07-08-2002 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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we could avoid going over four-feet in height on any one level, which would require assistance from a mechanical engineer. The south side of our home needed retaining walls as well. There \vas previously a carport in this area. Its removal left a large bank of dirt that was washing aw ay w ith every rain shower. Again, we built a 2-tier retaining wall to avoid going over four feet in height on any one level and also to create an area for a potential patio, since we still had no deck and were unsure of what was going to happen on that score. On the west side of this area we built a small retaining wall just to keep the dirt from washing away. In addition to the retaining walls, we have several garden areas surrounded by rows of small field stone. Again, we weren't thinking about hardcover when we did this, we were just trying to make our landscaping more appealing. These can be removed if absolutely necessary for the construction of our deck. We also didn’t include the walkway from our driveway to our front door on the original plan, simply because we didn’t know what we were going to do. We don ’t feel our driveway or retaining walls are egregious in size oi nature, and our reasons for building them as they currently stand were based primarily on safety and'or necessity. The deck, which is too small for a dining table and chairs, is basically to allow us to exit the west side of our home, wtich has nvo 9-foot patio doors and a 6-foot patio door. We feel we are asking for something very reasonable - especially compared to our first variance application and what we had originally hoped to do. Frankly, what we want to build can hardly qualify as a deck - it’s more like an elevated walkway on the first level, and a balcony on the second. I would like to stress that this home is not extraordinarily large, and we don ’t have a disproportionate amount of hardcover. We owti nearly an acre of land, plus several adjacent lots that are wetlands; unfortunately a rather large percentage of that is non- buildable. We reduced the hardcover in the 0 to 75-foot area significantly, and feel that everything we have done to this property has been well within reason and has significantly improved the overall appearance of the properly and the area in general. We have tried to do >vhat we felt was best for this piece of property, as well as the safety of our family and the people in the surrounding area. 1 designed this house and all of the landscaping, my husband built the house and executed most of the landscaping plans. This is the place we want to raise our family and spend the better part of our life. We are not trying to make a buck, we simply want to live our lives in peace. We hope you will allow us to do that. Sincerely, Gina Fii^ Kosek #2796