04-14-2003 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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TO: DATE: RE: cc: Mayor Barbara Peterson and the Honorable Members of the City Council March 1.2003 332 Westlake Street Proposal City Staff History of the property In retrospect, it seems we would have been better off to ouild a new house on each of the 50' wide properties, and then combined them into one. This would have allowed us to have 10' side yard setbacks to the nor*h and south, and when we combined the two separate houses we would have i.ad an 80’ wide house on a 100’ wide lot. Statement of Hardship The rezoning of our neighborhood in 1975 to LR-1A with it’s 2 acre minimum. 200' of lake shore, and 30' side yard setbacks is in itself a hardship because it did not recognizing the existing conditions or the character of the established Westlake Street neighborhood. The Westlake Street neighborhood was composed mostly of 50' wide lots at the time it was rezoned to LR-1A. Not a single lakeshore property on F AHLERS.NEIGHBORHOOD SOLUTION DOC In 1988 we purchased 324 and 332 Westlake Street from two separate sellers, with the intent of eventually combining the separate properties into one and building a new home. We lived at J32 Westlake Street in an existing home from 1988 until 1993, at which time we bu.lt the home that exists today. In 1992 we met with City staff members Jeanne Maybusth and Mike Gaffror, who were at that time the zoning and assistant zoning administrators for Orono. We discussed our need to expand the size of our home in order to meet the demands of a growing family. We were encouraged by staff to combine the two properties and / lild across therr. Staff felt that .“ombining the properties would bring them closer to the LR-1A zoning requirements, and that this would be looxed upon favorably by both the Planning Commission and City Council when they were asked to grant variances for lot area, lot width, and side yard setbacks (the exact same variances that we are asking for today). In 1992 plans for the new home were drawn up. A portion of the existing house on 332 Westlake Street was to be retained (a 12' x 28' section that was originally the kitchen and bedroom, and are now the dining room and entry). This portion was 12.7’ from the south property line. A new foundation with a greatroom above was added on the lakeside, and a new kitchen and covered entry porch were added on the street side. The existing house on 324 Westlake Street had no basement, so we proposed to move it and build a walkout basement with a recreation room on the lower level and an owner's suite above it on the main level. In addition, a sunroom was added to the lakeside. We designed a stone lighthouse tower as the central form of the house, and it bridged across the property lines. The existing garage, which crossed over the neighbor s property line by 2’. was added onto to create greater depth for the cars.