06-12-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF ORONO Council PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Exhibit B Monday, May 15,2017 17-3941 6:30 o'clock p.m. 10. 17-3941 Orono Public Schools, 685 Old Crystal Bay Road, Text Amendment, 9:05 P.M. — 9:15 P.M. Justin McCoy, Orono Public Schools, was present. Barnhart noted this is a joint application with the City and the Orono Public Schools. The school district property is zoned RR -113, which is primarily a residential zoning district. Some cities have institutional zoning for churches and schools, which Staff also reviewed as part of this application. With the goal of trying to avoid the school district having to go through a number of steps to gain approval for a project that the City would normally allow, Staff is recommending some changes to the zoning district that would make schools located on property 15 acres or larger a permanent use. This would help the existing middle school, high school, intermediate school, and elementary school so they would be a permitted use. With the change, the maintenance shed that was reviewed earlier would be part of a site plan review and approved administratively. Barnhart stated the reason why the 15 acres is an important component of this is that a new school complex would likely still need to go through the conditional use process, which allows the neighbors to comment on the application. Generally issues associated with schools are traffic and intensity. The proposed ordinance would allow the school district to make improvements to their property under the site plan review. Thiesse asked if someone would be able to open a charter school on 15 acres. Barnhart indicated that would operate as a permitted use under the proposed text amendment. Barnhart stated lighting on a football or soccer field would require a conditional use permit since it would impact the neighbors. Staff recommends approval of the text amendment. Page I of 2