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C1i~ford Lund, Case No. 2509 paqe 2 In this case, the church fronts on an odd-shaped piece of right-of-way for the frontage road (see attached sketch). The right-of-way lines do not parallel the frontage. road at this corner of the church property, thus creating a much deeper boulevard than is usual or necessary. This is due to the shape of the existing parcels that were acquired for the frontage road right-of-way, which was put in long after snelling Avenue was built. staying back 30' from this line does not serve the public purpose for which front setbacks are intended and puts the property in an unfair position compared to other properties along this same street. Due to its shape and size, it is unlikely that the piece of right-of-way immediately adjacent to the proposed sign would ever be developed for any purpose, and if it did, then the sign would be in a side yard and not a front yard needing a 30' setback. We have illustrated the situation on the attached site plan. The actual right-of-way line is shown abutting the church property. We have sketched in an "imaginary extension" of the right-of-way line, which is where the right-of-way would be if it parallelled the frontage road in a more typical situation. We have shown a 30' setback from this imaginary line. As the sketch shows, the location of the sign at the proposed 5' setback is still behind a 30' setback from the imaginary extension of the right-of-way. In other words, the sign location meets the intent, if not the letter, of the setback ordinance. 3. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION The church is allowed a sign of reasonable size at a reasonable setback. If the right-of-way configuration at this property edge were more normal, the proposed location would be acceptable. The applicant did not create this situation. The unfair position they are in relative to other similarly situated properties can be considered a hardship. We recommend approval of the variance request with the condition that the existing sign be removed.