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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br /> Tuesday,January 19,2021 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> Chair Ressler asked to do that. <br /> Mr. Dean said the reason he thought that was important,they can see that by anchoring that proposed <br /> house pad on lot 3 will not work as it does not obey the 30-foot setback and the bluff designation that was <br /> drawn is only to show the bluff that is already on lot 5 but extends into lot 3. They can tell from that <br /> proposed house pad designation that it is already on a bluff—that house can never be put there. Once <br /> they take that proposed house pad on lot 3 of Tanager Estates and bring it down to where the correct and <br /> only location is,they will wipe out the whole house on lot 5. It cannot be built there. One of the <br /> problems with this proposed subdivision is they basically have a 19-acre parcel of land and less than 60% <br /> of the land is buildable. Mr. Dean included a table he cut and pasted from Barnhart's presentation to <br /> explain why this is such a difficult parcel of land. Less than 60%is buildable,there are two lakes so there <br /> are two ALS lines,there are bluffs,wetlands, and existing neighbors. This all makes for a very <br /> challenging situation to be able to build on this particular parcel. The problem they have is the Applicant <br /> is asking for too many lots,noting they went from 7 down to 6 but that is not enough. Mr. Dean said they <br /> have to drop it down more. It is not the Planning Commission's or City Council's job or Mr. Dean's job <br /> or Ms.Burwell's job to do the Applicant's job. Their job is to propose a plan that works and noted this <br /> does not work and Mr. Dean has given several examples why. When they take out the anchor spot of the <br /> proposed house plan on lot 3,the whole subdivision falls apart and Mr.Dean asks that the Planning <br /> Commission does not approve but instead rejects the plan and they do not take the easy way out of <br /> approving the plan with many conditions. He said no,make the Applicant come back with an actual plan <br /> that works and then come back to the Planning Commission. Mr. Dean said when he talked the previous <br /> week with Mr. Whitten and Mr. Steinhoff,they were actually pretty accommodating and got more <br /> accomplished in a 30-minute zoom call than they did in the last six months. He said"here is what you do, <br /> you say we're not ready to act because what we've heard so far tells us that there are problems with this <br /> proposed subdivision. Go back and talk to your neighbors." Mr. Dean said they can do it via a Zoom <br /> call and get their measurements and engineer drawings and once they are ready and can actually provide a <br /> plan that works,then they should come back to the Planning Commission but that is not today. <br /> Chair Ressler noted they ask people to limit their comments to five minutes and he knows this is a big <br /> project but asked Mr. Dean to try to condense. <br /> Mr. Dean said lot 5 of the subdivision is not buildable in its current location and that is the whole <br /> problem. Once they don't have lot 5,they have to reject the whole thing. He asked if the Planning <br /> Commission can think of another project where there is a requirement for a residential turn lane where the <br /> Applicant's land is not being used but rather a neighbor's land is being use. Mr. Dean said the Planning <br /> Commission is being asked to approve the taking of Barbara Burwell's land and why would they ever do <br /> that? It is just going to put the City in a bad position. The cul-de-sac still is not less than 1,000 feet and <br /> he has confirmed that with Barnhart,they have no calculations. He does not need someone to come up <br /> here and say it actually is 1,000 feet,he needs to see the calculation that shows it is less than 1,000 feet. <br /> Traffic with 6 homes is not just one car and noted he had four vendors come out to his house today <br /> working on appliances,snow removal,and everything else. He said to think about what that will be like <br /> for 24 homes and these will not be 2 car garages but will be 3 and 4 car garages and there will be way too <br /> much traffic. In looking at lot 3 of Tanager Estates,not only does it meet that 30-foot setback on the <br /> bluff, look right underneath it there is a wetland buffer monument;they have a bluff problem and a <br /> wetland problem and are asking the Planning Commission to approve their problems and foist their <br /> problems on Barbara Burwell. He asked the Commission,please don't do it. <br /> Page 7 of 28 <br />