07-08-2019 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 8,2019 7:00 o'clock p.m. The Planning Commission reviewed and discussed the project at their June meeting. The applicants clarified intent and scope for the improvements. The Commission seemed comfortable with the general improvements to the camp and the increase of camper population to 200. The Commissioners questioned the need for the bluff encroachment and some Commissioners questioned the need for the storage building at the lake. Ultimately the Commission voted 6-1 to recommend approval of the following: 1. 200 student enrollment. 2. A storage shed near the existing storage shed within the 75-foot lake yard. 3. Approval to extend the variance and conditional use permit timeline to allow five years instead of one year. The Commission did not recommend approval of the proposed encroachments into the bluff setback. The City Council should consider the issues outlined in the Staff report. If the City Council is in agreement with the Conditional Use Permit for the Master Plan, each variance request can be reviewed separately. If the Conditional Use Permit is denied,the requested variances should be denied as well. Sample motions are included in the Staff report. Rabbi Marsha Zimmerman stated she is the senior rabbi at Temple Israel and their organization is now 141 years old. Temple Israel has owned Camp Teko for the last 54 years and before that it was a Boy Scout camp. Temple Israel believes in the power of giving young people a camp experience because they know two of the top Jewish traditions or experiences are camping and a trip to the Jewish State of Israel. Temple Israel believes Camp Teko provides the children with a strong identity and teaches them the strength of independence. As it relates to the intensified use,they would like to use Camp Teko more often. The strategic plan developed in the past two years identified that the use of Camp Teko is very crucial and important and it should be used more. Currently Camp Teko is limited to 165 campers because of the possibility of inclement weather and there is a wait list because the available slots fill up within two weeks. The congregation would like to include more campers. Currently 40 percent of campers come from the congregation and 60 percent from the wider community. Richard Parker, Brandsetter Carroll, indicated he is a specialist with camp planning and has been doing it for approximately 40 years. Parker stated the way they look at planning for these projects is to understand and support the experience of the campers as a basis for development so everyone can enjoy the property and the program. Walsh noted he attended the Planning Commission meeting and that this is a great site for the camp and that he agrees with the findings of the Planning Commission. The 0-75-foot zone is a standard that the City upholds quite stringently, and the applicant should be encouraged to redo that storage shed. Walsh stated he also agrees with the recommendation to stay out of the bluff setback and that he would be comfortable with the five years. If there is some deviation from the plans,he would give Staff some flexibility to work with the applicant as long as there are no major issues or changes to the plan. Page 5 of 10