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Land Use Hardship for 1392 Baldor Park Rd., Orono, MN This lot is particularly hard to develop for several reasons. The following issues should be considered: 1. Waterfront setbacks exist on the front and back of the lot. This allows for a very small total square footage to calculate hard cover. There is a pre-existing road on the south side of the lot which renders that waterfront unusable. We request that the 7 5 foot setback not be enforced from the roadside of the lot in order to calculate total square footage for hard cover. I believe this was done for previous applications on this lot. 2. A profile view of this lot shows evidence of previous excavation in the center of the lot to build up the land height towards the north waterfront. This buildup extends well inside the 75 ft. setback and results in high crown with a fairly steep slope running the length of lot to the waterfront within the setback. This crown is unnaturally higher than the adjacent lots. The previous excavation also results in an unnatural depression in the center lot where improvements are proposed. We have no intention of changing the overall slope and contour that exists on this lot within the waterfront setback. Some slight modification to the highest portions of the lot contour may be required within the setback area in order to blend the contour to the proposed new house. Efforts will be made to minimize these modifications within the setback area as shown on the lot plan. An alternative would be to allow for excavation down to approximately level 936 at approximately an 85 ft setback and level excavation out to intersect the existing contour at that level within the waterfront setback. This would return the lot to a more natural hill and keep the new house from appearing to be on a pedestal. 3. Consideration should be given to allow for approximately 60 sq. ft. oflevel landing area near the waterfront to allow for safety and accessibility from an access way from the house approaching the dock area. 4. In an effort to minimize the hard cover area proposed we request the driveway be moved to the west side of the lot as shown. This will maximize the lawn/soft cover and improve the drainage situation. Additional healthy trees can be placed around the pre-existing garage structure to compensate for any storm damaged trees lost for the driveway. This will also allow us to return the previously excavated area to the natural slope while improving drainage from the current contour. 5. Every effort should be made to allow the existing garage to remain. This will blend favorably with surrounding properties and eliminate the need for additional grading and fill. Exemption from hard cover calculations is requested since this area of the property is not being changed. B