03-20-2023 Planning Commission Packet

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION February 21, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. the proposal will still be over that 25 percent hardcover limitation. Although the deck meets all the required setbacks, and the overall hardcover on the site will be reduced, staff is recommending denial based on practical difficulties not being met. The request for the additional deck is more out of convenience and not necessary for the use of the property. The property currently has a lakeside patio and an at -grade patio next to the home as well as a rooftop terrace or second story deck. The property currently has a non -conforming boathouse and lakeside patio that are within the 75 -foot setback. If these were removed, the lot would be within five square feet of compliance with hardcover. Staff believes there are practical ways to bring the lot into conformance with the required hardcover regulations. The applicant has provided supporting documentation regarding the applicable practical difficulties and is here today. A Neighbor Acknowledgement Form has been included, but no other public comment has been received. The applicant has reached out to staff and informally discussed possibly the removal of the lakeside patio to further bring this into conformance That would be an additional reduction of 76 square feet, but I'm not sure if that's going to be proposed tonight or not. McCutcheon asked if removing the lakeside patio would bring the site to 25 percent hardcover. Nye said it would bring them to 27.4 versus 27.9, so it just slightly reduces it. Andy Johnsrud, Lecy Brothers Homes Remodeling, 3250 County Road 10 N, Watertown, MN, explained. the buyers of the property just purchase it in the last few months and his company is remodeling the home including a main level bedroom and a deck. He said they were aware of the set -back regulations but not the hardcover calculations. Our initial deck design actually was 18 feet by 19 feet with a deck stairs that we removed when we met with Melanie (Curtis, City Planner), back a few months ago. So the deck that we're seeing right now, as Natalie (Nye, City Planner) mentioned, we are removing the patio that's out in front of it. We're also moving the flagstone steps. We'd love to keep the patio along the lake. Natalie mentioned in our staff report (the possibility of removing the lake patio). I discussed it with my clients. They're open to the idea of it. But that's the big thing that we're looking at as you know. The dwellings on both the north and south side and the lakeside setback, all was great. I thought when we removed hardcover, I didn't realize we needed a variance. Natalie informed us of that, so that's why we're here. And that's also why we reduced that deck four feet along with a four -foot stair that would go down to be parallel with the lake. Currently the property does not have a deck on the lake side, and I would say most of the homes along there would have a deck on the lake side. We are going to choose to leave some steps that are going to be left, instead of putting steps on the deck, which we initially wanted to do. Kirchner asked if the footprint of the home changed at all as part of the remodel and if the excess of hardcover that exists today is not a result of your client, it would be from prior homeowner or homeowners? Mr. Johnsrud said the footprint of the house would not change and the excess hardcover did go back to a previous owner. McCutcheon asked if the applicant had looked at all the design possibilities to get to 25 percent hardcover like tearing down the boathouse or making the deck smaller. Page 16 of 19