03-18-2002 Planning Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

March 4, 2002 Variance Request • Jeff and Nancy Twidwell 1865 Concordia Street. Orono MN 55391 Background and Our History A brief baci.ground regarding our property helps to explain why we are requesting a variance. Our property wos first developed in 1941 beginning with a small cabin. Over the years, there have been multiple additions. With these additions, the home was expanded to the south into a sloping hill. This has created 1) limitations for further expansion or remodeling, and 2) severe drainage and runoff issues. Over the past two years we have made two formal attempts at remodeling but due to the innumerable problems with the present structure and drainage, this has been impractical if not impossible. We have lived in our present home for 7 years. We love our beautiful lot and our neighborhood. For these reasons we have chosen to rebuild rather than move. We hope to spend the next 30 + years on this property. Our intent with the new project has been and continues to be 1) to provide an adequate home for our family’s needs including an attached garage, 2) to preserve the large maple trees in the center of the lot, 3) to improve the serious drainage & runoff issues that exist on the lot, 4) to markedly reduce the hardcover, and 5) to move the structure back to the accepted 75’ setback. Proposed Home Our hardship, and therefore request for variance, relates to preservation of the three large maple trees that run down the center of the buildable zone of our lot. These trees are an integral part of the beauty and makeup of this lot. While surrounding lots are heavily treed, we have few other mature trees and these are on the periphery of the lot. “Large Trees ” are specifically sited in the variance application packet as justification for hardship and this definitely pertains in the case of our lot. Earlier plans for rebuilding were withdrawn because, as proposed, they exceed^ the hard cover requirements and they did not preserve one of these three maple trees. We have worked diligently to re-design a home that is an appropriate size for the lot and neighborhood and to locate this home properly on the lot. Our new plan, 1) meets lot coverage restrictions, 2) removes all existing hardcover from the 0 - 75’ zone (except steps down hill to lake), 3) reduces hardcover dramatically, 4) preserves the three large maple trees in center of lot (see attachment from arborist), and 5) maintains “proper" alignment of the new home with adjoining properties on both the lake side and road side of the existing lot. 3hlc3-