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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY PLANNING COMMISSION <br /> Monday,October 21,2013 <br /> 6:30 o'clock p.m. <br /> Grittman noted the Comprehensive Plan deals with land use density and not lot density. The overall <br /> residential pattern is one unit per two acres of developable land generally and lot sizes may vary if the <br /> applicant chooses a plat process that will accommodate that. The other rural land use pattern that is <br /> common within Orono is a rural land use consisting of one unit per five acres,which is a category in the <br /> Comprehensive Plan that was established for the northwest portion of the community. Grittman indicated <br /> the map shows the existing land uses for the surrounding area as well as the golf course. <br /> As one of the factors that were identified as part of the amendment process, Grittman stated it is apparent <br /> the pattern of a rural environment is a major goal of the Community Management Plan,whether it is open <br /> space or residential development. Rural residential is a prominent land use in the existing neighborhood <br /> around the golf course except for the MUSA portion. Urban land uses within the MUSA exist to the east <br /> and to the south. Most of the proposed development services are proposed to be private so there should <br /> be relatively minimal impacts on general city public services as a result of the change. <br /> One of the most prominent issues that was raised by the project relate to transportation. Grittman stated <br /> the project is likely to change the transportation pattern. There are already existing concerns with the <br /> roadways in the area. As a result,transportation issues have been identified as one area that needs to be <br /> looked at closer. <br /> Grittman noted there have also been changes in the economy that would compel the City to consider a <br /> land use change. Grittman stated to elaborate on that a little bit,the golf course designation or parks and <br /> open space designation restricts the private use of this property to an open space category. One of the <br /> restricting factors for the City, when you look at land use regulation, is the City is allowed to regulate <br /> land use but the City has to create a viable,beneficial use of the property for a private property owner. <br /> The City cannot regulate it in a way that takes beneficial use away from private owners. Grittman noted <br /> that factor is applicable to other developments as well. Grittman noted an open space district provides <br /> very few opportunities for the property owner to make beneficial use of the property. <br /> Grittman stated the City's land use regulatory authority is also limited in a way that the City cannot place <br /> burdens on individual property owners that are not in proportion to their impact in the system. In this <br /> particular case, open space preservation as a goal of the City cannot be borne by a single property owner <br /> and it crosses the line in that cities are not allowed to require that of private property owners in dealing <br /> with land use. <br /> Grittman stated from a Comprehensive Plan standpoint, the surrounding land uses are predominantly rural <br /> residential. The current zoning is RR-1B,which allows rural residential development at one dwelling unit <br /> per two acres of dry land. The roadways in this area are definite issues and are factors that any <br /> development would have to consider. Grittman recommended a traffic study be considered but noted that <br /> rural residential would likely have the least amount of impact as compared to other residential uses. <br /> Grittman noted retaining the current open space designation is not economically viable for the private <br /> land owner. The City cannot compel a single property owner to provide public space out of the scope that <br /> the individual property owner contributes to that cause. Grittman stated he would recommend the City <br /> consider a change to the land use for this parcel and that the question becomes what the scope of the <br /> change will be and what the development may look like. <br /> In addition,the applicant has prepared a sketch plan to illustrate what they propose to do with the <br /> property. Grittman noted sketch plans are done before a lot of the supporting data is known and is <br /> Page 25 of 42 <br />