07/09/2008 P&Z Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Findings: State law requires the following finings to be made in order to grant the approval of a variance. Staff has completed the findings in regards to the upland lot area reduction based on the revised submittal: FINDINGS In considering all requests for Variance or appeal and in taking subsequent action, the City shall make a finding of fact: a. That the property in question cannot be put to a reasonable use if used under conditions allowed by the official controls. The property is currently developed with a single family home that requires a private sewage treatment system in order to continue its use legally. b. That the plight of the landowners is due to physical circumstances unique to his property not created by the landowner. The property was platted prior to the adoption of a 10 acre minimum lot size for properties not served by city utilities and the 150 foot Ordinary High Water Level setback within the Shoreland Ordinance. c. That the hardship is not due to economic considerations alone if reasonable use for the property exists under the terms of the ordinance. The site is developed with a single family home that must be served by a sewage treatment system. As the current system is failing and the strict enforcement of the Shoreland Ordinance's Ordinary High Water Level setback would make replacing that system impossible, reasonable use of the property would be denied. d. That granting the variance requested will not confer on the applicant any special privilege that would be denied by this ordinance to other lands, structures, or buildings in the same district. The zoning ordinance now requires all lots without city utilities to be a minimum of 10 acres in size, thus guaranteeing ample room for the placement of onsite sewage treatment systems. e. That the proposed actions will be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the ordinance. The spirit and intent of the Ordinary High Water Level setback for sewage treatment systems is to maximize the spacing between the lake and a possible pollution source. As the city requires periodic inspection of the systems to guarantee systems are operational, this setback variance will not be in violation of that goal. RECOMMENDATION Staff is recommending approval of the request for a variance with the following condition: 1. Prior to the approval of a permit, a monitoring and mitigation plan must be submitted. This plan must clearly require a minimum of annual visual inspections of the system. • • •