09-09-2019 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 9,2019 7:00 o'clock p.m. Kelly Hueler stated people would look at it and say it is really aggressive and is a major change. If the Planning Commission's view is that the blue line should be adopted, is there going to be continued pressure to make these types of changes to City Code. Seals stated she does not feel pressure from the Planning Commission and that they are having a conversation about some options. Seals stated she would not have considered the blue line as an option. Walsh stated it is the Planning Commission's job to vet these changes and the City Council discusses it as well. Greg Hueler stated he is not sure how many lakeshore owners there are in Orono but that this could potentially impact a significant number of them. Hueler commented he would think the City Council would want everyone to understand it but he just found out about it a day ago. Walsh stated the Council option is to pick the best reasonable option, which is a tweak to what currently exists. Greg Hueler noted the Council's option has not been presented to the public prior to this and that the Council should consider having another public forum for people to comment on it. Kelly Hueler stated if there is a change to the code,the City could perhaps highlight it more. Walsh stated the City puts out public notices and that they are not able to send out individual notices to every resident. The options were discussed at the Planning Commission,the City Council meetings, and work sessions. Walsh commented it is good to have dialogue. Greg Hueler suggested having another forum to allow additional discussion. Johnson noted residents can sign up to receive the agendas. A lot of things go on and a lot of decisions are made, and the City meets their responsibility by posting it. As a citizen, if you care about these things,you have to stay active, and that he would recommend residents sign up to get those emails. Walsh noted the biggest item the City does every year is approve a budget and there have been zero people that have come to talk about it in the six or seven years he has been on the Council. Robin Dobson, 2499 Kelly Avenue, stated her understanding is one of the options is the red line. The question she has is what happens when the middle house is torn down. Is the old foundation grandfathered in or must they stay behind the new line. Seals stated the rule of the City is they can build in like and kind. If something is demolished,that old location no longer applies. Barnhart noted they can tear it down and rebuild within a certain period of time. That timeline is either a year or six months to obtain a building permit. Dobson asked whether the sightline can ever supersede the 75-foot setback. Walsh indicated it cannot. Page 6 of 10