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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br /> Tuesday,January 19,2021 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> because apparently it has not been met for the other panels. Those two panels somehow then do not have <br /> adequate access to sunlight and yet the rest of the roof does;he does not believe that would then meet the <br /> practical difficulty. <br /> Mr. O'Connell commented that they can pick any two panels they want; if he was to build it with 28 <br /> panels,the design would remove those"donut hole"ones. In the big roof plane that Barnhart pointed out <br /> to the lower right,it is shaded in the summer and he could take two panels and find a roof plane more <br /> northerly,but he personally believes that would be terrible aesthetically because it would be seen from the <br /> lake or from the neighbor's backyard. All the other roofs are lower and he wanted to put those two panels <br /> on that same roof plane as the other ones and butted up against the 70%challenge. The maximum <br /> number of panels that can go on that roof is 30 and he could put two somewhere else but it will be <br /> difficult to wire them to that array and have it not be visible from the lake or the neighbor's house. <br /> Chair Ressler noted with Mayor Walsh and Councilmember Seals present,they can speak to the issue. <br /> Mayor Dennis Walsh, 1354 West Point Circle,approached the podium and said this is a great opportunity <br /> as they see things like this at the City Council. When the last one came before them the first question,he <br /> asked Barnhart and the City Attorney is"why do we have 70%?" He needs to understand that before he <br /> can assess what is going on. The answer was"we have no idea why we have 70%." Mayor Walsh noted <br /> they just had a boat discussion at the last City Council meeting and asked where did they come up with a <br /> 30-foot boat rule...someone remembered 25 years ago they made it 30 feet because there was a <br /> Councilmember who had a 30-foot boat and he wanted to be able to put it in his yard so they changed it to <br /> 30 feet. He appreciates Bollis saying he does not see a practical difficulty for 70%; however,the problem <br /> is why the City even has 70%and nobody knows. Is it a fire code requirement? No. He asked what is <br /> the real issue? Then as Mr. O'Connell said he could move the panels somewhere else and then there are <br /> practical difficulties of connecting it in and what if they eventually have to replace the roof;nothing else <br /> really faces south that is anywhere close. Mayor Walsh noted they can always come up with a good <br /> practical difficulty but it begs the question of "why do we have it?" He said at the City Council they look <br /> at what ordinances they should try and attack or change because there are 20 of them and they only have <br /> so much time to rewrite with the Attorney,go through them, and bring it through the public process. He <br /> noted it gets them thinking. When they start to get to those"why"questions and they do not get answered, <br /> that is when the Planning Commission and City Council starts saying they recommend approving or <br /> disapproving but they also recommend that the ordinance needs to be looked at and changed to reflect the <br /> real issue of why there is a percentage and what it should be. There needs to be a rationale so the City can <br /> explain it to an Applicant; when they cannot explain it that becomes a bigger issue. Mayor Walsh said <br /> over time they try and fix as many of these as they can but sometimes,they do not know they have them <br /> until situations like this come up. Then after talking about them they say"why is this here?" <br /> Gettman said to the Mayor,the way Gettman was looking at this was perhaps completely backwards,but <br /> looking at the 70%it is obviously applicable for each roof face. So,the practical difficulty is the fact that <br /> the Applicant is trying not to use all of these other faces and is stuck with just using one of these ten <br /> faces. The practical difficulty is then trying to utilize that one space. <br /> Mayor Walsh answered that is absolutely a practical difficulty as well. <br /> Gettman asked if he is missing something because the Applicant could literally have 70%of each and <br /> every one of those roof faces and asked if that is correct. <br /> Page 21 of 28 <br />