EXHIBIT
2-A
DRAFT
2
FINDINGS
OF APPROVAL
CONSIDER REQUEST FOR VARIANCE
FROM DISTRICT RULE 23-B-2-a REQUIRING A SEPARATE WATER METER FOR EACH WATER
USER AT
10 VISTA LADERA, CARMEL VALLEY
(APN 187-111-027)
APPLICANT: ELAINE RANKIN
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
1. FINDING: Mrs. Elaine Rankin has requested a
variance from District Rule 23-B-2-a, requiring a separate water meter for each
Water User, for a caretaker unit on her property at 10 Vista Ladera, Carmel
Valley (APN 187-111-027).
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit A.
2. FINDING: The Rankins constructed a caretaker unit in 1994. The caretaker unit includes a full Bathroom and Kitchen Sink and required a separate water meter.
EVIDENCE: MPWMD Water Permit No. 14059 shown as Exhibit C.
3. FINDING: The Rankins did not install a water meter for the caretaker unit, instead connecting the Dwelling Unit to the existing California American Water service Connection.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit A.
4. FINDING: Mrs. Rankin obtained a quote from John Ford Construction to install the water line, booster pump system and backflow needed to separately plumb the caretaker unit. The Rankin property is located more than 1,100 feet up a private road (Vista Ladera) in Carmel Valley. Water meters for Vista Ladera residents are located on La Rancheria (a road lower down the hill), and the Rankin residences are located at the top of the hill and require a booster pump and pressure tank at the house. The quote from John Ford Construction was $65,000.
EVIDENCE: Quote from John Ford Constructions included in Application for Variance attached as Exhibit A.
5. FINDING: Mrs. Rankin requested a variance from the separate metering requirement based on the hardship the cost of metering her caretaker unit would cause to her. She is 84 years old and living on a fixed income and must rent the unit to generate enough income to stay in the home she and her late husband built in 1975.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit A.
6. FINDING: Mrs. Rankin requested a variance to waive the requirement for a second water meter for her property due to the extreme expense of metering and delivering the water to the one-bathroom caretaker unit that is located above the garage of her home.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance attached as Exhibit A.
7. FINDING: District Rule 23-B-2-a specifically states: “All new water use permitted by the District shall install a separate water meter to each User.”
EVIDENCE: District Rule 23-B-2-a, attached as Exhibit B.
8. FINDING: A similar rule was in place at the time the Rankin’s Water Permit was issued in 1994.
EVIDENCE: District
Rule 23-A-3, as amended by Ordinance No. 60 on June 15, 1992:
9. FINDING: District Rule 90 enables the Board to exercise its discretion by granting a variance in select circumstances.
EVIDENCE: Rule 90, in part, reads: “The Board may, after holding a public hearing, in specific cases, grant a variance from any provision of the standards incorporated into these Rules and Regulations whenever it finds: (a) that Special Circumstances exist in a particular case, and (b) that practical difficulties or Undue Hardship would result from the strict interpretation and enforcement of any such standard, and (c) that the granting of such a variance would not tend to defeat the purposes of these Rules and Regulations.”
10. FINDING: The Board granted a variance to the metering requirement due to the Special Circumstances and Undue Hardship of installing a separate California American Water meter and water service to a caretaker unit at 10 Vista Ladera in Carmel Valley.
EVIDENCE: Records of the August 15, 2011, meeting of the Board of Directors.
11. FINDING: Special Circumstances apply to installation of a water meter
to supply the caretaker unit at 10 Vista Ladera, Carmel Valley.
Special Circumstances are defined by Rule 11 as “Unusual,
uncommon, peculiar, unique or rare situations that require Board
consideration.”
EVIDENCE: The location of the
property is on a steep private road more than 1,100 feet uphill from the
location of California American Water’s service.
12. FINDING: California American Water serves properties on Vista Ladera from water meters set along La Rancheria Road where the water main is located.
EVIDENCE: Email from Joe
DiMaggio of California American Water attached as Exhibit
D.
13. FINDING: Undue Hardship is defined in Rule 11 as “a condition that exists when compliance with a rule, regulation or condition poses significant difficulty when considered in light of unique circumstances related to the application.”
EVIDENCE: MPWMD Rule 11.
14. FINDING: Mrs. Rankin requested a variance from the separate metering requirement based on the hardship the cost of metering her caretaker unit would cause to her. She is 84 years old and living on a fixed income and must rent the unit to generate enough income to stay in the home she and her late husband built in 1975. Mrs. Rankin requested a waiver of the requirement for a second water meter for her property due to the extreme expense of metering and delivering the water to the one-bathroom caretaker unit located above the garage of her home.
EVIDENCE: Application for Variance
attached as Exhibit
A.
15. FINDING: The Board conditioned its approval of a variance by requiring an in-line water meter to the caretaker unit.
EVIDENCE: Action of the Board of Directors taken following a Public Hearing on this Request for Variance on August 15, 2011.
16. FINDING: Waiving a requirement for a separate water meter at 10 Vista Ladera, Carmel Valley, does not defeat the purposes of these Rules and Regulations due to the facts that (1) the Dwelling Unit is unusual and uniquely located, and (2) the circumstances of the Undue Hardship are extraordinary, and (3) an in-line meter will be installed in the water line supplying the caretaker unit.
EVIDENCE: The above stated facts and action of the Board of Directors taken following a Public Hearing on this Request for Variance on August 15, 2011.
17. FINDING: The Board approved the Request for Variance and waived the
requirement that a California American Water water meter be installed to
provide water service to the caretaker unit at 10 Vista Ladera, Carmel Valley.
EVIDENCE: Minutes of the August 15, 2011, meeting of the Board of Directors attached as Exhibit E.
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