11/18/2013 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,November 18,2013 6:30 o'clock p.m. Proposed Lot 2,Block 1, consists of 0.35 acre with frontage along the road and cul-de-sac. The functional lot width measured perpendicular to the side lot lines is 90 feet. The suggested home site is set back the required 25 feet from the front and 35 feet from the wetland,but the shape of the buildable envelope is very restricting due to the lot configuration. A 15-foot drainage and utility easement along the east boundary will accommodate tree preservation and drainage. This extra-wide easement extends from the cul-de-sac to the wetland and will need to be explained why it is wider than normal. There is a rain garden proposed between Lots 1 and 2 that is partially in the proposed road right-of-way and partially within each lot. Maintenance covenants for this rain garden will have to be established. Lot 3,Block 1, consists of 0.32 acres of contiguous dry buildable, with an added 0.12 acres of dry buildable located north of the creek. Lot 4,Block 1, is proposed to have 0.32 acres of contiguous dry buildable,with an added 0.34 dry acres northeast of the creek. Lot 5, Block 1, will have 0.42 acres of dry buildable,with an additional 0.06 acres of dry land northeast of the creek. As it relates to the two lots south of the road,the only question that needs to be addressed is whether the side street setback to Willow should be 50 feet instead of the 25 feet depicted on the layout. One of the RPUD standards relates to the 15 percent lot coverage limit. The RPUD district does not specifically establish a lot coverage by structures limit. Instead,the RPUD standards limit individual lots to 50 percent hardcover and an individual floor area ratio of 0.5. This means that a 14,000 square foot lot is allowed 7,000 square feet of floor space. The seven proposed home footprints range from 1,750 square feet to 2,200 square feet,yielding lot coverages ranging from 7 percent to 12 percent. Although the applicant does not propose to build large homes, Staff believes it would be appropriate to limit home sizes based on the 15 percent lot coverage limit since this will avoid the creation of extremely large homes if just based on the floor area ratio. Gaffron noted the proposed landscaping plan has not been thoroughly reviewed by Staff. The RPUD standards require that each RPUD development shall provide a minimum of ten percent of the gross project area in private recreational uses for project residents. Such area shall be for active or passive recreational uses suited to the needs of the residents of the project. The applicant has been advised that 0.5 acre of the development site must be devoted to recreation area. This could be accomplished by establishing access easements to a walking trail to the proposed tree preservation area at the rear of Lots 3, 4, and 5, Block 2. Creation of that walking trail raises the question of whether the wetland and tree preservation areas should be incorporated into a separate outlot rather than as parts of individual lots. The developer will pay all costs of utility construction and installation. It is expected that Long Lake will charge unit connection fees for new connections to their system per the sewer and water agreement. In similar subdivisions involving developer-installed utilities, Orono has generally not collected a separate sewer or water connection charge. The applicant is proposing a 50-foot wide corridor to create a new public road with a 100-foot cul-de-sac, which conforms to the requirements within the subdivision ordinance for a local public road. This is proposed as a public road rather than private primarily because of the density, which was the basis for Glendale Cove being public. The proposed paved width of the public road is shown as 25 feet where the Code requires 28 feet for three to ten homes. The preliminary plat has not yet been forwarded to the Long Lake Fire Chief/Fire Marshall for review. Page 7 of 35