03-07-1995 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON MARCH 7, 1995 PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING - FOURTH WORKSHOP • PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF ZONING CODE TO ALLOW DOMESTIC ABUSE SHELTER AT PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2380 SHADYWOOD ROAD booming commercial area. Schroeder said that there are two commercial areas in Orono, one around the City Hall area and one in Navarre, but have received no application for anything business - related for this site. Mabusth reported that, in 1987, the City invited business owners to discuss development. No initiative resulted from a landowner. Jackie Meyer said that during her visits to shelters, she saw only young children. There were single women too. She felt that women will sometimes stick out a situation until children come along and then face the problem. The playrooms she visited were large and contained toys for young children. She did not see any adolescent problems. Pasch asked the reasons why the Mound site was found not appropriate for the shelter. iHessburg said that after six months in the process, it was determined not to be a good location. He said there were four reasons why the shelter did not work out for the Mound site: 1)council attitude; 2) site itself - monitoring wells and water condition, leaking fuel tanks; 3) neighbor and community opposition; and 4) timeline. The project ran out of time to solve the problems in the time frame allowed by the convent. Schroeder said that this is an emotionally charged issue. Property values should not be affected when standards are set and the shelter operates quietly. Hessburg said that the Sojourner neighborhood found that their fears of lowered property values were unfounded. Hessburg said the condition of the building on the Navarre site is deteriorating rapidly. Schroeder feels that a residential area is not appropriate for a shelter but this location is good. He feels the shelter will be used by Orono residents but will be • filled by the larger community. lei