04-27-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 13, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. __________________________________________________________________________________ Page 26 of 40 (7. #14-3686 JOHN BESSESEN AND TOM WASMOEN ON BEHALF OF DAVID DELANEY, 2500 KELLEY AVENUE continued) Bessesen stated Mike Gaffron has done a tremendous job and that he can see the advantages of keeping the conservation easement in place. Bessesen stated he is not able to keep the conservation easement in place if he constructs single-family homes. Bessesen stated it is harder to put together a twinhome project than what he initially thought and that Mr. Delaney hired him to do this because he does not want to be in the limelight. Bessesen stated Mr. Delaney would like to sell the property and does not want to get involved. McMillan stated it is the prerogative of Mr. Delaney not to appear. Gary Schroeder, 2565 Kelley Avenue, stated the flooding issue on Kelly has been addressed by Orono on at least three separate times in his lifetime. Schroeder indicated he has resided on Kelly since 1996 and that the flooding has never been cured. Schroeder stated as to the recent comments by his neighbor, he would like to take a show of hands of the people who were at that meeting and believe John Bessesen said he would walk away from that program and go back to single-family homes. Schroeder stated the show of hands is enough said. McMillan noted the neighborhood meeting was not an official city meeting but that she understands the comments of the neighbors. Wasmoen stated they were before the City two years ago with a different plan and Mr. Delaney was in attendance at that meeting. Wasmoen stated he does not want to argue about whether John lied at the neighborhood meeting or not since it is pointless. Wasmoen stated what he would like to get across is that from their standpoint, they are a professional architectural design company that is trying to design a project that fits in with this neighborhood and does not create additional runoff. Wasmoen stated the flooding and the traffic issues came as a big surprise to them. Wasmoen stated they were basically coming in with a concept plan and that was the first time the neighborhood group came in in masse. Wasmoen indicated he is in agreement with the neighbors that the whole neighborhood is a wet neighborhood, but that they are building on top of the hill and trying to stop water at the top of the hill from getting down to the bottom of the hill. Wasmoen stated the development will control the runoff from the property and that civil engineers will be working with them to ensure that that happens. Wasmoen stated from that stand point, that is the one issue they can have a little bit of impact on, but that they cannot do anything about the speed of vehicles on Kelly. Wasmoen stated larger global issues are being brought in that are impacting this neighborhood and that eight townhome units will just add a few more neighbors to the neighborhood. Wasmoen indicated they did listen and that they are trying to work within the points that help make this a good development and a good neighbor. Walsh stated he respects the developer’s role in getting the best use for the land but that it should be dovetailed with the neighborhood and the zoning. Walsh stated in his view the developer should follow the current zoning codes and that he does not believe the twinhomes will work on this site. City Council Meeting April 27, 2015 Page 28 of 257