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By way of this 'evolution', Orono has come to consider almost anything <br />that is not vegetated to be hardcover. Building permit applicants are <br />required to submit detailed hardcover analyses. The (perhaps originally <br />unintended) result is that surveyors or architects often calculate <br />hardcover to the tenth of a square foot and applicants end up <br />negotiating with Planning Commission over whether 36.2% is <br />acceptable as opposed to 37.5%. <br />D. The Variance Process <br />In some cases where hardcover review determines a project or site has <br />a hardcover problem, minor adjustments or removals can be made to <br />bring it into compliance. In the majority of cases, however, the <br />magnitude or nature of the hardcover excesses makes it impossible to <br />comply, and a variance is the usual remedy. <br />Because so many of Orono's shoreland properties have existing <br />hardcover excesses, many variance requests are processed in any given <br />year. In 1995 approximately 40 of the 109 zoning applications <br />processed involved a hardcover variance. <br />During the early 1980's, staff usually made a hardcover analysis for a <br />property rather than requiring the information to be submitted. In the <br />later 1 980's when the hardcover worksheet was created, it was usually <br />filled out by the applicant and checked by staff. In the 1990's, partly <br />in order to avoid a conflict of interest on the part of staff and partly in <br />an attempt to make better use of staff time, applicants have generally <br />been required to have their surveyor complete the worksheet. <br />However, Staffs experience has been that no matter who does the <br />hardcover worksheet, errors are made. <br />The cost to a property owner to have the surveyor show all hardcover <br />and complete a hardcover worksheet is dependent on the nature and <br />magnitude of what exists on the property. This information can, <br />however, easily add from $200 to $ 1,000 to the cost of the survey <br />required for the variance application (or for the building permit, for that <br />matter). The result is that an applicant will have a fairly large <br />investment in submittal information with no guarantee the application <br />will be successful. <br />Procedurally, staff will normally work with an applicant to define <br />appropriate hardcover removals, especially in the category of lined <br />landscape beds which in most cases have been installed without permit <br />» *