07-13-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, June 15, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ LA20-000039 JOHN & SHERRY GORMAN, 3585 FREDERICK STREET, VARIANCE, 6:34 P.M. - 6:50 P.M. Sherry Gorman, Applicant, was present. Staff presented a summary of packet information. Ms. Sherry Gorman, 3585 Frederick Street, said she and her husband bought the house 11 years ago. When they were looking for a house on the lake, they were not looking for a pool, although this house did have a pool, which has its own significant hardcover requirements. They loved that the house sits on a hill, the view is amazing, it is on the far end of Carman Bay, and has a southern exposure. They saw the size of the house being relatively small to be able to still fit their needs as they moved into retirement. She stated there are several things that make the lot unique, one of which is the lot itself is a triangle. They own 23 feet at the lake and 130 feet by the street. Their house is built up on the hillside which requires retaining walls, sidewalks, and walkways. The driveway is very long and loops around in a circle. A couple of things that make the house unique is that it was built in 1966, when most families were one-car families. It is currently a two-car garage. It also has limitations in terms of the ceiling height in the garage. The back half is only six feet and nine inches and the front half is only nine feet, so it does not allow for a lot of storage. Their practical difficulty is the lack of storage. They have a need to store patio furniture, ladders, and paddleboards. They currently rent a storage unit at Metro Storage in Spring Park for $200 a month/$2,400 a year. It is not the dollar amount that is prohibitive. However, each year they have to rent a truck, go to and from the storage unit 3-4 times. They load up the cart, pull the cart to the truck, load up the truck, drive home, unload the truck, and carry it to the back yard. The bottom line is, they are getting kind of old. She referenced the plan for the three-car garage and said they would basically lay it on top of the current driveway and would give back the rest of the leg of the driveway so they can reduce their hardcover, which was over when they purchased the house. She referenced a close-up view of the six-nine area of the garage and said they are looking for that area to be the area for the new storage unit. They would wall off the area with the six-nine ceiling, put their patio furniture there, and add a backdoor access to be able to carry things to and from the backyard. The three-car garage would sit on top of what the current driveway is today. She discussed the elevation drawing. She said on the neighbor’s side they tried to make it appealing to them by adding rock all the way around to make it look consistent with the front of the house and then add unique windows, etc., in the back so it did not look like they were adding a wall that would be facing them. Their neighbors have indicated they are very pleased with what they see. She stated they would do some things with landscaping as well. She referenced the existing hardcover calculations displayed and the loop driveway. She indicated they are at 34.3% existing today and the proposed hardcover is putting the three-car garage on the driveway and taking off the leg, which is a little over 1,000 square feet of hardcover, taking them down to 29.62%. She noted the current hardcover is 34.4% and proposed hardcover is 29.4%, a reduction of 5%. Orono has the ruling of 25%, and they are still over what they are supposed to be and are asking for a variance of 4.4%. They are hoping the Commissioners can view it from the standpoint that they are decreasing their hardcover and also increasing the property value of the house by adding the three-car garage. They think they are improving the street appeal of the house. For their neighbors, it will help because then they will not have to put anything extra outside on the lawn or driveway. She thanked the Commissioners for their consideration. Chair Ressler opened the public hearing at 6:43 p.m.