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September 22, 1998 <br />City of Orono <br />2750 Kelley Parkway <br />Orono, Mn 55356 <br />Re: Brauchle Schoonover Variance Application <br />Dear City Officials, <br />This letter is the description of our variance requests and the unusual property <br />conditions preventing compliance with the requirements of the zoning code. <br />Our house was built in approximately 1980. Wc purchased it at the end of 1986. <br />The house has an elevated deck on the back and side as shown on the survey submitted <br />with our application. The deck is somewhere between fifteen and twenty years old and <br />needs to be replaced. <br />We have visited with your zoning staff and have been advised that we need four <br />variances. A portion of the deck lies within seventy five feet of Lake Minnetonka, <br />requiring a setback variance. The fi’ont of the deck lies within fifty feet of the front of our <br />lot, requiring a front setback variance. According to the surveyor ’s hardcover <br />calculations, 2.02% of the 0 to 75’ zone is covered by hardcover, including the deck, <br />requiring a hardcover variance. In addition, 50.54% of the 75-250’ zone is covered by <br />hardcover, again requiring a hardcover variance. <br />All of this is caused by the shape of the lot. The lot is large, but wide and shallow. <br />The deepest portion of the lot, where the house is built, is only 126 feet deep at the <br />maximum point. Even at its maximum depth, then, there is literally no room for any <br />structure given that the 75 foot lakeshore setback and fifty foot front setback equal the <br />maximum depth of the lot. All of the lot lies within 250 feet of the lake. As a result, the <br />house, driveway and deck are all situated at the widest point of the lot, but inevitably <br />violate the setbacks and hardcover regulations cited above. <br />;• •** ^ <br />'i ^“ .•? j <br />^ \ » <br />4 • <br />This hardship was recognized by the City when the house was built. At that time a <br />front yard setback variance (#423) was granted. 1 surmise the other regulations 1 have <br />discussed were not in effect at the time. The City in granting the variance noted the <br />“severe hardship of the shallow depth of the lot ” even at its widest point. Hence, we <br />request the needed variances on the same grounds. <br />1. <br />.1