5.1 BASR 10-27-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Date: 10/19/2015 Request for Variance at 10760 Brooke Rd. Thank you for reviewing our requests for variances. In 2003,we(Terry and Brent Christenson) purchased these ten acres to build a home.When we purchased the land our three kids were 15, 14 and 5.After much discussion it was clear they did not want to move from our neighborhood full of friends to a place out in the country.So we did not move in 2003. Since then times have changed.The kids have grown up. Two have moved out and one is a senior at Elk River High School. We are ready to downsize our house and move to our retirement spot. The style and design of the house from 2003 has changed to adapt to our future lifestyle with main floor living. One of the features and a definite requirement is to have a screened in porch that would overlook the field.When we purchased the land the field was considered low land. It was reclassified as "wetlands" in 2006. We knew it was low but did not realize there were building restrictions with this new reclassification. In order to get the nice view,the back of our house and part of the porch(porch is three season and on stilts)would be in the 20'wetland setback. Our first variance request is asking to have the back of the house and part of the deck and porch be built within the 20'setback. More importantly than the view, is the ability to access the back 8(+/-) acres. With the design and placement of the house facing south this is the only location for the house that gives us both access to the back and a great view. However, we need to add 100' of new driveway to get to the garage.The existing driveway has"wetlands" within 2' on each side. Our second variance request is asking to continue the driveway straight and have it within the 25' buffer area.We will be abandoning the existing drive which gives back 175(+/-)ft of wetland green space. So the environment wins on this. I don't see these requests as unreasonable as we trying to fit a home into a small flat area.We are very conservative people who recycle, compost and love nature. We are not trying to change or alter the character of the locality. We bought it because of the beauty and uniqueness of the property. We are just trying to fit a house into a small buildable space. B1& B2:We are following the residential guidelines for setbacks from other property lines.We are proponents of protecting wetlands and have no intention of damaging or wrecking there value or purpose. C1: We plan on using the property as residential. C2:As mentioned above the uniqueness of the property and the design requirements of the house put some restrictions on house placement and driveway usage. C3:The variance will not alter the locality. It will still be a very beautiful property. Thanks again for considering our requests. Brent and Terry Christenson