11-19-2012 Planning Commission Packet

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. ' � {;� 12-3580 " November 15,2012 Page 2 of 2 The initial zoning of this area occurred on November 20, 1950 when the entire property became part of the "Forest Lake District" requiring 15,000 s.f. in area and 75' frontage in order to be buildable. Some time prior to 1959 the portion of Cherry Place bisecting this property was vacated. The 1967 Zoning Code (September 5, 1967) established four new residential zoning districts in Orono; at that time the boundary between the R-1C District (1 acre minimum) and the R-1D District (1/2 acre minimum) was established along the north boundary of Lot 11 east of the centerline of Cherry Avenue. Some time prior to 1975 (as evidenced by 1974 tax records in City files) the vacated roadway and the parcels either side of the roadway were combined to create one tax parcel that included Lot 11, Block 4 that was in the 1/2-acre zone and the remainder of the property in the 1-acre zone. That legal description of the boundary between zoning districts was continued with the 1975 rezoning that created the LR-16 and LR-1C districts that exist today. A small house is located on Lot 11, Block 4, the southerly half of the property. The potential exists ._ . for this small house to be the subject of a teardown/rebuild at some future date, and the shape of the lot suggests a new home would most likely straddle the zoning boundary. The zoning code in Section 78-163 addresses such a situation in this manner: "Where a district boundary line divides a lot of record which was in single ownership on January 1, 1975, and places a portion of such lot of record in two or more use districts, any portion of such lot within 50 feet either side of such a dividing district boundary line may be used for any use of either use district; however, if any portion of such lot shall extend beyond the 50-foot limitation, the district line as shown shall prevail." The problem with this parcel is that portions of the property are more than 50 feet either side of the zoning boundary,so that as currently zoned, 1/2-acre standards would apply to part of the lot and 1- � acre standards to the remainder. Staff believes this situation begs to be rectified by rezoning so the entire parcel is in one zoning district. Proposed Rezoning The property is 1.06 acres in area. There are 4 developed residential lots abutting the property, ranging in size from 0.51 acres to 0.65 acres, averaging 0.59 acres. In keeping with the character of the neighborhood, it is staff's recommendation that the portion of the property currently zoned LR- 1B be rezoned to LR-1C, 1/2-acre minimum, which is the least restrictive of the two options. Note that the primary difference between the LR-16 and LR-1C standards is the street setback and required width and area. A comparison of the district standards is shown in the following table: Lot Area Lot width Front yard Side yard adjacent Rear yard Side yard adjacent to to another lot street LR-16 1.0 acre 140' 35' 10' 30' 35' LR-1C 0.5 acre 100' 30' 10' 30' 15' It should be noted that the property if rezoned to LR-1C will not be subdividable to create a second lot, because it does not have nearly enough lot width to make two conforming lakeshore lots and does not have enough lot area to accomplish a front/back lot configuration. Staff Recommendation • Staff recommends that the property be rezoned such that the entire property is within the LR-1C Single Family Lakeshore Residential District. �