04-28-2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 28, 2003 7:00 o'clock p.m. 7. #03 -2880 FRED JOHNSON, 1926 FAGERNESS POINT ROAD, Continued made a mistake would not necessarily be sufficient reason to grant the after - the -fact variances being requested. Murphy, too, wished that Mr. Johnson were present to address the Council's concerns. He pointed out that the residence was given the City stamp of approval, albeit by mistake, we are stuck with the situation at hand and, like many others, the new owners should have the deck grandfathered in to the purchase. Gaffron stated that the exhibits in the file clearly indicate that the decks do not belong on the property, however, an immediate course of action should have been pursued at the time of discovery. Mayor Peterson maintained that a process had begun, via phone calls and contact by the Building Official Lyle Oman, in an effort to require the applicant to conform. On the other hand, she felt there was a lapse of time during which the City failed to force the issue with ongoing contact and the applicant sold the property. With regard to action, Barrett suggested that the rationale for granting the application could focus on sufficient notice given to the applicant, and in doing so, in the future, a document • attachment to the title file could be made that informs people of pending action being taken by the City. He reminded the Council that mistakes will happen. White moved, Murphy seconded, to grant four after - the -fact variances including, one that would allow the second story deck located 27.5' from the OHWL of Lake Minnetonka where no structure is allowed; a second story deck encroachment approximately 5' into the average lakeshore setback; a second story deck that is an additional 120 s.f. of lot coverage by structures for a total of 1,620 s.f. where 1,500 s.f. was previously approved; and an additional 36 s.f. of hardcover in the 0 -75' setback zone where 2,079 s.f. was previously approved for a total of 2,115 s.f. for the construction of a second story deck attached to a newly constructed single family residence located on the property. White questioned whether the City could put an asterisk by the builder's name which would alert the City to his inappropriate behavior when future applications arise. Murphy asked if there were a way to flag a builder's name. While the City could not take any sanctions against a specific builder, Gaffron indicated that they know who the builders are and would be alerted to specific applications when they arose. White added to the motion that, as Attorney Barrett recommended, in future instances, similar to the Johnson application, a document be attached to address files alerting • potential homeowners of lis pendens action being taken by the City against a title. PAGE 7 of 14