05/20/2013 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,May 20,2013 6:30 o'clock p.m. There are some differences between the City's current code and how the Watershed operates. In particular, currently the City has in their code the requirement for existing residences that when they meet certain triggers, a person is required to do a delineation in most cases and create and establish a wetland buffer anywhere from 16 feet to 50 feet plus. The City also put in place at that time a requirement for a 20-foot setback from the edge of the buffer,which may result in as much as a 70-foot buffer from the edge of wetland. Those buffers were established from a functional assessment of wetlands, which was a process where all of the wetlands within the City consisting of a quarter acre or larger were reviewed and analyzed by the Watershed District. The City ultimately ended up with different widths of buffers and a set of standard for how they were to be created,requirements for legally establishing it with a legal description and filing of documents, etc. Staff has had a number of discussions with the Watershed Staff Staff is confident, following those discussions,that for nonresidential situations,their requirements and the way they administer them will be equally if not more protective of the wetlands than the City's codes. For residential situations,the Watershed District has likewise experienced some frustration in how they administer the regulations. The Watershed District does not have any requirements for establishing buffers when someone is just doing an addition to their house or doing some work on the property. The only time they would require a buffer as part of someone's project is if they are rebuilding the house in its entirety and there is a net increase in hardcover. If there is not one of those triggers,they do not require a buffer be established. Going forward in the future,the Watershed District is looking at reducing their requirement for buffers to 25 feet for all new residential development. In addition, they would not have a setback from the buffer. From the perspective of residential properties, the City historically has had a 26-foot setback. The Watershed District, if they take over all of the buffering for residential housing, will require a 25-foot buffer as a minimum but not much more. Staff would like to propose that in order to keep a 10-foot gap between the edge of whatever buffer the Watershed District might require and a building,the City should require a 35-foot setback from the wetland for any structure. In addition, Staff would not be proposing a buffer requirement for the City. In some situations where the City would like to have a defined setback,there would be a delineation process and there is a potential for having two levels of delineation. A level one delineation would mostly be done in the office based on maps and aerial photos or whatever information is available. Staff would then determine if there is or is not an issue. Whether that is done in-house or whether the consulting engineer would do it is still a question mark at this point. Gaffron noted this would reduce the costs from requiring a full-blown delineation. A level two delineation would be where someone would go out and examine the soils and topography, etc., and require that it be placed on a survey. If someone is proposing an addition that looks like it is close to a buffer,the concern is if the City does not have a setback requirement and the Watershed does not have a requirement to do a delineation, someone could construct an addition right up to the wetland, which is why Staff is proposing to have a 35-foot setback. Based on Staffs report and the discussions with the City Council and Planning Commission, Staff has put together a draft ordinance which strikes out most of the references to buffers and, in some places, incorporates new language. Section 78-1605, as an example, adds language about setbacks. Also,there Page 22 of 25