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/ 7 <br />j <br />'J <br />1 •*V <br />K . <br />•--. r‘«* <br />1485 GREEN TREES RD. (CONT.) <br />. >, <br />j <br />•• -yy <br />The process of filing the easement removal in the Hennepin County <br />court system took until this past December, a full year after our <br />conversations with the zoning administrator! <br />In the meantime, based on the surveys * .*d acknowledgement of the <br />zoning administrator that this land was buildable, we hired an <br />architect to design a home falling within the only portion of land <br />meeting the many setback requirements (again, unaware of any bluff <br />zone setbacks.) <br />After great expense to the neighbors to remove their driveway, a <br />$285,000 expense to us (our life savings) to purchase this lot and <br />design a home within what we thought was the only acceptable <br />location to the city of Orono, and a year of waiting for the processing <br />of the removal of an easement, we finally applied for a building <br />permit. The contractor collected the permit application and <br />accommodated all of the city's requests prio: to the submission, <br />including stringent septic regulations and grading regulations <br />(interestingly, the grading involved the regrading of the bluff, <br />although no one indicated any knowledge of a bluff zone at this <br />point, either.) <br />The builder responded to some minor issues after submission of the <br />permit application, and was not informed of any problems. Nine <br />working days after submitting the application, the builder was given <br />all indication to expect the permit and even committed to his <br />vendors that the construction would begin that day. Much to all our <br />surprise, he received a devastating phone call that very morning <br />from the zoning office saying they just realized this property falls <br />within the bluff impact zone and requires an additional 30 ’ setback <br />from the bluff. <br />(We met with the zoning office who admitted confusion on their part <br />as to the interpretation of these relatively new ordinances, and we <br />remain uncertain as to how new residents could become informed of <br />this ordinance when the enforcers do not seem well informed and <br />they are not included in the city's permit process.) <br />D