07-22-2019 Council Work Session Packet

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CITY OF ORONO MEMORANDUM DATE: July 22, 2019 TO: Mayor Walsh, City Council members Dustin Rief, City Administrator FROM: Jeremy Barnhart, AICP, Community Development Director RE: Docks as Principal Uses At their meeting on June 10, 2019, after a request by Councilmember Johnson, the Council directed staff to prepare information related to allowing docks as a permitted use; currently, the City of Orono allows docks as an accessory use in lake oriented residential zoning districts. Each zoning district lists permitted, conditional, and accessory uses. These are the uses that are allowed in that district. Conditional uses are allowed with a permit issued by the City Council, and accessory uses are allowed with a principal or conditional use. Accessory uses are defined: Accessory use, building, or structure means a use, building, or structure subordinate to and serving the principal use or building on the same lot and customarily incidental to the principal use or building. Sec. 78-1432. - Time of construction. No accessory building or structure shall be constructed on any lot prior to the time of construction of the principal building to which it is accessory. Purpose. Allowing certain structures as accessory to principal uses is a basic land use principal. Staff has not found an instance where accessory uses are allowed on property prior to the principal structure. Principal uses establish and define the character of that district, and provide the land uses appropriate for that area of the community, e.g. Residential uses in residential districts, commercial in commercial, etc. These principal uses typically involve substantial investment. If the Council feels that docks are an acceptable principal use in Orono, docks would be added as a principal or conditional use in the Lake districts, rather than amend the code to allow accessory uses without a principal use. Area community regulation. Staff researched other communities to understand their regulation, and all require a principal structure prior to construction of an accessory structure. This comparison is attached as Exhibit A. History. There is significant history in the city that accessory structures, including docks, be located on a lot already improved with a principal structure, though there have been some exceptions: Joint Use Docks. The city licenses 10 joint use docks a year, 8 of these are the only structure on that parcel. Joint use dock configurations are allowed by city code, starting in section 94-36, attached as Exhibit B. These configurations often appear to be developed as part of the platting process. The last "new" joint use dock was on the shared property line between lots 850 and 860 Windjammer known as Pirates Cove, and that appeared to correct an existing condition. The 2014 staff report prepared for this item is attached as Exhibit C.