11-23-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, November 9, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 15 PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT 20. LA20-000022 – RANDY HAAPALA, HNH HOMES O/B/O WILLIAM & KATHLEEN WANNER, 1095 FERNDALE RD WEST, VARIANCES AND CUPS Rick Storlien, representing HNH Homes, was present. Staff presented a summary packet of information, noting the property has a history where variances were granted, renewed and expired due to inactivity. The current owners plan to proceed with construction of their home and are currently requesting similar approvals as received in the past. Current plans reflect less hardcover in the 75 foot setback and structure in the average lakeshore setback than have received variances for in the past. Staff recommends approval of the plan with the exception of the variance to permit the lessened elevation bench around the home. Walsh asked what the Council had previously approved regarding this property. Curtis noted a number of house plans have been approved for this property and this is the first plan that has gone as far as developing flood plain mitigation for watershed permitting. The previous plans were a further encroachment in to the lakeshore setback with hardcover and the home. This plan is the most compliant of the plans they have seen. Walsh said it is an improvement and they just have not been this far from a flood plain management issue. Rick Storlien with RDS architects is at the meeting on behalf of Randy Haapala from HNH Homes. He noted a letter sent and it is his understanding the FEMA requires a 32.5, and that was the discrepancy in the document, for an escape route from the home at each exit point to get to safe ground. He said they do have that within the exit areas. He noted three minimal encroachments in to the 15 foot setback to the 31.5 elevation, and on the west it is an open porch rather than finished house; the north encroachment is a garage; the east side is a bump out on the master bedroom suite. Minimum floor elevation is even further above that benchmark currently, so under the house there is not any real encroachment as far as potential for flood waters. Walsh asked what would be the practical difficulty in complying with the whole bench. Mr. Storlien said they have been going back and forth with the Watershed District, and noted the storage capacity of the two storm water retention ponds are basically limited to area – they cannot go any deeper because of lake elevations – so typically the pond would be one foot deeper and they would be fine as they could make the pond a little smaller. They are trying to balance between those two issues and maintain drainage-ways on either side of the home which are the two encroachments to the left and right. He noted they could potentially meet the 15 feet, but will have to go back to the civil engineer and see if there is any way to make the ponds larger in surface area to accommodate the required elevation. He said it would most likely require grading on the lakeside of the home to achieve, and they are trying to avoid that. Walsh said the practical difficulty is if they cannot make the pond bigger, then there is nothing they can do to fix that piece of it. Mr. Storlien replied that is correct.