09-14-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, August 17, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 1 of 6 3. LA20-000030 and LA20-000050 ERIC LUTH O/B/O YMCA OF METRO MINNEAPOLIS AND GORDON JAMES INC., 135 ORONO ORCHARD ROAD, PRELIMINARY PLAT AND COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT, 7:31 P.M. – 8:07 P.M. John Quinlivan of Gordon James Inc., Applicant, was present. Staff presented a summary packet of information. Barnhart closed the presentation by saying A) Planning Staff recommends approval of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment as proposed. B.) Planning Staff recommends approval of the subdivision as proposed, subject to the following conditions: 1. Approval of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the MUSA expansion 2. Met Council approval of the connection point and permit for the sanitary sewer system. 3. MCWD approval of the stormwater management plan. 4. Council support from the strict reading of lot width standards for Lots 1 and 2. 5. City Engineer comments. 6. Planning staff comments. 7. Provision of a landscape plan. Ressler asked if Barnhart could cover the explanation of the Municipal Urban Service Area (MUSA) and how that affects the City’s density, since that is part of the 10-year Comprehensive Plan, he’d like to understand the effects of that one more time. Barnhart noted in the packet there is a worksheet (Table 3B-4) which had been put together with the Comprehensive Plan to show the results if nothing happened (Line 1), or if they pursued the action (Line 2). He said with the current Comprehensive Plan, the calculated City density (the density of all the properties throughout the community that are served by the MUSA) served by sanitary sewer is 4.684. That is important to note as there is property along the lakes that is guided for low density 2 acre lots and they do not want to add more density adjacent to the lake, so they created a capacity in a more recent Comprehensive Plan to allow connection of those larger lots to the City’s septic system without having to add another 50 story apartment building somewhere in town. Barnhart said the Council worked very hard on the last Comprehensive Plan to clarify where it is appropriate to put high density and in certain areas that are marginal, where it is not appropriate to put high density, as it has the rural character that is Orono. By adding that capacity there are certain areas, like the one before the Commission, which is a 13-acre parcel that can support 5 lots; If the City wants to serve that with sanitary sewer, they can do it without too big of a hit or having to add for density elsewhere. He said the Commission may recall a subdivision at 690 Brown Road a couple of years ago, which had 7 lots on 24 acres, again a large lot adjacent to Long Lake which is an impaired water, and allows them to provide sewer to that area without detriment to other areas in the community. Getting back to the chart, Barnhart noted the minimum density must be 3 units an acre or more (part of the Met Council rules) and Orono is at 4.685. With this change, by adding 13 acres, the total amount of acres in MUSA is 227.2 and based on the density guidance of all of that property, they are proposing 1,008 units and the density is 4.437. He said it is above the 3 unit minimum density, noting it’s a bit of a reduction from what they have now but not a huge change. As for the other columns in Table 3B-4, Barnhart noted the Met Council requires each City to identify opportunities for growth in two 10-year periods, the 2021-2030 period and the 2031-2040 period. Looking at all of the growth in the MUSA area, they had to identify a potential for this number of homes, noting the next layer is that the density is fine and the City has opportunities for new homes in the area.