4.4 BASR 08-13-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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July 26, 2013 The City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River, MN 55330 Subject: Application For Variance Residence at 12911 Orono Road;Sec 32;Twp 33.0 Rg:26 Heaths Addition Lot 1&Triangular Tract in Lot 2, Blk 2 This letter is to request a variance in order to replace an existing one car garage on the subject property with a two car garage. A site plan of the property is attached that shows the lot with the existing house and garage,and with the desired location for a new garage that would be 24 feet wide and 22 feet deep. The issue here is the setback of the new garage from the property line that adjoins Boston Street. I am requesting a variance to allow the new garage to have a setback from that property line of 15 feet. The City has told me the standard setback is 30 feet. I maintain that locating the garage with a thirty foot setback would result in an undue hardship. This is related to the fact that this lot is very close to Lake Orono. I have drawn on the site plan the approximate location of the shoreline that abuts the property. There is a zoning requirement that structures like garages be constructed no closer than 50 feet to the shoreline on a sewered lot. I have drawn a line (labeled 50' line)that indicates how close a structure can be to the lake. The width of this lot is 66 feet. With a 30 foot setback and an anticipated garage length of 22 feet,the maximum distance from the far side of the lot is 14 feet(calculated as 66'-22'-30'). Locating the new structure in this position would cause the following hardships: A. The back of the house has an addition that was built with large windows to take advantage of the view towards the lake. Putting the garage here would block the existing lake view. It seems an undue hardship to deprive me of the view that is enjoyed by other lakeshore owners. B. The new garage would have to be no further than 16 feet from the house (in order to meet the lakeshore setback requirement). I am considering adding a backyard deck. The best location is at the back of the house towards the lake,but a deck in this location would face and be immediately adjacent to the new garage. Thus the preferred deck location would have a restricted lake view. C. The garage would divide the backyard into two areas. The first would be a small area near the house, and then the second would be a larger area near the lake. The two would be connected by a narrow strip behind the garage, or else one has to cross the driveway. D. That portion of the backyard within 50-60 feet of the lakeshore slopes towards the lake. I would like to preserve the existing flat portion of the backyard for grass. The problems that arise here are somewhat unique to this lot because this is a corner lot in an older subdivision that predates construction of the present dam that creates Lake Orono. The existing garage has a setback of about six feet, and was no doubt located that close for similar reasons as I listed above.