01-19-2021 Planning Commission Packet

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Orono City Chair Ressler Orono City Planning Commission Members January 19, 2021 Page 2 The Jacobs Estate's representatives have explained that the property is going to be converted into a Homeowners Association and a new westbound turn lane will be needed to access the new development. As explained, below, there are multiple problems with the proposed development and the Orono City Planning Commission should table all consideration of the proposed development so that the Jacobs' family's representatives can further discuss the proposed development with neighbors. On Friday, January 15, 2021, we met via Zoom with the applicant's developer, Tim Whitten, AIA, and the applicant's counsel, Pat Steinhoff, for 35 minutes and basic questions could not be answered by the Jacobs'family's representatives. A Planning Commission Meeting is not the locale for resolving neighbor concerns. A continuing discussion between the Jacobs'family representatives and neighbors is needed. Either the Orono Planning Commission should reject the application or, at a minimum, take no action this evening and table all discussion. I. Background. At the Orono City Council Meeting held on October 26, 2020, we raised concerns regarding the seven-lot subdivision proposed by the Irwin L. Jacobs 2018 Revocable Trust (the "Jacobs Trust") located at 1700 Shoreline Drive, Orono (the "Jacobs Property"). In response, the Jacobs Trust withdrew its proposed plat and submitted a conceptual drawing for a revised, six-lot plan on November 18, 2020. We received Jeremy Barnhart's two-page letter to the Jacobs Trust's representative dated November 19, 2020, detailing some of the City of Orono's comments and concerns regarding the revised plan, and Mr. Barnhart's most recent Staff Recommendation dated January 19, 2021, recommending preliminary approval of the revised subdivision. At tonight's Planning Commission meeting, the Planning Commission may decide whether to recommend approval of or reject the proposed six-lot subdivision. For reasons stated below, we believe the Planning Commission should recommend denial of the proposed subdivision or, at a minimum, table discussion of the proposed six-lot development until the Jacobs' family representatives can answer questions in detail and provide detailed engineering to address concerns. In addition to these written comments objecting to the proposed subdivision, Mrs. Burwell requests that I be allowed to address the Planning Commission and then she requests that she separately be able to address the Planning Commission to explain why the proposed subdivision must be rejected or, at a minimum, consideration of the proposed subdivision should be tabled. 2 6733724v1