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Home My WebLink About03-08-1995 Request for council action REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION DATE: March 8, 1995 ITEM NO.: Department Approval: Administrator Reviewed: Agenda Section: Name Michael P. Gaffron Zoning Title Asst. Planning & Zoning Administrator Item Description: Sewer Connection - Dean Maeser, 372 Westlake Street Summary The lakeshore property at 372 Westlake Street contains a principal residence, plus two small rental cabins located about 30' from the lake. In an early 1992 work session, upon staff recommendation Council chose to provide one sewer stub and assess one sewer unit to the property. It was noted that the cabins are nonconforming, and providing/assessing additional units would potentially create a strong argument for prolonging the nonconforming use or for a subdivision with lot size variance request. The property owner has not met the 16 month deadline for connection of the principal residence, and staff has provided a number of options for resolving this situation as indicated in Exhibit B. The septic system serving the residence and cabins is nonconforming in setback from the lake and height above water table. The property owner requests that the Council approve Option 4, connection of the two rental units to municipal sewer with no connection charge (SAC charge would be required) for a period of five years starting now, at the end of which the cabins would be removed. Staff would recommend a shorter time period given the nonconformity of the rental use, and the fact the owner has been aware of this issue for approximately three years. List of Exhibits A - Letter from Michael Perlman 2/10/95 B - Letter to Property Owner 2/1/95 C - Survey D - Ordinance #105, 2nd Series E - Letter to Property Owner 8/8/94 F - Letter to Property Owner 3/24/93 G - 8/21/92 Staff Meeting Notes H - 3/17/92 Letter to Property Owner I - Staff Memo 2/24/92 (Excerpts and Plat Map) J - 7/28/80 Letter to Previous Property Owner K - Nonconforming Use Code Sections L - Code Section Requiring Separate Sewer Services Request for Council Action continued page 2 of 3 March 8, 1995 Sewer Connection - Maeser Additional Information • Exhibit B defines the City's stated position on this matter based on code requirements, past City actions, and past actions by the current and previous property owners. • Three of the four options proposed by staff for resolving the issue require City Council approval. • Additional exhibits have been provided as further background on this issue. • While the cabins are not falling down, staff has been called on by tenants in the past to deal with substandard electrical wiring in the cabins, which was repaired. • Staff has concluded that the nonconforming use sections of the code technically could apply to these cabins, and that their nonconforming use for rental purposes could have been required to cease as early as 1978. • The current owner purchased this property in 1985. Staff Recommendation Given that this 2-acre property in a 2-acre zone is too small to subdivide, and given the property owner's understandable reluctance to spend nearly $28,000 to connect the cabins to sewer, staff would recommend that Option 4 of Exhibit B be conceptually approved via execution of an agreement to be drafted by the applicant's attorney and approved by the City Attorney, containing as a minimum, the following conditions: 1. The principal residence shall be connected to municipal sewer within 90 days. 2. The two cabins shall be connected to the municipal sewer within 90 days. Such connection shall be a separate connection from the principal residence connection. 3. Connection of the cabins to municipal sewer is considered temporary, and such connection is allowed for a period of years. At the end of years, the property owner shall remove said connection, remove plumbing from the cabins, and discontinue rental use of the cabins. The cabins then shall either be removed from the property or moved to a location on the property that conforms with all provisions of the Orono Zoning Code governing the location and use of accessory storage structures. Request for Council Action continued page 3 of 3 March 8, 1995 Sewer Connection - Maeser 4. Prior to connection of the residence and cabins to municipal sewer, the property owner shall pay the appropriate Sewer Availability Charge (SAC) and obtain the appropriate connection permits. 5. The property owner shall not be required to pay the connection charge of$13,097 per cabin since the connection is temporary in nature per the terms of this agreement. 6. By allowing temporary connection of the cabins to municipal sewer, the City is in no way granting any specific rights to future reconstruction or replacement of the cabins. Further, connection of the cabins shall not be used as justification for any request by the property owner for future variances, subdivision of the property, etc. 7. There shall be no refund of any SAC or permit fees when the cabins are disconnected. 8. All three tax parcels shall immediately be legally combined into one tax parcel. COUNCIL ACTION REQUESTED: Give staff and the property owner direction regarding whether the proposed option is conceptually acceptable. If so, take the following action: 1. Determine how many years the temporary connection will be allowed. 2. Advise applicant's attorney to work with the City Attorney in drafting a mutually acceptable agreement for Council approval. ch A PERLMAN LAW OFFICE, P.A. ATTORNEYS AT LAW FEB 3 1995 MICHAEL L.PERLMAN LAURA LEDSWORTH-WANG 426 PARKDALE PLAZA DEBORAH S.BREZINA 1660 SOUTH HIGHWAY 100 LEGAL ASSISTANT MINNEAPOLIS,MINNESOTA 55416 ALLAN F.SHAPIRO TELEPHONE(612)544-9190 OF COUNSEL FAX(612)544-9233 February 10, 1995 Mr. Michael P. Gaffron Asst. Planning & Zoning Administrator City of Orono P.O. Box 66 Crystal Bay, MN 55323-0066 RE: Maeser/Sewer Connection 372 W. Lake Street Dear Mr. Gaffron: I have reviewed your February 1, 1995 letter with Mr. Maeser. The options regarding the cabins that are proposed on pages 2 and 3 of your letter are not very attractive. Options 2 and 3 are cost-prohibitive, and my clients cannot consider them for that reason. That leaves options 1 and 4 . Option 1 is, obviously, of no benefit to my clients. They purchased the property in reliance upon the rental use of the cabins. Their income and livelihood depend in part on the rental use. Option 4 is the only one that the Maesers can realistically look at. However, the time frame for removal of the cabins (2 years) is too short for them to make plans for their financial future. Since Ordinance #105 has a 60 month provision for certain situations, my clients are requesting that the City grant approval of option 4, with payment of the SAC charge for each cabin, for a period of 60 months. Please let me know how and when we might present this request before the City Council. 7 Sincerely,z,./sizerC_,AL,,_____ Iichael L. Perlman PERLMAN LAW OFFICE, P.A. MLP/db cc: Mr. and Mrs. Dean Maeser CITY of ORONO TELECOPY COVER LETTER Please deliver the following page (s) to: Name: PitPe- ._.;..L-mAtv--) 5`7`Y-- 3 From: Ml re:-e; ',,A F;FIC-6 t Total number of pages including this cover letter . Date: 3 —1 - IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE ALL THE PAGES, PLEASE CALL US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Phone: (612) 473-7358 and ask for : Ail Our telecopy number is: (612) 473-0510 Additional Message: A 6 b\ Foe a" I _ `/ ( . . 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