February 7, 2006 CCP - Laserfiche WebLink

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1. A proposed.new 10 X 16 deck at the southeast corner of the house that would encroach the OHW above -grade a distance of 10 feet more than any point of the existing house. 2. An addition to the north end of the house filling the space between the existing house & garage, and extending toward the OHW 11.5 feet off the rear of the existing garage — approximately 350 square feet additional encroachment into the OHW. Findings and Recommendations: The City has addressed several proposals for zoning variances of a similar type (OHW setback) and under similar circumstances (house renovation and enlargement) in recent years. Review and resultant Findings regarding those applications have generally centered on the following factors: 1. Degree of additional OHW encroachment proposed by the applicant. Will the proposed improvements encroach on the OHW more than any existing/historic encroachment? 2. Physical characteristics of the site (lot) that would preclude the degree of structure enlargement proposed without the additional OHW encroachment proposed — can they do what they propose for enlargement without additional OHW encroachment? 3. Relationship of the proposed OHW encroachment to that of structures on either side of the subject. Will the proposed encroachment be closer to the OHW than a line drawn between the lake side of the structures on either side? 4. Scale/mass of the resulting structure in relationship to those existing structures adjacent on the lake. Is the proposed resulting house in character with the neighborhood in scale/mass? Those factors go to the "reasonable use of the property", "unique circumstances of the property" and "maintenance of the essential character of the neighborhood" — all of which must be demonstrated to qualify the applicant's proposal as a hardship sufficient to support a zoning variance. While staff does not intend to :suggest how the applicants' plans could be. modified to better respond to those required findings, we do note as follows: 1. The resulting house will be two story and substantially higher than immediately adjoining single story houses — most significant as viewed from the lake, 2. The resulting house will be nearly triple the living area of the existing house and be larger in living area than most homes in the immediate lakeside neighborhood — 2 properties south and north. 3. The existing house already extends toward the OHW closer than a line extended from the lakeward encroachment of the houses north and south. 4. Were it not for the proposed expansion of house livable area east of the existing garage, a lake -front deck could be accommodated with little or no additional OHW encroachment. The deck could also be located at the southeast end of the house — over the "concrete patio". The foregoing observations lead to a suggestion by staff that the following Findings can be made regarding the variance application for OHW setback: