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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, February 16, 2021 <br />6:00 o'clock p.m. <br />taken into consideration is on the house side of the deck, there is an asphalt roof part that comes out and <br />takes up a little portion of the deck. <br />Mr. Caldwell noted it takes up about a foot and they could probably remove that and possibly remove the <br />permanent grill and replace that. <br />Angie clarified it is still just a really narrow, tight area. <br />Mr. Caldwell said moving the stairs to go back instead of down towards the lake will also help make <br />room for a table and some chairs. <br />Ressler opened the public hearing at 6:13 p.m. <br />Karen Weathers, the Caldwell's neighbor next door approached the podium and wants the Planning <br />Commission to know they are supportive and it is a very narrow deck. She hopes the Planning <br />Commission will approve it. <br />Ressler closed the public hearing at 6:13 p.m. <br />Ressler asked Curtis for a clarification, as it looks like the stairs that were mentioned are in compliance <br />and that is not what is in question right now; generally, they are speaking about the lakeshore setback of <br />75 feet. <br />Curtis replied in the affirmative and said the side setback on this property is shown at 10 feet which is the <br />district setback. However, the lot is narrower than the district standard so they have that flexibility. <br />Although it is shown that there is a slight encroachment, that is not accurate; it meets the setback. <br />Ressler said the rest they need to deliberate is whether or not the Planning Commission feels comfortable <br />encroaching further in to the lakeshore setback inside the 75. He asked if he is reading it correctly that <br />right now, they are at 79.6. <br />Curtis replied yes that is correct. The existing deck is shown in the dotted rectangle within the proposed <br />deck. <br />Ressler said it undulates because of the shoreline. <br />Curtis said the 75 -foot setback does, yes. <br />Libby said the idea that Orono has a standard for the setback always becomes more complicated when <br />they have a meandering Lakeshore. Being this already had an existing encroachment into the ALS, he <br />does not see any practical difficulties involved in this, but there are practical matters of use that have been <br />explained. He tends to agree with Staff, he thinks this is something that is workable, especially with the <br />willingness to offset some of the hard surface issues. <br />If Kirchner understands correctly, Staff's recommendation is to approve average Lakeshore and hardcover <br />but denial of the variance within the proposed deck area, which would then be the extension or addition of <br />the deck area. As discussed previously he always struggles to further an encroachment and go beyond it <br />Page 3 of 38 <br />