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. 1742 Hartford A vcnue Saint Paul, MN 55116 651-699-8612 Dccember 29, 2005 Planning Department City of Arden Hills 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 RE: 1401 Skiles Lane Minor Subdivision My wife and I own the property at 1401 Skiles Lane (PIN 34-30-23-21-0055). We bought the property at the end of November, 2005 and lovc the neighborhood, the location and the lot. The lot is covered with oak trees and a number of other varieties of trees. The zoning in this arca is R-l, with a minimum lot width of 95' and a minimum lot area of approximately 14,500 sq. ft. The current lot is 195' x approximately 182' with an existing house that is mostly on the west 100' of thc lot. The area of thc current lot is 35,527 sq. ft. We would like to subdivide the lot and create one vacant lot (on the east side) that is 95' x 182' (17,280 sq. . ft.) and a second lot with the existing house that is 100' x 182 (18,237 sq. ft.) on the west side of the 101. Our plans are to rehab the cxisting house and sell it and then build a ncw house for ourselves on the new lot.. A portion of the existing house straddles what will be the new property line. We plan to rcmove the portion of the house (approximately] 50 sq. ft.) that straddles the new property line. To "make up" for the loss of the 150 sq. fL we will be adding on to the rcar of the existing house. The ncw east side of the house will be approximately 3.9' from the new property line. We will be requesting a sideyard setback variance since we do not meet the 10' sideyard setback requirement for the R-] zone. By doing the above, we end up with two legal size lots and will need the one variance for the sideyard setback. We will also be able to preservc all of the trees (of which thcre are many) on the west side of the property and all but 2 or 3 trees on the east side of the lot. Our second option is to move the entire existing house about 2()' to the west, thereby removing the need for a variance bccause we would meet all of the lot and setback requirements for R-I zoning. The cost of moving the housc is comparable to rcmoving a portion of the house and then adding on to thc house. The disadvantage to moving the house is that it will be very disruptive to thc property and would likely result in thc rcmoval of many of the trees on the site. Our ovcrall goal is to minimize disturbance to the property. We bought the property because we like the house and the property and like the character of the neighborhood. We want to do evcrything we can to respect the character of thc lot and of the neighborhood while rehabbing the old house and building a new house. Oak trees are very sensitive to root disturbance and . compaction, so we are hoping to do as much site work and cxcavation as possible in the winter while the ground is frozen, which would minimize the site disturbance and soil compaction.