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To: Chair Ressler and Planning Commission Members <br /> Dustin Rief, City Administrator ti <br /> G.s. <br /> From: Jeremy Barnhart,AICP 1kESNo0' <br /> Community Development Director <br /> Date: January 21, 2020 <br /> Subject: #LA19-000091,City of Orono Text Amendment Related to Grading and Land <br /> Alterations <br /> Public Hearing <br /> Application Summary: The Amendment revises and restates the triggers, process, and <br /> procedure for the review of grading and land alteration activities in the city. <br /> Staff Recommendation: Planning Department Staff recommends the Commission begin the <br /> review of the draft, and hold a worksession at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, February 18th for review, <br /> prior to formal recommendation later that evening. <br /> Background <br /> The City Council identified the need to review the Grading and Land Alterations (GLA) at their <br /> workshop on September 23, 2019. At that meeting, a constituent noted the time it took to get <br /> the appropriate permits for grading in the lake yard (slope stabilization). Virtually all slope <br /> stabilization activity in the lake yard requires an Interim Use Permit,which triggers a public <br /> hearing process, and typically takes 6-8 weeks, making preventative work virtually impossible. <br /> In reviewing this process,staff noted that the DNR(in managing public waters impacts) requires <br /> a local permit for the activity, and does not require a public hearing(IUP or CUP). <br /> Further, staff has long received complaints about the lack of clarity in our current ordinance, <br /> which activity requires a permit, and the time consuming process. <br /> Lastly, regulations for grading and land alteration activity can be found in several different <br /> sections of the code:Grading and Land Alterations,Shoreland Management, Interim Use <br /> Permits, and Construction Site Run-Off Control. <br /> With these issues identified,staff has developed an amendment that clarifies what actions <br /> require permits,who reviews which permits,what is required for certain applications, and <br /> organizes those regulations in a logical way. <br /> Analysis <br /> Perhaps the most prominent changes to the process and procedures are summarized below and <br /> charted on the attached Exhibit B. All changes are shown; text with strikt*hroff formatting is <br /> proposed to be deleted,and underlined text is proposed to be added. <br /> 1. Grading and Land Alteration (GLA) regulations currently found in the shoreland overlay <br />