05-04-22 PC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 2, 2022 Arden Hills Planning Commission City of Arden Hills 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 Dear Planning Commission Members: This letter will provide you with the building details of our proposed project. In addition to the details of the project we will provide the information that will hopefully result in the approval for a variance. A variance in this case is required for four reasons. They are: 1. Side Yard Setback, 2. Minimum Landscaped Area, 3. Maximum Structure Coverage and 4. Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Before we address these standards I would like to give a short historical perspective relating to Hunters Park Addition. In the early 70’s the City of Arden Hills approved a Planned Unit Development. The plans called for 68 homes along with common areas and common roadways. The common areas, or green space, was required to approve the small size of the lots. By the nature of the lot sizes the homes were built quite close together and in many instances were non-conforming with setbacks and other normal requirements. Whether the developers anticipated future additions to the homes no one knows, but given the conﬁguration there most likely could be none without applying for a variance. Even faced with this, the city has approved 6 additions to homes in Hunters Park. We have no way of knowing which of these required a variance, but it seems likely that some, if not all, did. According to the Hunters Park Home Owners Association bylaws any addition to a home must be approved by the Architectural and Environment Committee. We have received said approval and an email to that effect is included in our packet. Details of the Project Included with this letter will be copies of the land survey and architectural drawings that detail the dimensions as well as exterior view of the addition. Currently, our home has a 20X12 deck on the rear (west side) of the house. We propose to remove that deck in its entirety and replace it with a two level 14X14 foot addition. The plans also include a 14X12 foot deck off of the north side of the addition. There will be a foundation laid and 2X6 walls will be built to frame in the addition. The lower level will have an 8 foot ceiling and the upper level will have 8 foot sidewalls with a vaulted ceiling. The exterior of both levels will be “batten board on sheeting” to conform with the current siding of the home. The roof of the addition will have two foot eaves on each side and in the peak. I refer you to the plans for the window and door placements along with the size. The current home has slider windows as will the addition. There will be a 14X8 concrete slab on the north side of the lower level. The upper level deck will have composite decking with aluminum railing. The roof will be gabled into the existing roof at a right angle. It will consist of standard architectural shingles matching the existing roof. The roof will be a 6/12 pitch. The addition on both levels will be electrically wired as per code. The upper level will be heated and cooled using a heat pump duplex system. The lower level will have electric heat. Variance Details 1.Side yard setback: A variance is needed because the distance between our home and the neighbor to the north is 11.6 feet and not the required 15 feet. This is an existing non-conforming issue and is not exacerbated by the plans for this addition. All other set backs conform to city ordinance. 2.Minimum Landscaped Area: The minimum landscaped area allowed without a variance is 65% or 3900 square feet. The existing landscaped area is 3925 square feet or 65%. After the addition I calculated 3729 square feet which is 62% and would require a variance.