08-18-2014 Planning Commission Packet

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday, July 21, 2014 6:30 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 30 The applicants are proposing a house that meets the side setbacks, the 75-foot lake setback, the street setback, and sufficiently separated from the sewer line that comes across the property and up the side lot line. Staff is hoping to acquire easements for the sewer line that apparently were not acquired at the time the sewer line was originally installed 30 to 40 years ago. Gaffron stated there are a variety of factors and site conditions which have an impact on development of the property, including the following: 1. The narrow width of the lot restricts the width of home that can be constructed to approximately 30 feet. The applicants are proposing a house that is 29 feet wide. 2. The small lot with a hardcover limitation of 25 percent of lot area coupled with the required street setback of 30 feet forces the property owner to balance the necessary hardcover amenities to make the site functional, against the size of home that can be constructed. 3. Location of existing municipal sewer lines within the property and the necessary easements to allow for their maintenance has an impact on the allowable location of the proposed home. 4. The sanitary sewer lift station centered in the narrow 20-foot right-of-way abutting the southeast corner of the property limits access to the site. The applicants have been working with the Public Works Department to determine the feasibility and costs of replacing the lift station cover and controls to make the lift station drivable. 5. An Encroachment Agreement would be required to allow the driveway in the right-of-way of a street that has not been opened to public use. 6. The sloped topography makes access to the site difficult, resulting in a steep driveway and impacting the vertical house design in order to have a functional garage entry. The applicants have revised their plans to just meet a 10 percent slope. 7. The steep slopes and narrow lot width force runoff to be managed within narrow 10-foot corridors adjacent to the house, which becomes more difficult with the proposed retaining walls and window wells in the side yards. There are retaining walls proposed on the south side. Gaffron noted the lot consists of 10,578 square feet in area and is located in a one-acre zoning district. The proposed house is under the 15 percent structural hardcover limit and is under the 25 percent hardcover restrictions. 8. The property will be served by a private well. Locating a well may be difficult given the proximity of existing municipal sewer lines and required separation between wells and sewer lines. Future maintenance accessibility must also be taken into consideration. As it relates to the average lakeshore setback, the line is based on the location of immediately adjacent lakeshore homes. More than half of the proposed home will extend lakeward of the average setback line. The buildable area of the site, after taking into consideration the setbacks, is approximately 600 square feet. The lot is functionally not buildable for a typical residence without an average setback variance. Gaffron stated the property to the east also includes the lot that is located on the north side of the applicants’ property and those two properties have been subject to a Special Lot Combination Agreement Item #01 - PC Agenda - 08/18/2014 Approval of Planning Commission Minutes [Page 8 of 30]