02/21/2012 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday,February 21,2012 6:30 o'clock p.m. The proposed house will be located as close as 33.1 feet from the Ferndale Road property line,which is approximately five feet closer than the existing home. The LR-lA zoning district requires a 50-foot rear or street yard setback. The proposed house is to be set back 47 feet from the lake at its closest point, which is a covered patio with deck above extending 7.1 feet from the home. The shoreland regulations require a 75-foot setback from the OHWL of the lake. As it is proposed,a 60-foot wide portion of the home will encroach between 1 and 28 feet into the 75-foot setback. This includes the lakeside deck. The average lakeshore setback in this case is determined by the distance between the home to the west and the lake. The neighbor to the west is set back 76 feet from the OHWL. The proposed home on the subject property is as close as 47 feet to the lake. Hardcover in the 0-75 foot zone is currently at 15.3 percent.The applicant is requesting 10 percent hardcover in this zone. The entire 1,299 square feet of hardcover proposed within the 0-75 foot zone will be structural hardcover. Within the 75-250 foot zone the applicant is proposing 28 percent,with 18 percent of this amount consisting of structural hardcover. The remaining hardcover is driveway and walkways. According to the MCWD map,there are two Preserve classification wetlands present on the home site portion of the property. The portions of the property across Ferndale Road are impacted by the larger Ferndale Marsh,which is also a Preserve wetland. A 50-foot buffer and 20-foot structural setback from the buffer are required from Preserve wetlands. The survey incorrectly represents Wetland 1 as a Manage 1 wetland;therefore,the relative buffer width shown is not accurate. The wetland is acfually a Preserve wetland and requires a 15-foot buffer. It appears portion of the proposed garage will encroach into the required buffer setback from the western wetland. It appears the garage encroaches approximately 14 feet into the required buffer setback. Additionally, existing and proposed structures and hardcover which encroach into the required buffer will require mitigation of buffer area square footage as impacted. Due to the removal of the existing home and to create a flattened yard area for the proposed home,the applicant is proposing grading within the 0-75 foot zone which exceeds 10 cubic yards requiring a conditional use permit from the City. A portion of this grading is below the 931.5 foot 100-year floodplain elevation and thus requires a permit from the MCWD. Wherever floodplain filling is proposed,the DNR and MCWD regulations require the floodplain be expanded elsewhere so there is no decrease in flood storage capacity. It also appears the applicant will be conducting grading below the , 931.5 foot elevation at the rear of the property. However, as this also appears to be in conflict with the existing driveway access for the neighboring property at 1185 Ferndale Road, Staff questions the accuracy of this representation. The lot was legally created prior to the adoption of the current zoning standards and the current home already existed when the current standards were adopted. The size, location and other nonconforming circumstances are unique to the property not caused by the landowner. The applicant is proposing to encroach 5 feet closer to the road than the existing home. However,the proposed home will correct the existing nonconforming setback from the neighboring property resulting in less crowding and more open space between homes.The new home is proposed to be set back at the same distance from the lake as the existing home. The proposed home has been designed and oriented to have minimal massing within the 75-foot area. The shape of the lot and the required setbacks from the rear/street,wetlands,and lake result in a very small buildable envelope. It is Staffs opinion the limited size of the applicant's legal buildable envelope falls under practical difficulty. Page 6 .