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<br />City of Arden Hills <br />Planning Commission Meeting for March 9, 2016 <br />P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2016\PC 16-005 - 3382 Lake Johanna Blvd - Variance\Memos_Reports_16-005 <br /> <br />Page 6 of 9 <br /> <br />Therefore, in evaluating variance requests under the new law, in order to find a practical <br />difficulty, cities should adopt findings addressing the following questions: <br />• Is the variance in harmony with the purposes and intent of the ordinance? <br />• Is the variance consistent with the comprehensive plan? <br />• Does the proposal put property to use in a reasonable manner? <br />• Are there unique circumstances to the property not created by the landowner? <br />• Will the variance, if granted, alter the essential character of the locality? <br /> <br />As was the case before the new legislation took effect, economic considerations alone cannot <br />constitute a practical difficulty. Furthermore, the new law clarifies that conditions may be <br />imposed on granting of variances if those conditions are directly related to and bear a rough <br />proportionality to the impact created by the variance. <br /> <br /> <br />Findings of Fact <br /> <br />Staff offers the following findings of fact for review: <br /> <br />General Findings <br /> <br />1. The property at 3382 Lake Johanna Boulevard is located in the R-2 Single & Two Family <br />Residential Zoning District and in the Shoreland Management District. <br />2. The lot is 8,581 square feet with a width of approximately 157 feet and average depth of <br />72.5 feet. The lot does not meet the minimum area and depth requirements of the R-2 <br />District. <br />3. The existing dwelling encroaches 31.7 feet into the required 40-foot front yard setback <br />and 26.8 feet into the required 50-foot lakeshore setback. <br />4. The existing impervious coverage on the property is 36.28 percent. Section 1330.03, <br />Subd. 1 of the Zoning Code allows properties on Lake Johanna to have a maximum of 35 <br />percent of the lot area covered by impervious surfaces. <br />5. The existing dwelling has a total floor area of 2,686 square feet and an FAR of 0.31. The <br />maximum FAR permitted in the R-2 District is 0.3. <br />6. The proposal would expand the nonconforming single-family dwelling footprint by 151 <br />square feet with the proposed entryway encroaching 24.1 feet into the front yard setback, <br />creating a setback of 15.9 feet from the front property line. <br />7. The second floor garage addition would maintain the existing setbacks of 7.2 feet from <br />the south property line and 19.5 feet from the front property line. <br />8. The proposal would not bring the dwelling any closer to the front property line or Lake <br />Johanna than the existing nonconforming setbacks. <br />9. The proposal would expand structure area by 151 square feet for proposed structure <br />coverage on the lot of 26.37 percent. The maximum structure coverage permitted in the <br />R-2 District is 25 percent.