07-22-2002 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Barbara Peterson Orono City Council Page 3 July 8,2002 install the double silt fence they were required to install under the MCVVD permit. The City of Orono requires compliance with the permitting requirements of all public bodies having jurisdiction over the project. Because the Stephensons have not obtained a MCWD permit for their revised plan, the City of Orono cannot approve the amendment to the CUP or the variance. B. . AfteMhe-fact endorsements of the after-the-fact applications do not cure the defects in the applications. The Request for Council Action reports that City Attorney Thomas Barrett reviewed the applications and determined that the “application is legal as presented.” Specifically the Request for Council Action reports that the City Attorney found that separate applications by the adjoining property owners were not required because those property owners “were not aware that the work had occurred on their properties until aRer the alteration had occurred.” The basis of Mr. Barrett ’s opinion cannot be true. Over the course of several months, Mr. Stephenson removed trees and brush, dumped truckloads of dirt, and the drove earthmoving equipment across the neighbors ’ properties, radically changing the contours and landscape of those properties. If Mr. Barrett ’s conclusion depends on the assumption that the neighbors were ignorant of the Stephensons ’ constructio activities, Mr. Barrett ’s conclusion cannot be correct. Even if it is possible that the neighbors did not know that the Stephensons had altered their property, the fact that they consented to the changes after the fact does not cure the harm caused to the other neighbors, the community at large or the environment. The laws underlying the CUP the Stephensons violated are designed to ensure the orderly development of the City of Orono, to protect all the citizens of Orono, and to protect the environment. The Stephensons ’ immediate neighbors do not have the right to waive enforcement of the law on behalf of the City of Orono or on behalf of other citizens. C. The Stephensons have created their own hardships—as well as hardships for their neighbors. (1) At the June 17,2002 Planning Commission hearing, Mr. Stephenson identified two “hardships ” that justified the Stephensons ’ request for a variance from the CUP and wetland setback requirements. First, the Stephensons ’ surveyor failed to accurately mark the wetland boundary. Second, the Stephensons ’ contractor brought too much dirt to the site. Contractors over which the Stephensons had control created both these conditions. The fact that the Stephensons failed to exercise that control has caused substantial hardship to the Stephensons ’ neighbors, to the City of Orono, and to the environment, which hardships include excessive truck traffic, filling of w etlands, removal of trees and brush, and use of City resources in enforcement 2234562v2