HomeMy WebLinkAbout1335 Arbor St- NarrativeFrom:John Knoblauch
To:Laura Oakden
Cc:Jeremy Barnhart; Anne Hentges
Subject:Re: 1335 Arbor St- Variance Application Process/submittal
Date:Friday, August 24, 2018 7:39:55 AM
Good morning Laura! We appreciate your efforts and want to thank you in helping my wife,
myself, and the landowners, Colin and Vanessa Keller, amend these two footprint dimension
changes so they can meet the level of variance approval needed by your planning staff, in
regards to sistering the original approved variance....so we can hopefully down the road,
proceed with the building permit application..
Just want to clarify with city staff and for our clients, That the Kellers are hoping to be placed
on the Sept. 17th planning commission agenda to have the commission review these two
dimensional alterations to the building footprint that you have discovered, (These two lines
are different then the lines of the building footprint that was approved in the original
variance.)
Wanted to take this opportunity to bring to the entire city staffs attention, (which I think is
critical here on this piece of property) that all hardcover limits in the approved original
variance have been met or reduced with the footprint I submitted...
Also would like to mention here that I personally have made a huge effort since I was hired in
early July 2018 (well after the initial variance approval) to use my 32 years of single family
home construction expertise to come up with a better, more realistic house plan/footprint that
will better serve the land use, existing contours, the neighbor to the south, the homeowners,
and especially the city, as this revised footprint has implemented 3 important
improvements.......
1) The new footprint has deleted 3 over sized window wells which would have been
detrimental to both the neighbor and my clients, by making storm water management more
difficult and possibly saved city staffs time in working on a difficult long term solution down
the road..
2) The new footprint has eliminated the need for a retaining wall next to Prospect Ave,
which the original house plan would have created, which in turn would have been a challenge
for your staff and and public works department....
3) The new footprint has gained 12" of extra lot space along Prospect Ave. which is also
better for the city of Orono.
Hopefully staff can take solace that these two minor footprint alterations, along with a better
fitting footprint on this unique property, and the elimination of the 32' of window wells, is a
big win for everyone, including the city of Orono
Thanks for your time and look forward to working with you on your city staff approval
process!
On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 4:09 PM Laura Oakden <loakden@ci.orono.mn.us> wrote:
Hello John,
I have attached a pre-application letter which includes a reference number (18-000071) you
will need to submit for the variance application. I also included a How-to Sheet for you to
follow with the link to our online application. You will need to create a log in. You are
proposing a new footprint rather than what is currently approved by the City Council and
this application will have a new Land Use number for this application.
The deadline for applications is today. You must submit and pay the application fee by 5pm
so we can consider your application for a public hearing on September 17, 2018 Planning
Commission and City Council review on October 8, 2018.
The next application deadline is September 19, 2018. This will have a public hearing with
the planning commission on October 15,2018 and City Council review on November 13,
2018.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Thank you
Laura Oakden
Planner
City of Orono
Direct 952.249.4602
2750 Kelley Parkway, Orono, MN 55356
www.ci.orono.mn.us
Summer Office Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 7:30 am to 5:00 pm
Fridays: 7:30 am to 11:30 am
All Permitting is done through our new online portal LINK!
--
John Knoblauch
Knoblauch Builders LLC
President
Cell: 612-490-4540