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Item No: 7B Meeting Date: Nov 14, 2016 Type of Business: Council Business Administrator Review : ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Jon Sevald, Planner Item Title/Subject: Public Hearing (continued) to consider Resolution 8640, Considering an Appeal of the Planning Commission’s Denial of a Variance, for property located at 7790 Eastwood Rd. Introduction: The applicant (Value Homes, LLC) requested a Variance to reduce the front yard setback from 54’ to 30’ to construct a single-family home at 7790 Eastwood Rd. The minimum front yard setback in the R-1 district is 30’ unless homes on the same side of the street have a greater setback (54’ in this case). The request is due to the hardship of a private drainage easement reducing the developable area of the lot. The Planning Commission denied the Variance on Oct 5, 2016. The applicant submitted an appeal on Oct 6th. The City Council opened a Public Hearing on Oct 24th, to be continued at the request of the applicant, on Nov 14th. Discussion: The property at 7800 Eastwood Rd was subdivided into two lots in March, 2016. The north lot includes an existing home, and the south lot is the subject property (7790 Eastwood Rd). After the subdivision was approved, the developer conducted a Title Search, which revealed two private easements: (1) a 10’ wide sidewalk easement in the SE corner of the lot; and (2) a 30’ wide surface drainage & storm water easement along the south property line. The two easements are for the adjacent property, Silver Lake Commons apartments. As part of Silver Lake Common’s Development Review in 1997, the City required the apartment owner to obtain a drainage easement from 7800 Eastwood Rd. At that time, there was concern that expansion of the apartments would negatively affect the natural drainage flow from properties north of the apartments (1940 aerial photo suggests a drainage ditch flowed through these properties). An easement was obtained, but a storm water retention pond was never constructed within the easement, nor was a sidewalk. Due to the private drainage easement and the 54’ front yard building setback requirement, the developable area of the lot is significantly reduced. Prior to the Title Search, neither the developer (Kayak Properties) nor the current property owner (Value Homes) knew about the easements. For a Minor