05/19/03 Planning Commission Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday, May 19, 2003 6:00 o'clock p.m. (#11 #03-2901 DENALI CUSTOM HOMES, INC. ON BEHALF OF MELINDA LEE AND THOMAS DEVEAU, Continued) Mr. Beiker stated that the applicant's hardship lied in the narrowness of the lot, steep grade, and rough terrain. After consulting Planner Bottenberg, Bieker stated that they made numerous changes to minimize the plans and pull the home back 20' to minimize driveway hardcover. He stated that they had made attempts to redesign the driveway, to make it an end loading garage, and still fell short 170 s.f. Bieker pointed out that the hardcover would be reduced from 40%to 29%with the current plan. Finally, he stated that he was confident they could resolve the drainage issues. Mr. DeVeau stated that they had outgrown the home years ago, and contemplated remodeling; however, they decided to build a new home since the costs would be similar. Mary Torkelson, 670 Tonkawa Road, voiced she and her husband's support for the new home. She felt the proposed residence would be a good addition to the neighborhood. She noted that the new home built next door to the DeVeau's current residence severely impacted the DeVeau's views of the lake. Bieker pointed out that the retaining walls could not be removed and serve a real purpose. Based on the fact that the lot was undersized, Chair Smith stated that she did not have much problem with the application. She asked the applicants to provide the City Engineer with the appropriate drainage information. She encouraged the applicants to squeeze the hardcover down closer to 25%. Hawn asked whether they could move the excess hardcover out of the 250' setback zone. Gaffron indicated that pulling the structure back 15' would not help reduce the hardcover by any significant amount and would adversely affect the home's views. He stated that even if he pulled the home back to gain 150 s.f. and turned the garage to be end loading, which would gain 200 s.f., they would not be much closer to 25%hardcover. Mabusth indicated that the hardcover for these narrow lots would explain why most of the homes have detached garages at the top of their properties along this stretch. While they could probably build a detached garage, Gaffron stated that they would have a considerably long walk to the house. He maintained that the applicants could lose little in the 0-75' setback, since the retaining walls, steps, and landings were necessary. Chair Smith noted that the Commission would be hard pressed not to get closer to 25%. Hawn asked whether they could consider the fact that the applicant's views would be severely limited if they were forced to pull the home back even further, especially after the PAGE 35 of 39