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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, July 21, 2014 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />Page 9 of 30  <br />  <br />that essentially for zoning purposes makes those lots one lot. Gaffron stated functionally and technically <br />the house to the rear does define the average setback line. That line goes through the middle of the <br />proposed house. <br /> <br />The intent of the average setback ordinance is primarily to protect the lake views a lakeshore property <br />owner enjoys over their neighbor’s lakeshore yard and avoid the tunnel view effect of being set back <br />further from the lake than the neighboring properties. In the current situation, lake views enjoyed by the <br />owners of the neighboring residence to the north are potentially affected by the proposed location of the <br />applicants’ home. The house at 1135 is slightly skewed on its lot and its existing views of the lake are <br />slightly angled across the applicants’ property. The house at 1135 is set back from the lake a significantly <br />greater distance than most other lakeshore homes in the immediate neighborhood. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated an additional factor to consider is that the house at 1135 sits substantially higher in the <br />topography than the applicants’ proposed house. The house to the east sits at approximately 980 feet and <br />the applicants’ proposed roof peak is at 983 feet. Gaffron stated from many locations at the neighboring <br />house, they will be looking over the top of the proposed house. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated as it relates to the building height, the applicants are proposing what Staff considers to be a <br />three-story building in an area that limits the height of the structure to 2-1/2 stories. The defined height of <br />applicants’ residence just meets the 30-foot height limitation as calculated by City Staff per the provisions <br />of the Zoning Code. The proposed house is, by definition, three stories in height, because the lowest level <br />of the structure does not meet the criteria to be considered as a basement. <br /> <br />Gaffron noted the applicants have revised their plans by lowering the floor below the garage down to the <br />floor level on the left side, which creates essentially a five level house. Underneath the garage, there is a <br />fairly high ceiling situation. <br /> <br />Per the code definition, basement means that portion of a building that is partly or completely below the <br />existing ground level. A basement shall be considered as a story for purposes of determining the number <br />of stories in a building, when the finished surface of the floor above the basement is more than six feet <br />above the existing ground level for more than 50 percent of the basement’s perimeter. In order to <br />determine the height, Staff divided the house into two separate wings. Gaffron stated the house wing <br />does not meet the definition for a basement and would be considered a story. The garage wing side also <br />does not meet the definition of a basement and is considered a story. As a result, functionally and <br />visually it is a house that is three stories and not two and a half. <br /> <br />Staff has discussed this issue with the applicants and their representatives on two separate occasions to <br />discuss potential options for redesigning the house to meet the 2-1/2 story limit. Options discussed <br />included lowering the home two to three feet deeper into the ground and/or revising the upper story of one <br />or both wings to meet the definition of a half-story. <br /> <br />The applicants ultimately decided to pursue a variance based on a desire to not lose substantial third-story <br />space by reducing its dimensions and rooflines to be a half-story. It can be argued that the number of <br />stories is a design issue that can be readily resolved by designing a smaller house for this site. The <br />lakeshore property currently being developed to the south faced a similar predicament and resulted in <br />their original proposal being three stories. In that situation Staff worked with the applicants and they <br />ultimately revised their plans to 2-1/2 stories. <br /> <br />Item #01 - PC Agenda - 08/18/2014 <br />Approval of Planning Commission Minutes <br />[Page 9 of 30]