04-24-17-R - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

3/3/17 Request for Variance Swanson Home 3517 Siems Court Arden Hills, MN 55112 Arden Hills City Planning Commission, Kim and I purchased the house on 3517 Siems Court in October. We are very excited to become part of the Lake Johanna community. I grew up in Arden Hills and graduated from Mounds View High School. I work in product development for Andersen Windows and Kim is a Client Executive at US Bank. We are requesting a variance to allow us to replace the original house, built in 1952, with a new home. The original house has several concerns including several types of asbestos, cracks in the foundation, very low ceilings and a cracking stucco exterior. These issues prevent us from utilizing the existing foundation and maintaining the same height. Our plan is to replace it with a new ranch style home built by Regency Homes. The new home will have 9’ ceilings in the basement with 9’/11’ ceilings on the main floor. Although rebuilding is a significant effort, the current structure is not representative of the quality of homes on the lake today. The new home will meet all the current building codes and greatly improve the appearance in the neighborhood. We are requesting a variance to place the new home in roughly the same location as the existing house. We have included a detailed survey and plan. The location is already backed off the main road on a private right-of-way shared by our two neighbors. The new home will have a 3 car garage that is set back further than the existing garage location which will allow parking in the driveway without obstructing the right-of-way. Hardship Criteria Our request for variance meets all the hardship criteria 1. The property in question cannot be put to a reasonable use if used under conditions allowed by the official controls • Moving the house back to the required setback would: i. Substantially change the natural lot with walls and drops - 14’ high wall is unsafe, unnatural and aesthetically unappealing. It would greatly detract from the natural beauty of the lakeshore ii. Require 1700 cubic yards of fill that would drain into Lake Johanna iii. Create a hardship for Kim to access to back yard – she is legally handicapped with mobility issues iv. Kill many trees in our back yard and adjacent ravine that would need to be cut down or would be coved by fill 2. The plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner • Our lot has a s29’ elevation change that creates the need for the variance 3. The deviation from the Ordinance with any attached conditions will still be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ordinance