08-18-2025 - Agenda Packet Planning Commission - PC packet

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Date Application Received: 07/23/2025 Date Application Deemed Complete: 08/05/2025 60-Day Review Period Expires: 10/04/2025 To: Chair Bollis and Planning Commission Members Adam Edwards, City Administrator From: Matthew Karney, Planner Date: 18 August 2025 Subject: #LA25-000035, Miller Dunwiddie Architecture, Inc., 880 Partenwood Road Variance – Public Hearing Background The applicant proposes a single-story building addition and at grade deck on the lake side of the existing home. The addition will provide living space for the homeowners on the main level. The proposed addition encroaches approximately 8 feet into the average lakeshore setback (ALS), but does not encroach into the 75-foot lake setback. The grade-level deck is proposed to be expanded with the building addition and is permitted by City Code. The existing deck encroaches approximately 3.6 feet into the 75-foot lake setback and was an existing condition prior to the owners’ purchase of the property in 1992. Practical Difficulties Analysis Applicant Submittal Information: The applicant has submitted letters from both the applicant and homeowner, a survey, proposed site plan, site photos, correspondence with Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, hardcover calculations, and house elevations. The applicant states that the house addition will allow for necessary and proximate access to the garage for the homeowners. The addition was designed to meet the 75’ lake setback and is proposed on a portion of the house furthest away from the OHWL. The applicant has provided a letter of support from the nearest neighbor and their homeowner’s association’s architectural committee. Planning Staff Practical Difficulty Analysis: The angle of the house in relation to the lake resulted in the eastern edge of the house being situated closer to the lakeshore than the west. The applicant has made an effort to reduce the encroachment of the addition into the ALS, by proposing the addition on the west side of the house, further back from the lakeshore. The adjacent neighbor’s letter of support, combined with the existing conditions of the current home location, the existing landscape of the property provided screening, supports the intent of the ALS that lake views will not be impacted by the proposed addition. The ALS creates a practical difficulty for the homeowner with the limited building envelope and use of the home on the property based on the existing conditions of the home. Application Summary: The applicant requests approval of an average lakeshore setback variance to construct an addition to the existing primary residence. Staff Recommendation: Planning Department Staff recommends approval of the variance. 89