04-26-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 12, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 15 16. LA21-000016 – Schimmel Construction o/b/o David & Kathryn Wiemer, 1405 Rest Point Road, Variances – Continued David and Kathryn Wiemer thanked the Council and said the feedback and guidance from the Planning Commission and Ms. Curtis has been extremely helpful to come up with the revised plan. Given the challenges of the lot with the lake and road setbacks, the revised plan now meets that 25% hardcover requirement and will also work for the goal of having a four season porch and have a deck to enjoy the outdoor areas of the yard without sinking in to the ground in their chairs. Johnson moved, Seals seconded, to approve LA21-000016, 1405 Rest Point Road, Variances VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. 17. LA21-000017 – Joseph & Sara Thull, 480 Big Island, Permit for Dock City on ROW (Bay Place) Joseph & Sara Thull, Applicants, were present. Barnhart presented a summary packet of information and said the Applicants are owners of an inland lot on Big Island and have requested a permit to place a dock on City right-of-way as allowed by Section 78- 567. They have been unable to locate a suitable private easement agreement and are asking for the permit. The proposed location of the dock coincides with another dock and the approval for that dock in 1986 was approved with a condition that any other request for a dock revokes that permit issued. Planning Commission heard testimony and ultimately voted to deny the request with a vote of 5-1-1. There has been significant public interest in this application. The staff report summarizes the main concerns including a lot of record buildability, tree removal, wetland issues, and access for construction. Based on the standards in the code, Staff recommends approval subject to the six conditions outlined in the staff memo, which includes the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) approval. The permit is to be valid for one year and can then be reevaluated as necessary. The dockage rights accommodate two boats. Winter storage for the dock would be approved by City Staff as it likely would be impactful of some of the right-of-way in that area. Staff also suggests a minimum width for the dock of six feet and no canopy included. Barnhart noted this project identified the need to look at the dock use for all of these inland lots comprehensively and Staff is looking for feedback from the Council to look into that solution long-term. Walsh was at the Planning Commission meeting and said personally, he is not here today to make any big decisions about this item. What they have found out is that sometimes there are code issues and they do not always realize are problems, or they are not written correctly and until something pops up, people do not realize it. He believes this code is one of those issues and thinks it was written specifically because for someone to have a dock on public property, they cannot just claim that indefinitely forever. Walsh said that is why it was put in that the dock permit could be cancelled if someone else applied; the problem is someone else could do the same to that person with the dock permit, and another person, and it would just continue. He thinks they need to find a resolution for this. On Big Island, the families that have been out there for decades, everything has worked just fine; obviously they do have an issue on interior lots. Walsh thinks what it tells the current family that has that dock is that it is not a permanent dock for the family; they could not ever mortgage the property and say they have dock rights or sell the property with