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LA20-000074 <br /> Exhibit B <br /> January 28, 2021 <br /> Page 1 <br /> Attachment to, and, an integral part of City of Orono Planning Commission <br /> Variance Application of Edward and Mary Caldwell for the proposed construction <br /> of a new slightly but yet modestly larger deck to replace the existing deck with <br /> which they have lived for 29 years. <br /> PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES DOCUMENTATION FORM LA20-000074 <br /> 1. The property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner not <br /> permitted by the Zoning Chapter. <br /> Response: The owners believe this statement is fundamentally not true with <br /> respect to their past use of their property and the intended use of their property in <br /> the future whether their pending variance application to slightly expand the <br /> existing deck structure if not the "footprint" is approved or not. That is, they have <br /> in the past almost 29 years (having bought their property in February, 1992) used <br /> the property including the existing deck in a reasonable manner as would have <br /> been allowed and/or "grandfathered in" as permitted by the Zoning Chapter as it <br /> existed at the time, and they do not intend to change the way they make use of the <br /> property in a reasonable manner whether the pending variance application is <br /> approved by the City Council or not. <br /> 2. The plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to his property not <br /> created by the landowner. <br /> Response: The footprint of the house on our property has not changed in the <br /> almost 29 years we have lived there. It consists of two floors of approximately <br /> 1,500 square feet each, a total of 3.000 sq. ft. with the lower level being a walk- <br /> out. The existing deck on the upper level has remained on the same "footprint" as <br /> it was when we purchased the property in February, 1992. When we bought the <br /> property, the lower level also had a wood deck that was slightly larger than the <br /> upper level deck, but in very bad condition, so we demolished it a few years after <br /> moving in and eventually replaced it with gardens which we still have. <br /> Otherwise, the hard-cover as calculated by our survey company Sathre-Bergquist <br /> according to the survey they completed in September, 2020 of just under 35%, <br /> has not changed since we bought the property in February 1992, except for the <br /> elimination of the lower level deck shortly after buying the property and replacing <br />