04/21/03 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,April 21, 2003 6:00 o'clock p.m. (#4 #03-2880 FRED JOHNSON, Continued) plans were reviewed and the builder was contacted by the building official. The contact was initially by phone and then later by letters on February 24, 2003 and March 5, 2003. On March 17, 2003, the applicant made application for after-the-fact variances for the decks. With the application, the applicant submitted a copy of the plans that he used that he feels indicated he was able to construct the decks. Bottenberg indicated that, in the opinion of staff, the approved, stamped plan set contains substantial notations and markings to indicate the upper level deck was not approved. The approved plan set is supposed to be used for construction. Furthermore, the plans used by the applicant to gain variance approval clearly did NOT show a second story deck Based on the above, staff recommends removal of the second story deck and requiring the applicant to take steps to make the upper level door safe by adding a railing or permanently blocking it. Bottenberg noted that because there are two lower level doors exiting the house, staff recommends retaining the lower level deck with railings as-is, and grant a variance for the additional 36 s.f. hardcover, yielding 2,118 s.f. or 26.4% where 2,328 s.f. or 29.0%had existed and 2,082 s.f. or 26.0%had been approved. Mr. Knutson indicated that, after submitting his drawings and plans, he was unaware of any additional changes made after the initial approvals. He knew only that decks were involved as part of the proposal from beginning to end. Mrs. Chwialkowski pointed out that she and her husband had only recently purchased the property and were confused how the certificate of occupancy could have been granted if these outstanding issues existed. She maintained that numerous inspections had occurred during the course of construction and questioned how this wasn't caught until after the certificate of occupancy had been granted and they had purchased the home. She stated that they were shocked by the City's letter, since the decks were in existence when they purchased the home. Mrs. Chwialkowski argued that the City should take issue with the builder and past owner, Mr. Johnson. She indicated that Mr. Johnson had said nothing to them about these discussions with the City when they purchased the home in December and closed on it in March 2003. She questioned how the upper and lower decks impacted hardcover since they are located over and under one another. Chair Smith indicated that the current owners have found themselves in an unfortunate set of circumstances. Mr. Chwialkowski maintained that removal of the deck would be an undue hardship put upon them, since the deck was one of the reasons they bought the home in the first place. PAGE 6 of 40