02-13-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 12 Paul Taunton, 3600 Ivy Place, the applicant, said he didn't know that he needed to pull permits. I wasn't trying to do something underhanded or disrespectful to the City of Orono on the eight-foot entrance going into my driveway. I moved into the house on June 27. Denali was the builder. That turnaround that you're referencing was never presented, nor does my neighbor talk about it other than my neighbors saying, hey, you're just an accident waiting to happen. Your family, there's five people that live in my home, your family cannot park on that easement that we've been given and you cannot turn into my driveway with a vehicle. Unless you're driving a golf cart, you cannot make that turn into my driveway. I am concerned about the pervious pavers that I put in, the driveway that I put in. I did not know that I needed to pull a permit or I would have pulled a permit. When it was brought to my attention I immediately got in line and followed the protocol to pull the permits. I am also concerned about the erosion of the property. It's a flat line. I hired a group of surveyors and engineers that came out to put the drainage tile around the whole property so that there would be no erosion or drainage into the lake. That was before we moved into our home. When I put in the pavers, the patios, I had another engineer company come out because I knew that I did not want to recognize that I had now exceeded or that there was some concern about erosion or from a massive rain. So they came out, a neutral party, and they made their declaration. They gave like a 45- page report stating there's absolutely no risk of any water runoff into the lake. The drainage tile that I put in was more than what was called for. I did that because I, like the City, want to protect the lake. I apologize that I did not pull permits in advance. That wasn't some strategy of mine to be that guy that does it and then asks for forgiveness. I went to a neighborhood party when I moved in and I had four different neighbors complain about where we were parking. When you take a left turn down Ivy it's a single road. Well, that's where we were parking. They were complaining, hey, you can't park on the road. My neighbor wrote a letter to me after numerous conversations saying you can’t park here. That's why I put in the driveway as a place for us to park, a place for cars. UPS couldn't make deliveries. Amazon could not make deliveries because it was just too narrow. And they weren't willing to walk 400 feet to the beginning of my driveway. So that's the situation that I was in. And again, I apologize for not pulling permits in advance. But if I hadn't put something someplace for us to park my neighbors would be going nuts. It's just how tight it is right there. My internet's been knocked out four times just from the plow just since I moved in, just from this winter. It's clearly an unusual circumstance here. When I purchased the lot we reduced the size of the house, we moved the house as close as possible to the neighbors to my neighbor. I'm literally right on the line. There was never any discussion about me using his driveway as a circular drive. That dialogue never happened. I know they don't want that. That wasn't even an option. The only option was when I put that driveway, that parking area. I was very conscious that I didn't go any closer to the shoreline than what was already allowed. I stayed that same distance. It wasn't excessive. It was just enough for a car to turn around and for us to park. I wasn't trying to be reckless or disrespectful or just flip my nose. It's a situation I was trying to be respectful for what I had learned. Council Member Johnson asked to clarify, they did their as-built, then we received complaints. And then we did a site visit. And the complaint was for the front driveway pad. And then during our site visit is that when we saw the other two places? Curtis said the City’s inspector went out and observed the construction that was just finishing up on the driveway and basically confirmed that violation. I contacted Mr. Taunton and when I received his updated current conditions survey, it reflected these two patio areas. So the initial violation wasn't addressing