05-09-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, April 18, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ neighborhood, creating three properties as similar as possible while keeping the non-conformity to a minimum. Ms. Gustafson did a study of 15 lots north and south of this property and of those lots only eight are conforming in width and area. If approved, the third lot would be larger than 20 of the adjacent lots and wider than 12 of the 30 lots. He noted the City has approved similar requests including one on Wildhurst that took two conforming lots and made them into non-conforming lakeshore lots, so there is precedent. He also met with neighbors and explained what would happen and believes they have support of those neighbors. Dan Seidel, 3015 Casco Point Road, met on Friday with the potential homeowner and Stonewood and it sounds like they have some nice plans. The only issue Mr. Seidel has is if they only issue a plat what happens if for whatever reason the homeowners do not go forward? He has heard that the middle lot could move down to within 75 feet of the lakeshore and if that happens it changes the tennis court setback and Mr. Seidel’s setback is roughly where it is now but possibly creates some unintended consequences. It would also be helpful if the approval included where the houses will be. The neighbors are concerned that if it gets approved and someone builds on their non-conforming lot, now they need to get variances to make the house fit. Mr. Seidel said the Applicants seem like really good people and he looks forward to having them as neighbors. John Miller, 2980 Casco Point Road, has been out there for 10 years and can say that it turns into a river when it rains, even if it is a 1.5 inch rain and it washes out the grass. He said when people come and want to build a dream home, they come to the City asking for a couple inches here and there. Mr. Miller thinks the City needs to let the developers know they must draw the line. He noted there was a catch basin when he moved in and did not notice any water drain between the properties while he now notices it almost every time it rains. Mr. Miller understands that the Hartzell lot is big and it could be three homes, but he thinks the City should set the precedent of what it should be to the new homeowners and try to maintain the rules so developers don’t buy a property banking on the fact that they will come to the City and get whatever they ask for. The Commissioners discussed the item. Ressler noted they see a lot of odd-shaped lots on the lake. Clearly someone wanted a lot for their tennis courts at one point. Now they want to turn the tennis courts into a non-conforming lake lot and that is where Ressler gets hung up. It would make more sense to him to redraw the plat as two lots, both of them conforming because there are two lake lots there already. He does not think the City is in the business of creating more lake lots. Kirchner agrees, it seems they are stealing from a lake lot to create another lake lot and are now making one non-conforming. He struggles with that idea and pointed out they do not know that the houses would be built to the rear of those angle points where it is 100 feet and conforming. Kraemer thinks they did a great job drawing the plat and getting three lots that would conform at the building setback lines. The fact that there are a lot of non-conforming shoreline lengths in the neighborhood does seem to fit the nature of the neighborhood. If the Applicant would come back with a proposal Kraemer would like it to include where the houses will be so those questions can be answered. Erickson noted number two of the practical difficulties list says the plight of the landowner must be due to circumstances unique to the property and not created by the landowner. Here they have an Applicant