Narrative 22-17001Re: 6621 Minnewashta Parkway
Keri and Cordell Mack
December 16,2022
Varionce Applicotion
City of Chanhossen
Honorable Plan Commission, City Council Members and City Planner:
We appreciate your diligence and consideration of the variance requests associated
with our property at 6621 Minnewashta Parkway. We particularly appreciate the time
and effort by city leaders in working with us and our valued architects to address a
variety of questions related to the practical difficulties of rebuilding on this parcel of
land.
As background, our family purchased the home in June of this past year after an
extensive search and preference to move into the City of Chanhassen. lt has been our
intent to establish residence in Chanhassen with a mapping to Minnetonka School
District for well over a year.
The targeted improvements to the property and requested variances are all tied to a
comprehensive vision. The vision is influenced heavily by several practical difficulties
of the lot and existing structure. We have been living in the property for the past six
(6) months, and several practical difficulties have been experienced related to safety in
entering and exiting the property, lack of street parking, setbacks, and hardscape.
The property has a single curb cut, and it is positioned along a curve on Minnewashta
Parkway (Parkway). The sight lines entering and exiting the property are challenging,
and we have found the issue to be exacerbated in the winter with snow accumulation.
Thus far, we have had two near accidents when attempting to back out of the
driveway, with drivers along the parkway either traveling at excessive speeds and/or
distracted coming around the curve. Our daughter is a new driver obtaining her
license in November of this year, and the situation has escalated to a point where our
neighbors have invited her to park in their driveway to assure maneuverability in being
able to drive forward upon entering the Parkway. We have realized the parking and
exiting the property is a major consideration ofthe proposed solutions to the
property.
When purchasing the property, we didn't have a sound appreciation for what the lack
of street parking on the Parkway would entail. With the reality of three (3) drivers in
our family and inclusion of guests, parking and safety exitinB and entering the property
has been exacerbated. lt has been surprising to us in how cumbersome it is to ensure
safety with limited hardscape in managing a small number of multiple vehicles. The
As part of our site plan, we envision improving the sight lines when entering and
existing the property while maintaining existing side yard setbacks. Associated with
safety is the practical difficulty of hardscape and limitations with the relative size of
the driveway to accommodate the space necessary to turn around on the property. As
referenced above, the lack of street parking further exacerbates this issue. A very
necessary variance is the overage of hardcover. We understand the percentage is
fixed but the engineers have noted mitigating the watershed and reducing impervious
can be achieved by incorporating best management practice rain gardens and a
naturalvegetation bufferalongthe lakeshore. Adding additional hardcover for
parking purposes significantly reduce life safety regarding parking/existing the
property.
Another practical difficulty for this property, requiring a variance, is the compliant
buildable area. The existing lot shape is irregular and dictates the buildable area does
not allow a home to adequately fit in the area. The current home, as it sits, is already
non-compliant. We have worked with the city staff in proposing a modest sized home
that largely conforms and meets our family's functional needs. As shown in our
supporting submittals, we are NOT proposing habitable space to be any closer to the
lake shore than what is exhibited in the current structure. Similarly, we are not
proposing any outdoor deck or patio space to be any closer than what exists with the
current home. The existing lakeside setback violation was not caused by us, and we
respected the existing setback. Absent approval of this variance, there is not a
reasonable habitable structure that could be reasonably rebuilt.
At the city's suggestion, the proposed home will maintain the existing non-conforming
lakeside setback from the OHWIL (albeit requiring a variance) and pushes the
violations of the setback to street side, which is less desirable but understand the
lakeside setback is already an issue. The proposed lakeside patio maintains or is not
worse than the existing deck setback. The side yard setbacks for the proposed home
meets the city's zoning requirements. The variance necessary would only be to
maintain the existing driveway as the setback to achieve proper back-out and
maneuverability form the garage. The city engineer requested the removal of the
existing turn-around in the driveway which we were able to accommodate in the
design and felt was a sound request to improve the property.
The property as it sits is not compliant with current zoning regulations, even to rebuild
exactly the structure, deck, patios, and driveway sits it would need a variance in
everything we are asking we are just proposing a new layout more suitable to our
family.
reality is that with two or three cars in the driveway it is very difficult to exit the
property safely for an adult yet alone younger inexperienced drivers.
We are excited to call 6621 Minnewashta Parkway home, and we look fonrvarci to
ongoing engagement with the broader community. We appreciate your time and
consideration in reviewing this application for the proposed replacement structure.
Respectfully submitted,
/ttt,u
Keri and Cordell Mack
Cc: Peter Eskuche
Erin Tadych