09/17/2012 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,September 17,2012 6:30 o'clock p.m. based on meeting 80 percent of the required standards, is still relevant. Further, it generally seems unnecessary to put property owners through a variance process just for lot area or width, if all other zoning standards can be met. In addition, Staff has found that the language adopted earlier this year in Section 78-72 regarding hardcover is somewhat confusing and will become obsolete as soon as the new hardcover ordinance is adopted. A revision to three sections of 78-72 is proposed to resolve these issues. Through the years Staff has noted that many existing developed properties and vacant lots not meeting the 80 percent standard have needed just a lot width and/or area variance in order for a new home or teardown/rebuild to occur. In cases where all other zoning standards were met,these area/width variance applications have generally been approved with little or no discussion and seem to serve no real purpose. Staff has compared Orono's standards with those of other west metro cities for allowing nonconforming shoreland lots of record to be considered buildable and have found those standards to vary quite a bit. Gaffron stated with a small number of exceptions, virtually all of Orono's '/2 acre zones are within the designated Shoreland Overlay District and would be subject to the provisions of the statute,which override the local zoning standards. Properties not affected are the Hackberry neighborhood along North Willow Drive and the Chevy Chase—Northgate- Ferndale Green neighborhoods on North Ferndale Road. Each of these non-shoreland neighborhoods is fully developed, so the potential for development of additional homes on existing substandard lots of record is minimal or non-existent. At the same time,tear downs and rebuilds are likely but would simply be replacing existing homes. Also, while a small LR-1C '/2 acre zone area of Navarre between Northern Avenue and Togo Road is technically more than 1000 feet from the lake, all existing substandard lots in this area are fully developed and there are no substandard undeveloped record lots to be concerned about. The effective result is that Orono is now forced to allow many existing lakeshore and non-lakeshore lots to be developed or redeveloped that are much smaller than 80 percent of Orono's V2 acre or 1/acre area standards. If a property owner wants to build based on invoking the statute area and/or width provisions to avoid a variance, he is subject to the 25 percent hardcover limitation regardless of whether the lot is lakeshore or non-lakeshore,regardless of whether it is in Tier 1 or Tier 2 or Tier 3, and regardless of whether it is a single separate lot or part of a commonly owned group. Staff's goal would be to eliminate the need for a lot area or width variance in the V2 acre and 1 acre Shoreland sewered zones for existing nonconforming lots of record when all other zoning standards are met. Staff suggests there is no longer a substantial basis to retain the code section requiring lot area or width variances in the '/2 acre and lacre zones for shoreland lots that do not meet 80 percent of the zoning district requirement. A variance application would still be required for other zoning district standards if not met. Staff recommends that the 80 percent standard for lots of record in the sewered shoreland and non-shoreland '/2 acre and 1 acre zones be eliminated,with buildability remaining subject to meeting all other zoning district requirements. Gaffron stated the proposed language to Section 78-72(b0(1) is as follows: Page 16