10-12-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, September 21, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 6 density is one of the areas throughout the country where they’ve been very successful. In looking at this project and the way it’s located and the way the buildings are laid out, they’ve tried their best not to have the exposure on the outer part of the community (Willow and Wayzata). Mr. Saddiqui said the front of the house is towards the back, and serves very well on parcels like this one, and there are many commercial areas around it. He noted he is a little fearful of relocating the outlot as they will end up losing more units and the project wouldn’t be as viable as it stands. Looking at the number of units, it makes more sense to have 45-56 units, and came up with the best plan for what the lot is like. The price range will be approximately $360,000 to the low $400,000 range. Libby asked if there is a Home Owner’s Association (HOA). Mr. Saddiqui replied yes, the HOA is responsible for everything except sewer and water. Libby asked if they know what the HOA dues would be. Mr. Saddiqui did not know. Libby asked if on other projects, the dues are based on square footage. Mr. Saddiqui responded they are relatively the same, and the units are all mostly the same square footage. He said this is a new product in this market and they need to explore with the Association here. Kirchner said it looks like there are 100 feet of variation on the three different floor plans proposed with the smallest being 1,750 and the largest being 1,850. Barnhart said at the sketch plan level they don’t expect a huge amount of detail and things will change and that is why they don’t go into depth with the utility planning and things like that. They generally try to call out the high points. Gettman noted Mr. Barnhart brought up the fact that the outlot of the park area might be more open to the public as opposed to trying to gate the community and restrict it and asked if it would be as open if they flipped the outlot with Building 3739, thinking about the younger children who would use the playground and having them not exposed to the Kelley Parkway traffic. Mr. Saddiqui said the only reason he proposed fencing along the North with a gate is because people prefer that. He noted another way they could address it is with evergreens to create screening. He said he could look into flipping the buildings and said he’s trying to avoid the setbacks and then there is always the fear of losing more units. Gettman said looking across the street and to the left of the circle, it is well within the 15 feet. He noted the perimeter setbacks are sacred for the Commission as opposed to the space between the buildings, because they’re already townhomes. Mr. Saddiqui said one of the things they’ve done is to stay in three and four units, as people get more space, more lights, more windows, and that is what they prefer. He said he would try to look into possibly flip-flopping the buildings. Libby said he’s familiar with some of the concepts having to do with playgrounds, parks, and in this case an outlet. He asked if there is any engineering or design rationale that has to do with environment or