07-12-2012 Planning Comm. Minutes

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 12, 2012 north has existed since 1945. Klidzejs pointed out that there is space on the Mercil property to locate a new garage on the north side of the house where the existing garage now sits. Klidzejs felt it did not make sense to move the garage to the south side of the house. She felt that this would devalue their property. Klidzejs stated that she did not oppose the new garage, just the location proposed. Klidzejs felt the new garage should be on the north side of the house and accessed via the existing driveway to the north. Klidzejs felt that if their driveway is used by another property, the driveway should be improved to a street and the cost of the street improvement borne by the property gaining this use. Klidzejs noted that in 2000 the Council considered the platting of the Mitchell property (immediately south), and that the developer had proposed access to proposed new lots via Mitchell Trail. Given the impact to the area and the resulting need for the improvement of Mitchell Trail, the Council decided that access for the new lots should be via Twin Lake Trail and Mitchell Trail would remain as a private driveway. Klidzejs felt that most people would prefer the own driveway to a shared driveway. She also indicated that adding access for the Mercil's to Mitchell Trail would devalue her property. Klidzejs felt the Council made an excellent decision in 2000 when the Mitchell development was required to orient its lots to Twin Lake Trail. Klidzejs felt that while the Mercil's need a new garage, there were location options for that garage that did not require their use of Mitchell Trail. Fischer asked if the City would require the improvement of Mitchell "Dail if Mercil's were allowed access to it. The Planner indicated that he was not sure whether the Council would order this improvement, and noted that the improvement would not be mandatory. The City could chose to allow Mercil's access to the private drive and require a maintenance agreement between the two property owners using it. Aleks Klidzejs, 3244 Twin Lake Road, reported that based on the meeting in 2000 which resulted in the Mitchell Estates property having road access via Twin Lake Trail, the result was that no two single- family homes could share a driveway. Klidzejs noted that the Mereil shared driveway on the north is grandfathered in, but there nothing grandfathered in for Mereil to share his driveway (south). Klidzejs presented a diagram which showed that Mercil's garage as proposed would not meet setback requirements. The Planner noted that this is one of the variances being requested by Mercil. Klidzejs also noted on his diagram that there is adequate room on the north to place the Mereil garage. Klidzejs indicated that in 2000 he opposed the improvement of Mitchell Trail with a cul -de -sac street. However, if the Mercil request were to be approved, he would only -5-