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CITY OF ORONO MEMORANDUM <br />DATE: August 12, 2019 <br />TO: Mayor and City Council members <br />Dustin Rief, City Administrator <br />FROM: Jeremy Barnhart, AICP, Community Development Director <br />RE: Prioritization of General Amendments <br />In the past, the City Council and Planning Commission have met to develop priorities regarding <br />amendments to the City Codes. The last such prioritization was in the fall of 2016. The results <br />from that meeting are attached. <br />Before the next meeting, which is anticipated for sometime this fall, Staff has identified several <br />amendments that are necessary to improve government operations, the applicant experience and <br />protect the public health and welfare. These subjects should be reviewed now as they impact day <br />to day activity of city hall staff. They are: <br />Special Event Ordinance. Special events are a common occurrence in Orono, and include large <br />fundraising events, fireworks displays, home tours, road races, etc. These events have the <br />potential to negatively impact neighboring properties if not carefully managed. As these events <br />have evolved, so to does our review process. Staff proposes to draft an ordinance the reviews the <br />trigger events, the review process, and the approval authority. Lastly, the distinction between <br />city special events (the dog park in Lurton event) and others should be reviewed. Staff does not <br />propose or anticipate a limit to the number of parties at a property, as was briefly discussed in <br />February 2017. <br />Subdivision Ordinance. The subdivision ordinance should be reviewed. Issues identified include <br />the subdivisions exception process (boundary line adjustments) appear to be used to circumvent <br />the public review process, certain activities, including the creation of an easement, are <br />considered `subdivisions' when they are not, and the process should be reviewed for <br />conformance with state statutes. <br />Land Uses. In light of the recent approval of the Comprehensive Plan, a review of the permitted, <br />conditional, and accessory uses in all districts should be completed. Ideally, these should be <br />reviewed periodically, but Staff is unaware of the last comprehensive review. Recent changes <br />have occurred as requested by a property owner, in an ad hoc fashion. <br />These are identified as more pressing issues. Staff desires authorization to begin the review <br />process on these topics. <br />