04-27-1983 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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TO : City Council Members Little Canada, Minnesota RE : Thomas residence pool application for variance EXPLANATION: This request is to allow the construction of a portion of a below ground level swimming pool and its required 4' -0" security fence beyond the front yard setback. The existing yard elevation is below the street elevation by approximately six feet. The proposed pool deck area would be placed at the same approximate elevation and its visability from the street would be limited. The Little Canada zoning ordinance permits (903.030, Paragraph C) "terraces, steps, uncovered porches, stoops or similar features, provided they don't extend above the height of the ground floor level of the principal structure," be be built to within five feet of any lot line. Depending on the interpretation of 903.030 Paragraph C2, the below ground pool may not be an encroachment and therefore permitted in the required front yard. The fence required around the pool for safety is an encroachment however, because fence heights are limited to 3' -6" outside the setback lines and the pool fence must be 4' -0" high. We feel that the request for the variance in this instance is reasonable because: 1. Due to the character of this particular site, the top of a 4' -0" high fence required at the pool can be below the top of a permitted 3' -6" high fence built on the property line. (Refer to Section) 2. That portion of the pool that is beyond the setback line (in the required yard space) will be largely unseen from the street. (Refer to sightlines on Section) There are other areas on the site which will accommodate a pool without a variance but they would present a hardship or result in questionable aesthetic relationships. 1. There is adequate site area north of the home but the soil is poor and construction would be more expensive. It would also necessitate the removal of several mature trees which would be undesirable. 2. There is also adequate site area south of the home, in the general area of the proposed pool, to place a pool at an angle to the home, but we feel that a pool placed perpen- dicular is aesthetically better as it doesn't crowd the space near the home and it permits an axial arrangement of .16 the site design elements consistent with the present condition. WILLIAMS /O'BRIEN ASSOCIATES, INC. 45 S. 9th ST. MINNEAPOLIS, MN. 55402 338 -8981 ARCHITECTS /PLANNERS