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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, September 17, 2018 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br /> <br />Landgraver stated he usually is against massing on the lake, but that this structure is proposed to go <br />straight up instead of expanding the footprint. Given the slope and shielding, he would be comfortable <br />with it. <br /> <br />Libby asked if the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has weighed in on this application. <br /> <br />Curtis noted they are above the floodplain. <br /> <br />Ressler stated his only other concern is if the City approves this, it likely will set a precedent for other <br />similar applications and that he is not in favor of it. <br /> <br />Thiesse stated in his view a precedent is not necessarily being set since each site is looked at individually. <br /> <br />Landgraver moved, Olson seconded, to recommend approval of Application No. LA18-000076, <br />Revision, LLC, 1725 Bohns Point Road, granting of variances. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 3, Lemke, <br />Erickson and Ressler opposed. <br /> <br />Erickson stated he is a little bit concerned with the proposal given that Item No. 12 says that the granting <br />of such variance will not merely serve as a convenience to the applicant. Staff notes that providing a <br />more comfortable viewing opportunity could be viewed as a convenience, which he tends to agree with <br />that. Obviously if the structure is failing, it is in everyone’s interests to improve it, but an expansion of <br />use beyond what was there could be considered not a practical difficulty but a convenience. <br /> <br />Thiesse noted it says merely serves as a convenience but that what the applicants are proposing is more <br />than that. <br /> <br />