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Arden Hills Planning Commission, This proposed variance is for the construction of an attached garage on the east side of the property at 1850 Venus Avenue along with the construction of a driveway leading to the new garage from Venus Avenue and a new sidewalk connecting the proposed driveway to the existing front entrance of the home. An annotated survey of the property containing the high level plan is included, and upon approval of the variance the homeowners will work with an architect and builder for the detailed plan. The request for variance request is due to the east side of the house being platted as a road (where the Elmer L. Anderson Memorial Trail walking path is located), and the lot therefore being considered a corner lot (despite no road being present to the east). That current 40 foot side yard setback of a corner lot does not allow for a sufficiently sized attached garage to be constructed. This request meets the defined Hardship Criteria due to the aforementioned limited side yard setback available on the east side of the home limiting the reasonable space available for an attached addition to the home. The circumstances of the property were not created by the homeowner as the lot and adjoining road were platted prior to their taking ownership, and the platted road to the east of the property is unlikely to be constructed in the future due to the existing walking path in the platted road’s location. Granting this variance request will retain the spirit and intent of the setback ordinance as the east side of the home at 1850 Venus Avenue is not a typical “corner lot” due to the adjacent walking path. This variance request will retain the essential character of the city as there are many examples of adjacent connected garages within the neighborhood as well as throughout Arden Hills which are similar to the proposed structure in this request. Additionally, there are several examples of corner lot structures (some of which are garages) in the neighborhood which are closer to the side yard setback than the designated 40 feet setback for a corner lot. The proposed garage will match the existing house structure in style as well as material with cement board siding which matches the house as well as asphalt shingles that match the existing roof. Following construction of the new garage, driveway, and sidewalk the existing garage space will be reclaimed as basement living space for the home, the garage door and adjacent service door will be removed and replaced with windows + brick or concrete board siding, the existing concrete driveway and concrete stairs to the front door will be removed, the existing driveway area and concrete stairs area will be re-graded to tie into existing elevations so the area will not appear to have been a driveway, and landscaping/trees will be added in the location of the existing driveway. Tree Preservation Plan: Our plan for the proposed garage and driveway requires the removal of one tree, which is located in the proposed location of the new garage, and the driveway will be constructed in a manner to avoid removal of any front yard trees. The tree which is located in the proposed garage space is a Linden with a 24 inch trunk diameter. There are 13 “significant” trees on the property with a trunk diameter of 12 inches or greater. The total trunk diameter of those 13 trees is 219 inches. The Linden therefore accounts for 10.9% of overall “significant” tree trunk