10-28-2019 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 14, 2019 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 16 Based on those discussions, adjustments were made to the final ordinance, including a definition of Lakeshore, which has been replaced with Ordinary High-Water Line. There was also some discussion about how the nearest lakeward projection of the adjacent homes are determined. In instances when the surveyor cannot obtain permission to access a neighboring property, the City has and will continue to accept information based on satellite imagery. As directed by the City Council, the proposed ordinance does not make wholesale changes to the Average Lakeshore regulations and will impact only a small percentage of lake lots. Staff recommends adoption of the ordinance. Johnson noted he provided an example at the last meeting of a complication with the average lakeshore setback ordinance and that he would like to get clarity on some of the language since it is an important document and will impact a number of people. The first concern is the different verbiage that is used. In the ordinance the words principal building is used three times, residence building is used three times, and structure and a building is also used. Johnson stated he would like to get some consistency in the words that are being used. The first line of the ordinance says, “No principal or accessory building shall be located closer to the Ordinary High- Water Line than the average distance from the shoreline of existing residence buildings on adjacent lots. Johnson asked whether residence building is different than what is being referenced as a principal building. Barnhart noted Staff is not proposing any change to that. Johnson indicated he would like to have some consistency in the terms used and that he is wondering whether principal should be used in place of residence building. City Attorney Mattick noted under Paragraph B, Staff inserted the term principal building since the term principal building is something that is used throughout the Code. The existing language of residence building was not modified. To be consistent, the term principal could be substituted in place of residence. Barnhart indicated Staff can make that change. Johnson stated where the language was clarified, it was switched to principal building. This issue came up when he presented the proposed ordinance to different folks that use the ordinance and they found it confusing. At the end of that same paragraph, the term residence building is used again. Under Paragraph A, the term residence building is used again. Johnson recommended the term principal building be used wherever the term residence building appears in the ordinance. Johnson stated in his view this is important because the ordinance does not apply to patios or other accessory structures less than 42 inches above existing grade. The ordinance goes on to list stairways, lifts, landings, lockboxes, flagpoles, and pump houses. Johnson asked whether that is referring to deck stairs. Barnhart stated only if they are above 42 inches.