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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, July 15, 2013 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />Page 8 of 23  <br />  <br />5. #13-3614 FRED JOHNSON, 1565 ORCHARD BEACH PLACE, VARIANCES AND <br />CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, 7:02 P.M. – 8:10 P.M. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated the applicants are requesting the following variances: <br /> <br />1. Lot area variance to allow construction on a lot of 9,641 square feet where 43,560 square feet is <br /> required. <br /> <br />2. Lot width variance to allow construction on a lot of 83 feet defined width where 140 feet is <br /> required. <br /> <br />3. Rear setback variance to allow rear (north) setback of 12.9 feet where 30 feet is required. <br /> <br />4. Side street setback variance to allow east side street setback of 25.4 feet where 35 feet is required. <br /> <br />5. Average lakeshore setback variance to allow the proposed residence to be located 75 feet from <br /> the lakeshore, an encroachment of approximately 50 feet lakeward of the average setback line <br /> defined by the adjacent residence at 1555 Orchard Beach Place. <br /> <br />6. Conditional use permit and variance required for grading within the 0-75 foot zone in excess of <br /> ten cubic yards. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated this lot was platted as a “commons lot” in the plat of the Saga Hill in 1885. It was not <br />dedicated to the public. Staff has found no information to date regarding any special legal status that is <br />attributable to a commons lot and the City sees common areas within PUDs regularly. However, there is <br />no special designation or definition of a commons lot that establishes what it was supposed to be used for. <br />Gaffron stated the fact that they designated that area as commons strongly suggests that this was <br />originally platted as a neighborhood amenity rather than a building site. <br /> <br />Staff has not been able to determine exactly when the property became individually owned rather than <br />owned by some community association. Staff’s assumption is that it was not individually owned in the <br />beginning. A family by the name of Vedeler owned the site as early as 1926 and Staff is aware that there <br />was a summer home on the property in the 1920s, which burned down in the late 1930s or early 1940s. <br />The summer house was never rebuilt. There was a small detached garage that remained on the site until <br />1981. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated there was also a community beach located at the end of Orchard Beach Place that existed <br />in the 1950s and 1960s and perhaps earlier. Staff has been told that the property at 1565 Orchard Beach <br />Place was used as an informal picnic area next to the beach. In 1962, the adjacent properties along the <br />west side of Orchard Beach Place were regrouped into two building sites resulting in the current lot <br />configurations for 1555 and 1535. The Planning Commission at that time recommended the City Council <br />consider purchasing the 1565 property which was for sale at that time for $7,500. The City did not <br />purchase it. <br /> <br />Gaffron noted that in 1967, the owner at that time applied for a building permit for the property, which <br />was recommended for denial by the Planning Commission due to the size of the lot and lack of sewer <br />connection at that time. The Planning Commission again in 1967 recommended the City Council <br />Item #01 - PC Agenda - 08/19/2013 <br />Approval of Planning Commission Minutes 07/15/2013