Planning Commission needs plan

The Saratoga Planning Commission held its monthly meeting on Tuesday April 14 where among other items on the agenda, it met with Dave Johnson about his Dec. 9 request for review of his plans to divide his property at 118 N 2nd St. The variance in question would be for Johnson’s lot to be divided at a 50-foot width instead of the 60 feet required by the municipal code because it would cut into Johnson’s back porch if he were to divide the property at the required 60 feet.

Johnson is requesting the variance so that he can divide his lot to construct a second residence which he says will be used to house healthcare workers to help him and his wife and to possibly sell at some point to help with future medical bills.

Saratoga Town Engineer Chuck Bartlett said he had checked into Johnson’s request with the town’s attorney, and that the legal opinion of the attorney was, “it will be very difficult for Mr. Johnson to demonstrate that his inability to divide his property into the required lot width ‘will result in unnecessary hardship and deprive [Mr. Johnson] of a reasonable use of his or her land or building’ as specifically required by Section 18.72.010(C)(2) of the Saratoga Municipal Code.”

The committee went over the eight conditions, including the one noted above, necessary to approve a variance request with Johnson. Afterwards, it was the preliminary (and non-binding) opinion of the commission that it appeared Johnson had met enough of the conditions to officially apply for a variance request if he is able to demonstrate the aforementioned “unnecessary hardship” that the current language of the current municipal code might create for his project.

The committee also approved the application for approval of a preliminary plat for the Woolfolk Minor Subdivision to change the zoning from Ranching, Agricultural, Mining (RAM) to a Rural, Residential, Agricultural (RRA) area.

The discussion of an ordinance for fences was pushed to the next meeting due to a lack of completed research by committee member Rusty Rogers, who apologized to the community for delaying the process, saying, “I am getting so irritated that (the fencing ordinance) isn’t getting done and this time it’s my fault entirely.”

The meeting concluded with a brainstorming session where the planning commission discussed how to work in tandem with the town council and the Master Plan Committee so that according to committee member Will Faust, they can outline ideas on what projects they should focus on, “that we can complete within a one-or-two year time frame and that isn’t re-inventing the wheel.”