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CITY OF ORONO <br />RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL <br />NO. 66ozi <br />upon the health, safety and welfare of the community, existing and anticipated traffic <br />conditions, light and air, danger of fire, risk to the public safety, and the effect on values <br />of property in the surrounding area. <br />VARIANCE ANALYSIS: <br />B1. "Variances shall only be permitted when they are in harmony with the general purposes <br />and intent of the ordinance ...." Single family residences are a permitted use within the <br />LR -1C zoning district <br />B2. "Variances shall only be permitted... when the variances are consistent with the <br />comprehensive plan." The proposed residential principal structure is a residential use <br />which is consistent with the comprehensive plan guiding of this and surrounding <br />properties for residential use. <br />B3. "Variances may be granted when the applicant for the variance establishes that there are <br />practical difficulties in complying with the zoning ordinance. `Practical difficulties,, as used <br />in connection with the granting of a variance, means that: <br />i. The property owner in question proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner, <br />however, the proposed use is not permitted by the official controls" <br />ii. The plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to his property not <br />created by the landowner:, <br />iii. The variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality." <br />The property owner is proposing to use the property in a reasonable manner but the <br />size of the lot is below the minimum lot size standards of the Zoning Code. The plight <br />of the property owner is due to the existing substandard lot size, which is a result of the <br />property being platted as part of the Navarre Heights subdivision in 1909, long before <br />local zoning codes were in effect The Navarre Heights neighborhood consists of lots <br />typically 50 feet in width and 130-145 feet in depth. Over time these lots have been <br />developed for individual homes singly or in combinations of 2 or 3 lots together. <br />Construction of a single family residence on a single lot in this neighborhood will not <br />be inconsistent with the character of the surrounding neighborhood <br />B4. "Economic considerations alone do not constitute practical difficulties." Economic <br />considerations have not been a factor in the variance approval determination. <br />B5. "Practical difficulties also include but are not limited to inadequate access to direct sunlight <br />for solar energy systems. Variances shall be granted for earth -sheltered construction as <br />defined in Minn. Stat. § 216C.06, subd. 2, when in harmony with Orono City Code Chapter <br />78." This condition is not applicable. <br />Page 3 of 6 <br />