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Council approves variances allowing new house and pool at 196 Short Street with conditions on stream buffer disturbance
Summary
Council granted variances to allow a new single‑family house and pool at 196 Short Street despite stream‑buffer encroachments, subject to planning commission conditions limiting disturbance in the 50‑foot undisturbed buffer and restricting pool placement.
The council approved variances that allow demolition of existing structures and construction of a new single‑family home and pool at 196 Short Street, a one‑acre downtown property that staff determined includes state waters and stream buffers under current rules.
Planner Natalie (staff) summarized the review: the site contains mapped streams and a layered buffer/setback scheme (50‑foot undisturbed buffer, 75‑foot impervious setback, a 25‑foot state stream buffer). Existing buildings already encroach into those buffers; the proposed project would remove the older structures and construct a 3,746‑square‑foot two‑story house, a pool with a 975‑square‑foot concrete deck, and porches and walkways. The applicant revised the design after buffer mapping changed so the proposal now seeks specific variances: 43 square feet of encroachment into the 50‑foot undisturbed buffer (walkway) and 1,870 square feet of encroachment into the 75‑foot impervious setback for the house and pool deck.
The Development Process Committee (DPC) and planning commission reviewed the application and recommended approval with conditions; planning commission modified the conditions to allow the pool within the 75‑foot impervious setback but to prohibit it within the 50‑foot undisturbed buffer. Aaron Hebel, the project designer/builder, told council the site’s stream conditions and unusually heavy rain in early 2024 revealed siltation that made an earlier ‘‘not state waters’’ determination untenable, prompting a conservative approach and the current variance request.
Council voted to approve the project with the planning commission and staff conditions. The motion passed unanimously with four votes in favor and two absences. Conditions include limiting disturbance within the 50‑foot stream buffer to the construction shown on the approved site plan and prohibiting pools or decks in the 50‑foot undisturbed area; disturbance must be stabilized and reviewed by staff.
