06-28-1993 Council Minutes2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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fr' Date:Tue.sday, June 8. 1993 !Ju^. To:Mayor Callahan and Orono Citv Council Members 'aUM' -g 1 From:Gary Na.siedlak 1910 Shady wood Road, Orono. MN Subject;Variance tor property located at 3237 Casco Circle (Remien Lot) My wife, Mary Jo, and I are the hopeful buyers of the Jack Remien property noted above. Since Febniary 27, 1993. we've been in contact with Orono Planning and Zoning staff, and have attended the appropriate Planning Commission meeting and the subsequent City Council meeting regarding the variance for the Remien lot. I made a statement at the City Council meeting that I believe was not clear to Mayor Callahan regarding how my purchase agreement for the subject prop)erty reads, as well as the agreement I've entered into regarding the sale of my home. On February 25, 1993. our realtor, Dick Kunz, informed us a lot was for sale. We expressed our interest in the land, and Mr Kunz contacted Jeanne Mabusth of the City of Orono. Ms Mabusth told him what ordinances and restrictions applied to the lot in obtaining a building variance. We wrote our purchase offer to clarify to both buyer and seller, the exact specifications as told to us by the City of Orono. and to make clear that these were the the restrictions under which the lot was being sold. We entered into a purchase agreement (copy attached) with Mr Remien on Saturday, February 27, 1993. Next, in preparation for the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, we contacted an architect who worked closely with the City of Orono in developing a footprint of a home based on the quoted restrictions and requirements. Our main goal was not to have an escape clause in the purchase agreement, but rather to clarify to both buyer and seller the Orono building restrictions. The restrictions that governed the variance were quoted to us by Orono. At no time were we led to believe that this lot was a non-buildable lot. In fact, it seemed that it was a matter of course that a variance would be issued. Just as it had been in the past. On the day of the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, during a routine conversation with Commission staff, I was profoundly surprised to learn of an objection by the neighbor to tlie north concerning alleged erosion problems and the lot's substandard width. The Planning and Zoning staff were fairly unconcerned about the objections, and later that night the Commission voted in favor of the variance. Based on the Planning and Zoning Commission's approval of a variance being granted on the Remien lot. we entered into a purchase agreement for the sale of our home. Not long afterward, the buyer of our home sold his home.