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5/30/2014 To: Dept of Planning and Zoning City of Arden Hills 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 To the City Planning Commission: After due consideration and discussion with city officials, I am hereby submitting a request for a variance to build a new detached garage on the East end of my lot at 3200 Lake Lane, Arden Hills, MN 55112. The variance would specifically allow the structure to be built with a 20’ lot setback instead of the current 30’ setback requirement. I have reviewed the city code in respect to applying for a variance and have also reviewed 2 recent variance applications. In considering the six matters referenced in the Variance procedure, I feel that the size, elevation, and area of my lot, along with its dual frontage on Shoreline and Lake Lane constitute a unique situation that allows for a variance to be considered. I have an extremely small lot with a substantial drop in elevation from East to West. Approximately 54’ from the Shoreline Lane property line there is an existing retaining wall with several steps leading down to a sidewalk that is the main entry to the home. My contractor has reported that we would need less than a 30’ setback to locate the floating slab within the area east of the existing retaining wall and closest in elevation to the street exit. Another issue that I feel is a consideration for obtaining this variance is lot coverage. A chart is included showing approximate lot coverage for the existing garage and a new garage with both 20’ and 30’ setbacks. Since the lot size is small , the existing home is non-compliant, and there is a significant amount of sidewalk, deck, patio, and driveway, the impermeable coverage percentage is high. The 20’ setback offers a lower percentage of coverage because the driveway is shorter. In addition to the elevation and area issues, the proposed garage location would better fit into the existing neighborhood: A similar detached garage is located on the adjacent property to the North with an identical 20’ setback. The existing garage on my property is currently located about 5’ from the adjoining property line to the south. The variance would allow me to build the new garage with normal 10’ side setbacks instead of replacing the existing garage in it’s current location. From an aerial perspective, the proposed garage location will be a much better alignment with the existing homes. Other items of note for the project: • We will probably want to remove 2 trees as part of the project. One is a 6” mountain ash that has evidence of disease and damage. The other is a healthy 6” cedar that is probably too close to the new driveway shifting north. I have reviewed the regulations on tree removal and I believe this removal would represent far less than 10% of my total tree coverage, as my lot is almost completely lined with trees on the north and south borders. I also plan on planting another tree as part of the new landscaping to be done after construction.