03-28-2016 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 14, 2016 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 37 9. #16-3803 STONEWOOD, LLC, ON BEHALF OF TASHITAA TUFAA, 1830 SHORELINE DRIVE, VARIANCES AND CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (continued) Tufaa stated one of the reasons they would like to move to this lot is to enjoy the lakeshore. Tufaa stated they have listened very carefully to the neighbors and the Council and that they do not want to be greedy or selfish and instead be a part of the community. As a result, they have given up having their house closer to the lake. Tufaa stated he hopes everything will be approved tonight and that he would humbly and respectfully ask that the Council approve his application. Tom Klint, Architect, stated between the last Council meeting and this meeting, the biggest change that was made after speaking with the neighbors was moving the house further away from the lake. Klint stated the neighbors were very concerned about keeping the homes in line so no one’s view was restricted, which resulted in them moving the house back to make it more in line with the other homes. Klint stated he physically met with the adjoining homeowner onsite and that he indicated he could live with the house where it is now being proposed. Klint noted the side yard setback encroachment has been reduced and is now at 34.8. Klint stated the house on the corner of Heritage Lane and Shoreline Drive to the north of this property is at 32.8. Klint stated he knows the Council had a hard time at the last meeting giving them a hard number on what the setback should be reduced to and that they arrived at that number, which is less of an encroachment than the neighbor across the street. Sven Gustafson stated if it was reduced any further, the design suffered and the house was no longer functional. Klint stated they also reduced the overall mass that is in the encroachment. The rooflines have been brought down and the house has been shrunk in the area of the encroachment. The footprint has been reduced by 130 square feet, which equates to nearly 4,000 cubic feet of structure that was originally in the side setback. Klint stated they also looked at rotating the house and making it parallel to the lot line. Klint stated what that actually did was make the house encroach upon the side yard setback even further. Gustafson stated they actually modeled the house and redrew the plans with the garage door on the end and a garage door on the side. The decision not to do that was that, number one, the homeowner did not like the look of the house, which was a priority; and number two, and it did not make the situation any better, which led them back to the original design. Klint stated since the original design is not parallel to the lot line, the main view of the property is a little angled and prevents someone from looking straight window to window. Klint indicated they also redesigned the garage doors to be on the Heritage Lake side, which resulted in a lot more asphalt on Heritage Lane and resulted in the garage looking a lot more like a garage at that point when someone drives by it. Klint stated in their view this was a better design in the long run. Klint noted the other concern raised at the last meeting was the size of the house. Klint pointed out that the lot consists of 1.66 acres and that they are allowed to cover 15 percent of the lot by the Zoning Code, which gives them 10,845 square feet. The proposed house print is 4,300 square feet, which is not even half of what would be allowed. The house is also under the maximum building height and way under hardcover restrictions. Klint stated this is a large lot and can accommodate a large house quite well.