-level residence the Munsons <br /> propose to build. Much of Mr. Wagener's sight fine to the north in the direction of the <br /> Munson property is obstructed by Mr. Wagener's own landscaping. <br /> Mr. Wagener's attorney suggests that the hardship the Munsons face was self- <br /> created because the Munsons' predecessor in title created the parcels in question and did <br /> not object to the application for an average setback line variance the Commission granted <br /> to the person who built the residence to the north of the Munson property in 1977. Besides <br /> not understanding how the actions by a previous owner of the Munson property 30 years <br /> ago are attrib�atable to the Munsons, the onerous burden this position would place on <br />