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• The location of the proposed deck is located on the north side of the property. This is technically the side yard of the property but is actually located to the rear of the front entrance. There is an existing sliding glass door that would be used for access. Currently, to use this door as an exit, one must jump out of the house about two feet down. The applicant proposes to build a deck with stairs in order to be able to use this door for exit purposes and to serve as outdoor living space. The proposed deck would measure ten feet wide by twenty feet in length. With a three foot setback from the property line, it would be located 13 feet from the neighboring property owner's deck. There would be no overlap between the proposed deck and the house on the neighboring property. D. COMMENTS FROM NEIGHBORS Letters regarding the proposed deck were sent to abutting property owners regarding the variance request. As of this writing, no comments about the proposed deck have been received. E. APPLICANT'S OPTIONS FOR DECK PLACEMENT • When considering a variance request, the planning commission should determine if reasonable alternatives to the variance exist. The following barriers exist to placement in other areas of the property (refer to attachment 2 for a drawing of the house's floor plan): a. To place the deck to the east of the house (Hamline side) would mean building the deck in the "technical" front yard, with access to the deck from one of the bedrooms rather than from the family room or common area. This is not permitted except by variance. b. To place the deck in the side yard to the south of the house (Ruggles side) would mean building the deck in the "visual" front yard, where the garage and front house entry are located. Again, access would need to be gained from one of the bedrooms or by removing the front bow window and accessing the deck from the living room. This would be permitted by the zoning code (because it would meet the side yard setback) but it would be would visually unattractive. c. To place the deck to the west of the house might be possible, with access off of the family room. This too would require a variance to encroach further into the property's rear yard setback, which is already at 21' rather than at 30'. It would also require that the applicant install a second door in his family room.