07-22-2002 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, July 22, 2002 6:30 o'clock p.m. ( #7) #02 -2791 DAVE AND JODI RAHN,1385 REST POINT ROAD - VARIANCES - Continued floodplain, when in fact it is a 15,000 s.f. lot, and one of the largest lots on the street. He repeated that, in comparison to the most recent variance, he should be allowed at least what the next door neighbor had been given. Murphy asked if the applicant had water problems or if water accumulates on his property. Rahn stated that in heavy rains, the water ponds near the lake. During heavy periods they have been able to pump the water into the lake. The water near the garage runs down the gutters, goes thru the drain tile, and is sent down the street. Gaffron pointed out that anything removed needs to be filled with dirt and grass, and reiterated that the issue Council is dealing with here is purely the issue of hardcover, it has nothing to do with lot coverage. Lot coverage is not a privilege, it is a limit you are held to, 15 % on a lot less than two acres. You are also limited by percentage of hardcover, and are not guaranteed 15% lot coverage at the expense of having hardcover in the range of 30 -40 %. There may be a number of applications that fly in the face of that. He questioned whether Council were comfortable with increasing from 30% to 41 -42% hard surface in the combined 0 -75' and 75 -250' setbacks. Gaffron stated that the applicant made a valid point that if all his drainage runs to a spot on his property where it has to soak into his property he is probably meeting the ultimate intent of the hardcover ordinance.. The City needs to keep in mind the original intent of the approvals, the applicant has come to the City asking to add an attached garage, but let me keep the old one. From staff perspective, this is adding hardcover that is perhaps unnecessary and could be mitigated by adding more storage space by making the attached garage addition a little bit bigger. Gaffron stated that not removing the existing garage, seemed inconsistent with what the intent of the City's hardcover ordinance had been in the past. Rahn asked if the Council was requesting that he remove the overhead door and limit the garage to storage of things that could not be driven in. Although that would be Murphy's recommendation, Mayor Peterson stated that she would rather see the structure removed. Rahn asked why he would tear down 800 s.f. of garage only to be replaced with a 20'X20' new garage. He would be giving up significant storage space. Rahn reiterated that had the floodplain designation not existed, the house would likely been moved to different location, or rebuilt elsewhere with an attached garage versus the detached garage. . Sansevere empathized with the applicant's position, asking whether the Council should take the floodplain designation into account when considering this application. He believed the detached garage was built in its current location due to the floodplain concerns. PAGE 13 of 35