04-27-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 13, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. __________________________________________________________________________________ Page 21 of 40 (7. #14-3686 JOHN BESSESEN AND TOM WASMOEN ON BEHALF OF DAVID DELANEY, 2500 KELLEY AVENUE continued) In addition, Lydiard Court and Lydiard Street have older single-family homes set back from the street with large established trees, large yards, and are within walking distance to the public beach on Lake Minnetonka. In addition, there is a large number of wildlife found in the area, significant green space, wetlands, and close proximity to the lake. Fredrickson noted it is a quiet, serene neighborhood by the lake, which they would like to see preserved. Fredrickson stated the twinhome project as proposed also is in stark contrast to the well-established look and feel of the neighborhood and the single-family dwellings all around it. Fredrickson stated the neighbors are simply asking the developer to build single-family homes and that they are begging the City Council to vote against the twinhome proposal tonight, which will allow this developer and landowner to come up with appropriate single-family options. Fredrickson stated the neighbors are tired of having to come here. Fredrickson stated she and the other residents do not want their town to look like the mistakes being made in Wayzata. Orono is not known to be easy to work with and are very tough at sticking with the guidelines. Fredrickson stated what the neighbors are asking is that the Council stick with their obligations and duty to keep this a beautiful place since they are responsible for protecting the look and feel of this area. Fredrickson stated high density belongs in certain places and that they are saying this particular lot, this steep wooded lot, is not the right place for it. Fredrickson noted the Community Management Plan says this land is currently zoned LR-1B, one family lakeshore residential district, which permits residential use with a minimum lot size of one acre per dry buildable acre and 140-foot lot widths. This property has 3.0 dry buildable acres and is therefore zoned for three one-acre single-family homes. Fredrickson stated if the Council is going to approve this development, they would have to ignore the following suggested guidelines, minimum requirements, and zoning laws: 1. The residential areas of urban Orono are primarily suitable for single-family development. 2. A wider range of housing types will be provided by planned residential developments of attached townhomes. These clusters or multiple family developments will be acceptable only where full urban services are available and only where the proposed density is compatible with the neighborhood and with the local environmental constraints. 3. Multi-family developments will generally not be considered appropriate for lands within 1,000 feet of Lake Minnetonka. Fredrickson noted this property is located 450 feet from Lake Minnetonka. Multi-family developments are also not appropriate for areas that have limited public transportation access to outside employment and shopping facilities. 4. In addition, County Road 15, particularly in Navarre, is far over capacity. It is not practical from an economical or environmental standpoint to expand County Road 15 to increase its capacity. Therefore, additional housing options will be primarily developed along the Highway 12 corridor in specifically identified areas that are or will be served by urban services. City Council Meeting April 27, 2015 Page 23 of 257