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 1 of 1 8. LA20-000060 CITY OF ORONO TEXT AMENDMENT RELATED TO AMENDMENTS TO VARIANCES. STAFF: JEREMY BARNHART. Barnhart said when the Commission reviews a variance, they see the plans attached. When those variances are approved, those plans are attached to the resolution. Occasionally some minor changes need to be made that are identified during the construction process. If those changes are minor but still would require a variance, Staff has taken those through the City Council process and at an open meeting, Council can say this minor change is appropriate and they are going to amend the resolution. If it’s a major change, they go through the process of public hearings and all of that. He said that is the practice they’ve been doing for 15-20 years. The City Code technically doesn’t allow that practice, and the City Attorney has suggested they adjust the code to allow that practice just described (Planning Staff makes a determination if a proposed amendment is appropriate or minor, if the Council concurs, they can approve that minor change, if not, they can remand it back through the public hearing process. He noted this ordinance codifies what Barnhart has just described. Staff recommends approval as drafted. Gettman asked Barnhart how they continue to document the minor changes. Barnhart replied they re-publish the resolution with new drawings. He said the reason they’re doing this for the variance process is because State statute doesn’t require public hearing for variances, it is Orono’s own rule, so in the City Attorney’s view they can adjust it that way. Chair Ressler noted the scope is two-fold, one is to preserve time, because it seemed to be a minor change, and two being mindful that if there is something the Council would like the Commission’s feedback, they can send it back to them. He said it doesn’t relieve the Commission of being able to weigh in if the Council has discretion and opinion to do so. Chair Ressler opened the public hearing at 9:24 p.m. Chair Ressler closed the public hearing at 9:24 p.m. Kirchner moved, Gettman seconded, to approve LA20-000060 City of Orono Text Amendment Related to Amendments to Variance as applied. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0.