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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes July 20, 2004 Page 2 1 Chair Stromgren opened the public hearing at 7:04 p.m. 2 3 Ms. Hall stated that Dave and Lisa Wiggins, 3200 Skycroft Drive, are requesting a side yard 4 variance of 12 feet for an addition to their home. She explained that the City Code requires that a 5 side yard adjacent to a street must be at least 45 feet wide noting that the 15 x 25 foot proposed 6 addition would put their home within 33 feet of 32"Avenue. She noted that Mr. Wiggins 7 discussed this request with the Planning Commission when he came forward for the Concept 8 Review 9 10 Dave Wiggins, 3200 Skycroft Drive, thanked the Commission for hearing his petition for a 11 variance. He stated that with two growing children, ages 10 and 7, they need more living and 12 storage space. He stated that it is also his hope to be able to build a home office in the lower level 13 for his work as a high school math teacher. He stated that initially he did consider the space in the 14 back yard area noting that it is not the best location due to the potential impact it could have on 15 the drainage flow. He provided the Commission with an overview of the proposed layout and . 16 drainage flows. He stated that the drainage issue was addressed with grading noting that they did 17 get considerable runoff to the north and south of their home. He explained that if they were to 18 add on to the back it could create problems to the north, which would also impact one of their 19 neighbors. He stated that they currently have a very nice backyard with large basswood tree 20 noting that he does not want to remove the tree. He provided the Commission with an overview 21 of the external appearance of the home stating that the addition would not change the appearance 22 very much and would be consistent with neighboring properties. He stated that all of his 23 neighbors are supportive and in agreement with the proposed addition. 24 25 Chair Stromgren asked for clarification noting that the elevation to the west is higher. Mr. 26 Wiggins stated that the elevation to the west is approximately ten feet higher and reviewed the 27 slope of the property and retaining walls with the Commission. 28 29 Commissioner Young referenced the lower level bedroom shows an egress and asked where the 30 window would be located. Mr. Wiggins reviewed the layout of the addition stating that the small 31 bedroom in the lower level would include an egress window on the.west side of the house, at the 32 rear and would be covered from view by the landscaping. 33 34 Chair Strom- gren closed the public hearing at 7:15 p.m. 35 36 Commissioner Gray stated that he is having some difficulty with the variance request noting that 37 one of the conditions for a.variance states that the property cannot be put to reasonable use . 38 without the variance. He stated that this-has not been shown in this case noting that he does 39 understand why Mr. Wiggins is requesting the variance to add on to the side of the home versus 40 the back. 41 42 Vice Chair Hanson agreed noting that Mr. Wiggins has a beautifully landscaped yard. He agreed 43 that the site lines would work beautifully and asked if they had set precedence with previous 44 requests with respect to determining reasonable criteria for granting the variance. He suggested 45 placing the deck to the north and includes the placement as a stipulation in their approval. 46