06-11-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday, May 21, 2018 6:30 o'clock p.m. Libby stated it was more about visibility and how monuments could potentially obstruct someone's line of sight. Libby commented there are a lot of components and moving targets when dealing with safety. Chair Thiesse closed the public hearing at 7:15 p.m. Ressler asked if these rules are unique to Orono. Curtis indicated some cities will not allow gates and other cities require a certain opacity and that it tends to be a community preference. Curtis noted she included some information from neighboring communities in the packet. Thiesse noted someone can run a fence right up to a monument that is 100 percent opaque. Thiesse stated in his view limiting the amount of opaqueness is a good idea. Seals asked whether the police and fire departments have weighed in on this. Curtis stated the police and fire departments have indicated they want to be able to access the gate in the event of an emergency. Curtis noted the lock box requirement is not changing under the draft ordinance. Landgraver stated to his understanding the original intent was to prevent a monotony along the streets and that during the Comprehensive Plan update, they have heard a lot about the openness of Orono. Landgraver questioned whether the City should be encouraging people to construct that type of barricade and that perhaps keeping some transparency or visibility would be a good idea. Landgraver asked who is going to measure the opacity and what will determine the right amount. Landgraver stated he does not have a good answer for that. Lemke commented he would like to see a little visibility to the gate since it helps to improve the appearance of the gate. Lemke stated the 25 percent makes sense for the opaqueness. Thiesse noted the City is not stopping someone from making the gate more transparent and that the ordinance would just allow somebody to have a little more privacy. Thiesse asked how many gates there are in Orono. Curtis indicated she did not do an inventory but that there are quite a few. Ressler stated he is okay with it being a lesser number and that requiring a gate to have 25 percent openness into a property where there is a privacy fence around the entire property still affords a lot of privacy. Ferrer stated in his situation it is open area with a driveway that has a gate and that it should be something that is subjective since every situation is different rather than just black and white. Barnhart stated the City has to make the language black and white rather than subjective. Barnhart commented this might be a little bit like a solution in search of a problem. Staff has provided some research from other cities and it is all over the board. Barnhart stated the Planning Commission can debate whether it should be 35, 50, or 75 percent, but that he would like to avoid a situation where the City does not know what they are trying to achieve. Barnhart stated the direction from the City Council was to remove sections from the Code that were not needed.