04/16/2012 Planning Commission Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,April 16,2012 6:30 o'clock p.m. garage and construct a new 2-story walkout with attached garage. The property is very steep and a portion of the property at the northwest corner of the existing house meets the definition of"bluff." Long Lake is classified as a Recreational Alake by the MnDNR and requires a 100 foot structure setback � from the OHWL. The southwest corner of the existing house is 43.6 feet from the OHWL and the proposed house will have a setback of 49.3 feet. The increased setback results from a combination of factors related to the angled shoreline,while the lakeward fagade moves south a few feet,the west side setback increases from iwo feet to ten feet. The only way to increase the setback from the lake would be to reduce the size of the proposed house or move it closer to the street,which would require a greater street setback variance. In many past situations where the required lake setback cannot be met,the city has approved variances in which at least a 50-foot setback seems reasonable. The slope on the property decreases from west to east across the property. The neighboring property to the west has slopes in excess of 30 percent and meets the definition of bluff. Only the northwesterly portion of applicant's property is a bluff,with the 970'contour line defining the top of bluff. It would be most accurate to say that while the existing house is partly within the defined bluff,the bulk of the proposed structure is mostly not within the defined bluff but the attached garage will be within the bluff impact zone. Staffs primary concern here is with establishment and execution of a grading and drainage plan for the site that will not impact adjacent properties and will provide slope stability. Approximately two-thirds of the property is within the 0-75'hardcover zone.Existing 0-75'hardcover is 15.1 percent, of which three/fourths is existing house and the remainder is concrete sidewalks.The proposed plan reduces the 0-75'hardcover to 12.2 percent by removing virtually all the sidewalks, slightly decreasing the square footage of the house, and adding a small 88 square foot deck. In the 75-250'zone,hardcover is proposed to substantially increase,going from 15.7 percent to 36.2 percent. The increase is a function of a number of factors inherent in the proposed design and includes an increased house footprint,attachment of a 2-stall garage, addition of driveway to serve the attached garage, and providing an acceptable setback from the street to the house. Total proposed hardcover is 2,492 square feet or 20.8 percent. Of this amount, 1,794 square feet is in structure and 712 square feet is in driveway, stoop and sidewalk. Potential revisions of the proposal to reduce the amount of hardcover each have their plusses and minuses. The house could be reduced in size. The 15 percent lot coverage standard is a limit and not an allowance. The applicant by code is allowed 1,500 square feet of structure regardless of lot size but limited to 15 percent. The attached garage could be relocated to the east half of the house rather than the west half. The street setback to the house/garage would decrease,but the driveway would be shorter. This would likely result in less off-street parking availability. The amount of fill needed to accommodate the driveway would likely decrease. Likewise,construction of a detached garage instead of attaching it would potentially have similar impacts. Potential methods of mitigation the hardcover excesses could be explored, such as directing as much runoff as possible to a rain garden located in the relatively flat area near the shore or requiring that a shoreline buffer be established. The Planning Commission should note the following: Page 11 r