07-25-2012 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JULY 25, 2012 placement options. Mercil noted that in 2006 he tore down the original house and constructed a new one. At that time he discussed a future garage with the Building Inspector and the City Planner and was informed that the driveway to access the new garage would be required to come from the south. Mercil presented the Council with a site plan showing a future attached garage with access from the south unimproved Mitchell Trail. Blesener noted that this plan does not show the driveway. Blesener also reported that he discussed the 2006 plans with the Building Inspector who informed him that the approval of the plans only included the new house, not the future garage. Mercil pointed out that the front door of his house faces north. If he knew that there would be an issue with utilizing Mitchell Trail for access, he would have changed how he positioned the new house on the lot. Mercil then reviewed emails correspondence he had with the Building Inspector in early 2001 relative to the future use of Mitchell Trail for access. Mercil then noted in his timeline that he determined in February of 2012 that an attached garage was not a financial option and he decided to do a detached garage moving it 6 feet towards the south away from the home. It was at this time that he learned that the south side of his house was considered to be his front yard by Code definition necessitating the need for two Variances. Mercil reported that he applied for the Variances and it was at the Planning Commission in July that he learned that he could not have two driveways into his property. Again, Mercil indicated that had he known this information in 2006, he would have positioned the new house differently on the property. Mercil pointed out that after meeting with the City Planner on July 23`d, two options were discussed. Mercil described Option A which proposes a detached garage on the south side of the house, garage doors facing south, with driveway accessing Mitchell Trail, and Option B has a detached garage on the south side of the house, turning the garage so that the doors face west, with driveway accessing Mitchell Trail. Mercil indicated that his preferred option is Option A. Blesener suggested replacing the garage in its current location. Mercil noted that when he constructed the new house, the layout of the house was such that the garage was better placed on the south of the house. Lacy Mercil indicated that the City informed them that the garage would have to be located on the south side of the house given access should be via unimproved Mitchell Trail. Based on that information, the new house plans were drawn and the house placed on the lot in its current location. She also noted that they have put in approximately $20,000 in landscaping on the north side of the house, which would be disturbed if a garage were placed on the north. Tim Mercil indicated that a garage on the north 4