08/19/2013 Planning Commission Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,August 19 2013 6:30 o'clock p.m. The following approvals are required: 1. A conditional use permit for establishing and operating a Class II restaurant with liquor within a 40' x 52' portion of the existing building which has previously been occupied by other unrelated businesses. 2. An element of the Cup request is for permission to allow outdoor seating at the rear of the newer restaurant, adjacent to the City-owned parking lot but within the applicant's property. The site plan and survey depictions do not provide dimensions for this patio area and dimensionally are inconsistent with each other. The patio appears to be around 350-400 square feet in area. The applicant has verbally indicated that the depictions are not accurate and the patio area is intended to be larger than that. The outdoor seating area is adjacent to a proposed 67 square foot vestibule addition to the building. 3. The application is subject to the Site Plan Review process established via Ordinance No. 68, Third Series, adopted in February, 2010. Gaffron noted this property was the subject of an intensive 10-month CUP review in 2005 and 2006 when the applicant was proposing to expand the Narrows Saloon into these spaces. That application was somewhat controversial and brought forth a variety of neighborhood concerns related to issues of building expansion, music/sound containment, parking and proposed outdoor smoking/seating areas in both the front and rear of the building. Ultimately, a pared-down approval was granted for the expansion per the findings and conditions of Resolution No. 5440 adopted in March, 2006. That plan was never followed through with by the applicant. Gaffron stated the outdoor dining area walls are ten feet from the west side lot line. The applicant's plans do not depict the height of any proposed wall or fence. The patio walls and fencing, if less than six feet in height, will be considered as a non-encroachment on yard requirements. From Staff's perspective, the fences and walls proposed are clearly a non-encroachment. The fire place may fall under the category of recreational equipment and the Planning Commission should consider whether the fireplace fits within the definition of non-encroachments. As was the case in 2005 and 2006, a primary concern for both the interior and exterior use and the potential activity associated with the businesses has to do with parking. It is difficult to park anything on the property. The question is whether there will be any parking available on the applicant's site and whether there will be adequate parking in the City lot since the proposed use adds a requirement for 13 additional parking stalls based on the square footage. Gaffron indicated the applicant is also proposing seating in the basement consisting of 1,250 square feet, which would bring the total square footage of the restaurant to 2,750 square feet. Storage and non-public spaces will total approximately 1,250 square feet. The exterior public space in the patio area is likely around 750 to 1,000 square feet. The applicant's architect has not provided information regarding seating capacity, occupant load, or parking demand. A parking analysis conducted in 2005 showed some parking stalls abutting the Narrows building. That area has not been striped in recent years and it is unclear whether that parking area will eventually be eliminated. At that time it was determined that 52 parking stalls would be required. Based on Staff's calculations of public floor areas for the new restaurant and patio area, it is anticipated that 70 parking Page 2 of 28