2005-01-21 TLAURANCE - Laserfiche WebLink

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SIRACUSA:But the shoreline was not where it is now, thats what Im saying; and thats the only point I wanted to make. SPRINGER:Thank you, Commissioner Siracusa. Commissioner Graham. GRAHAM:Mr. Vitousek, my sense of how we deal with something like this is, you know, we need to follow the legal framework. And, and, if the legal framework under which we operate for this permit is slam dunk yes or slam dunk no, regardless to any particular feelings we have, thats the way we go. And there may be a- a boundary in between where, you know, its a little discretionary; and then if its discretionary, you know, our feelings about what is fair and all that is what really comes to play. But as far as the legal framework, it seems to me the County has based their position, their recommendation against granting this on the- Im looking at the very bottom line of page 2, the County believes this will not- that a- refusal to grant this permit will not deprive the applicant of reasonable use of the land. So, to me, in the legal arena that is probablythekeyissueforus;andwhenIthinkaboutthatissuethepieceofthatsentencethat grabs me is land. So I just want to be sure were all on the same page. Is the land were talking about the specific area where the pool might be built or is the land the total parcel? Do you have an understanding of that one way or the other? VITOUSEK:Oh, yeah, I think its really clear. I think if you refer to Rule 8-10(b)(3)(B) it says, Before granting a hardship variance, the Planning Commission must determine that the request is a reasonable use of the land. And so what theyre talking about is, is the request itself, the request to use a particular piece of land for a particular purpose. GRAHAM:Thats not what I have here on- what I get from Planning Department. It says Rule 8-10(b)(3) states variance may also be granted upon finding that the proposed activity meets one of the following standards. Standard 3 is the hardship standard and it says, The applicant would be deprived of reasonable use of the land if required to comply fully with this rule. So its not whether what he wants to do is reasonable, its whether if we dont let him do what he wants to do hes deprived of reasonable use. So,-. VITOUSEK:I think were reading different sections, Mr. Graham. I think youre reading section 8-10(b)(3)(A)(i) and I am reading section 8-10(b)(3)(B). And I think that the use of the term reasonable use of the land in (b)(3)(B) makes it clear that the reference to reasonable use of the land is the use of the particular parcel that theyre requesting use of. Because otherwise it would make no sense to say before granting a hardship, the Planning Commission must determine that the request is a reasonable use of land and that the determination of the reasonableness of the use involves factors such as shoreline conditions, erosion, surf conditions and geography. Cause none of those issues are relevant to whether a house on the main lot is a reasonable use of land. GRAHAM:So getting back to where I started then, youre saying, your sense of the land is the specific piece within the parcel, not the parcel as a whole? VITOUSEK:Absolutely cause we dont need a variance to build a house on a big parcel. And this section relates to when a variance should be granted. And I think that the 8