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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Monday, September 19, 2022 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 5 of 9 <br /> <br /> <br />McCutcheon noted the reduction of hardcover is always a plus and if one wants to move a structure (the <br />garage) the end result needs to reduce hardcover. He asked if the garage has been demolished yet. <br /> <br />Mr. Gates replied in the negative. <br /> <br />Curtis clarified that is a part of the building permit and they have already demonstrated they can do that <br />without variances. <br /> <br />Ressler noted it does play into the hardcover and exceeding hardcover becomes a variance. He does not <br />see that the Applicant is meeting requirements to exceed hardcover. <br /> <br />McCutcheon asked about the rock bed at the front and asked about hardcover regarding a deck or patio. <br /> <br />Curtis clarified they could turn that landscaped area into an on-grade patio or grade level deck. <br /> <br />Mr. Gates spoke about hardcover and noted they are reducing hardcover significantly from 31% to 26%. <br />The wooden borders are in pretty bad shape and while they are removing those, they will replace with <br />boulders that serve the same purpose. Regarding the 26% hardcover, the belief is reducing and improving <br />the situation is part of the purpose of a variance; they are improving the situation not making it worse. <br />They are not increasing runoff of the house, not increasing the physical footprint, and reducing hardcover. <br />the guidance that would be helpful is regarding the portion at-grade behind the existing patio, would the <br />Commissioners be amenable to doing it at-grade with a slight hardcover variance slightly above the 25%? <br /> <br />McCutcheon noted it is hard to say without seeing something. <br /> <br />Ressler thinks if they are currently at 31% hardcover and are proposing less at-grade, an improvement of <br />the situation is always what the City Council is looking for. He cannot guarantee the City Council would <br />be in support but Ressler would certainly look at it more favorably. <br /> <br />Bollis thinks the issue is that the Applicant has already demonstrate they can go down to the 25% so it is <br />hard to wrap their heads around a practical difficulty that now they need another 1%. This is just his view <br />of it. <br /> <br />Mr. Gates spoke about drainage noting he spoke with the owner at 2817 and indicated they would work <br />with the owner to try and improve the grading. As Mr. Gates understands it, the owner was selling the <br />property and was not interested at that time. Regarding 2813, there is a patio on the corner of their house <br />that encroaches past the ASL, and he is sure that is grandfathered in, but noted it is a little frustrating <br />when someone comes and speaks against something when they have the same issue. Mr. Gates believes <br />they may even have some setbacks on the other side of their property. <br /> <br />Bollis asked if Mr. Gates sees drainage getting better with the gabled roof and if they can control the <br />runoff. <br /> <br />Mr. Gates noted they control the runoff because they only have sides. In theory, they are increasing the <br />runoff to the sides slightly but with gutters on the gable ends and landscaping, they can better help that. It <br />is easier on their side to get it to the street. He spoke about elevations of the surrounding properties noting