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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday March 13,2017 <br />7:00 o'clock p.m. <br />15. #17-3897 CITY OF ORONO TEXT AMENDMENT: SPECIAL EVENTS — Ordinance — <br />Tabled — Continued - <br />Staff is not going to necessarily know about private events, but in the case where someone's event <br />impacts the neighbors, there should be some protection to them. <br />The Planning Commission did hold a public hearing at their February meeting and no public comments <br />were received. During the Planning Commission discussion, there were questions related to the issuance <br />of permits. Special event permits are reviewed by the clerk and police chief and then issued by the clerk's <br />office. There is no public hearing. Barnhart noted this is not a zoning code issue but actually is located <br />within the traffic section of the code. <br />Seals stated she was not on the Council when this was discussed last year, and upon reading the draft <br />ordinance, she struggled with it since it sounded like the government was trying to be big brother and <br />mandate parties at people's homes, which she has no interest in doing. Seals asked what the true problem <br />is that they are trying to fix. Seals stated her assumption is even if you changed the ordinance and said <br />that someone cannot do three parties over the weekend, they will do two. <br />Seals stated the City Council needs to talk about this since it disrupted a whole neighborhood but that she <br />does not feel comfortable with the ordinance since it appears to be a little too invasive. Seals stated <br />theoretically ftmdraising parties and galas would or could fall under this. <br />Walsh stated he also struggled with the language. Walsh commented this is a complicated issue because <br />Orono has people on large lots with large driveways and their events do not cause a problem but there are <br />different issues in other neighborhoods. Walsh stated he does not know how to quantify it and that he <br />does not want to be in the party enforcement business. Walsh stated the City did have a problem that <br />came up but that he has been struggling with how to deal with it since the events did not really generate <br />any noise or traffic issues. <br />Walsh noted the City Council has three new members on it since last fall and they do not have the history <br />on the issue. Walsh stated the Council should perhaps table it to gather more information and more <br />public input through another public hearing. Walsh stated people cannot park on the street he lives on at <br />all and when he has a party, the neighbors have to walk to his house. Walsh stated he does not want to pit <br />neighbor against neighbor whenever someone has a party. Walsh stated in his view the City Council <br />needs more public input to understand how to better deal with this and that it is similar to the quandary <br />the Council found itself in when trying to define a living wall. <br />Crosby stated he would like to hear from the public. <br />Dankey stated she heard a lot of the things already said that she has been thinking. Dankey stated when <br />she read through the draft ordinance she thought, no way, I do not want to support this. Dankey stated <br />she does attend a lot of charity parties in Orono and oftentimes they have more than 20 people. Dankey <br />stated the ordinance seems to be a little bit punitive and that it seems like the City is hitting everyone for <br />what may be one or two issues. Dankey stated she is not sure if there is another way to do this. <br />Seals stated she knows the Planning Commission and Staff have looked into this. Seals asked whether <br />Staff knows what other communities do in relation to this. <br />Page 26 of 32 <br />