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FILE #LA23-000036 <br />15 July 2024 <br />Page 3 of 4 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />3. The applicant establishes that there are practical difficulties. <br />a. The property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner not permitted by the <br />official controls; The variance request to allow further expansion of the driveway hardcover is <br />not reasonable and is not supported by practical difficulties. This criterion is not met. <br /> <br />b. There are circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner; The shared <br />driveway access, length and narrowness of the property, and the lot’s topography were not <br />the result of actions by the owners. However, the driveway design should have been <br />evaluated in 2019 when the property was redeveloped. The 2020 variance provided relief to a <br />somewhat self-created difficulty. Further requests to incrementally expand the driveway <br />hardcover are not supported by practical difficulty; and <br /> <br />c. The variance will not alter the essential character of the locality. It is staff’s opinion that the <br />current request to increase the size of the turnaround area by 120 square feet, which is larger <br />than a required turnaround on properties abutting collector or arterial roadways, will alter the <br />essential character. <br /> <br />Additionally, City Code 78-123 provides additional parameters within which a variance may be granted as <br />follows: <br />4. Economic considerations alone do not constitute practical difficulties. Economic considerations have <br />not been a factor in the variance approval determination. <br /> <br />5. Practical difficulties also include but are not limited to inadequate access to direct sunlight for solar <br />energy systems. Variances shall be granted for earth-sheltered construction as defined in Minn. Stat. § <br />216C.06, subd. 2, when in harmony with Orono City Code Chapter 78. This condition is not applicable. <br /> <br />6. The board or the council may not permit as a variance any use that is not permitted under Orono City <br />Code Chapter 78 for property in the zone where the affected person's land is located. A residential <br />driveway is an allowed use in the LR-1C District. <br /> <br />7. The board or council may permit as a variance the temporary use of a one-family dwelling as a two- <br />family dwelling. This condition is not applicable. <br /> <br />8. The special conditions applying to the structure or land in question are peculiar to such property or <br />immediately adjoining property. The sloped topography, lot width and depth, and shared driveway <br />situation are particular to this property. Any difficulties caused by these factors should have been <br />alleviated by the 2020 variance approval. <br /> <br />9. The conditions do not apply generally to other land or structures in the district in which the land is <br />located. The street adjacent to this lot is elevated substantially higher than the house. The slope <br />conditions and orientation of the access to Casco Point Road do not generally apply to the other <br />properties in the LR-1C district. However, the applicants’ proposed turnaround area is significantly <br />larger than the required turnarounds on properties accessing the higher-trafficked collector roads. <br />This criterion is not met. <br /> <br />130