4.1 BASR 02-24-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Variance Request 12880196 th Lane Variance Narrative 1/21/2015 This letter is to request a variance to the side yard setback for a corner residential lot on which we hope to build our future home and move to Elk River from Becker in 2015. We hope to build a modest size rambler with upper level finishes and multiple energy efficient and sustainable building systems with a local contractor Modern Construction of Minnesota from Elk River. We believe our home will be a very nice addition to the Woodland Hills neighborhood and fits in well with the surrounding homes. We also believe our home embodies the ideas set out by Elk River with their "Powered by Nature" campaign and city slogan as our home will be powered by a geothermal HVAC system as a part of the overall sustainable home package. Our lot is located in a R1c district designed for single family residential homes. Our home meets the general characteristics of sec. 30 -991 for an R -1 district and we believe our home does a superior job of promoting sec. 30 -991 sub section A -14 to "Encourage a variety and range of dwelling types and a wide range of population densities with emphasis on home ownership" as this will be our home for years to come and the floor plan is very unique compared to the majority of homes so we are helping to promote a wide range of dwelling types and styles. We also believe an approved variance to the side yard setback on a corner lot would not conflict with the City comprehensive plan in a meaningful way as we are still maintaining a larger setback distance than a non - corner lot is required to have and our house is not abnormally large for the neighborhood. We feel the design of the house fits perfectly with the city's comprehensive plan and specifically page 84 highlights the need to revise the zoning ordinances and grant set back variances as a key strategy to support green building techniques as highlighted on the attached comp plan printout (attachment 1). We worked with our home designer and builder to reduce the width of our home a number of times in a good faith effort to make it fit within the setback requirements; this is however not possible without building a 2 story style home. A two story home would not be practical for us because of current mobility issues. The covenants set -up in the area also require trailers and work vehicles be parked in a garage so building a 2 car garage is not practical or would it fit in with the neighborhood. We believe the lot was not designed in a manner to accommodate a rambler home and feel it is not fair and reasonable to be required to build a two level home on a lot designed to fit Rlc housing. We ask that the city council consider our request for a side yard setback variance so that we may promote the ideas set out in the city comprehensive plan of green building techniques, aging in place designed housing, and varied dwelling types and styles by building our new home with a local contractor. Thank you for your consideration.