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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, February 16, 2021 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br /> <br />noted there is also about 70 feet of woods behind them, and there is also a berm and a hill that protects it <br />from the neighbor on one side; on the other side of the house, they cannot even see that neighbor’s house. <br />He stated it is private and he believes that is also why the neighbors are in such high support of this. <br /> <br />Libby asked if there are any future plans to have egress from the screen porch to the exterior of the yard. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson asked what he means by egress. <br /> <br />Libby said an access to get in and out of the screen porch into the backyard. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson replied it would be right where the door is shown on screen, and he thinks that would still be <br />inside of the variance. <br /> <br />Libby is hearing loud and clear about safety as he is a great-grandfather. <br /> <br />Ressler said while they are on that slide, he sees a proposed stoop. <br /> <br />Oakden believes those are the existing doors from the house to the back yard. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson said that will actually be removed. <br /> <br />Ressler opened the public hearing at 7:20 p.m. <br /> <br />Ressler closed the public hearing at 7:20 p.m. <br /> <br />Ressler said in lieu of the public hearing they always have the letters of support on the application. <br /> <br />McCutcheon thinks that breaks a record as there are a lot of them. <br /> <br />Kirchner said these seven letters of support are the most he has seen on an application. <br /> <br />McCutcheon thinks the Applicant laid it out pretty well; the 30-foot setback is meant for 2 acre lots, so <br />being an acre lot, in his eyes is it a practical difficulty and the Planning Commission has ruled on that in <br />the past. With the boulders, the steepness, and moving the porch to the middle, that would cut their yard <br />in half. He said it is a bigger proposed screen porch but as the Applicant laid out with their child it is <br />necessary for them. McCutcheon remembers when the golf course built a garage and they wanted to go <br />closer to the residence setback and the Planning Commission allowed that. If they can go towards the <br />neighborhoods, he does not have a problem with the neighborhoods going towards the golf course. He is <br />in support of it. <br /> <br />Kirchner agrees with that. He pulled up an aerial photo while listening, and it is a very wooded area to <br />the rear and appears that there is quite a bit of privacy there, as well as the pictures submitted from the <br />Applicant. It shows that people on the cart path would not even see the structure. <br /> <br />Erickson said most of the time when the point is made that there are other alternatives within the zoning <br />ordinance that is certainly one of the strongest arguments. However, looking at this situation there are