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pC\J^2-1-7- ~ary <br />Planning Commission <br />City of Orono <br />1275 South Brown Road <br />Orono, MN 55323 <br />1 <br />Attention: Jeanne Mabusth, Building and Zoning Administrator <br />Re: 2/17/87 Hearing item #1107 <br />We, the owners of affected properties, opoose the issue of a variance tO' <br />permit construction of a singla family residence on tht above parcel of <br />land for the following reasons: <br />1. <br />2. <br />3. <br />4. <br />5. <br />6. <br />This parcel is both of substandard size and quality. The land drops <br />away sharply from Linden Avenue as much as 7-12'. The rear half of <br />the parcel is nearly always damp and soggy. <br />The rear half of the property serves as drainage for adjacent proper <br />ties to the west, north and east. The water that percolates through <br />this parcel flows into Lake Minnetonka through a small culvert under <br />Oak Street. <br />The water pressure in the spring on this culvert is already sufficient <br />to cause water flow under as well as through the culvert. Oak Street <br />at this point is unpaved and privately maintained by the users. The <br />maintaining users are concerned that a house erected on this parcel <br />will increase the run off pressure on the culvert resulting in increased <br />maintenance costs to a road that already has erosion prone character­ <br />istics. Since an owner of this subject parcel would not use this <br />portion of Oak Street, the cost of handling resultant increased erosion <br />problems would be shifted onto others. <br />A home built on grade with appropriate set back from Linden Avenue <br />v/ould be at least 7-9' below Linden Avenue. This wouiJ make access <br />difficult in winter and also cause potential water seepage problems <br />for the house. For these reasons, a builder may desire to raise the <br />house utilizing substantial fill. The use of fill would further <br />aggravate the erosion problem; possibly impound the water flowing <br />from the north or redirect water onto properties to the west. The <br />use of fill might also require the removal of a number of trees which <br />would exacerbate run off problems. <br />A further impetus to the use of fill,with its attending problems,is <br />that if the house were built on grade, it is possible that the ground <br />level would be below the sewer line under Linden Avenue. <br />In order to try to avoid the above-mentioned problems, the Council <br />could be asked for a set back variance from Linden Avenue to allow <br />the house to be built on higher ground. Other homes on Linden now <br />comply with the 35' set back requirement.