02-16-2021 Planning Commission Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Tuesday, February 16, 2021 6:00 o'clock p.m. With the guidance of 3-10 units/acre the Met Council expects to see about 9 units — with that difference between 9 and 37, they must identify sewered land elsewhere in the community or higher density to accommodate that additional growth. The City Council reviewed that as part of the sketch plan and recognizes the give-and-take associated with that type of density transfer and supported at least 37 units/acre for this property. Barnhart stated that is important because some of the comments he will make later he wants to make sure they will not reduce density from that number. Gettman asked what the initial proposal was. Barnhart believes the Planning Commission saw 43 units. From a Comprehensive Plan amendment, Staff supports the change down to 10 units/acre, as anything further than that would require more work on the City Council and Planning Commission to identify higher density and sewer properties elsewhere. The zone change to the Residential PUD, the master development plan, and the preliminary plat are all connected; the zone change does meet most of the criteria of an RPUD and there are a couple waivers identified. The first is the minimum lot area for an RPUD zone is 5 acres and there are exceptions, such as being adjacent to another RPUD zone and it could be considered as an extension of that. Barnhart thinks the Applicant has approached it as the overlying feature. He said these buildings will not be identical to Stone Bay but they will have the same characteristics; Staff does suggest and support the zone change to RPUD. The memo talks about the waivers identified, those waivers included setbacks from Willow and from Wayzata; predominantly they address both the Planning Commission and City Council comments during the sketch plan. At the time, the buildings were very close to Kelley Parkway and Wayzata Boulevard, and these buildings did not conform to the minimum setback requirements as proposed by the City ordinances with the exception of Lot 4. He showed a unit on screen that is a little too close to Willow Drive and clarified the Applicant needs that waiver to keep to the 37 units on this project. Barnhart pointed out a road on screen and said the setback adjacent to Willow for the road itself should be 20 feet and this shows it at 10 feet. Staff supports the waivers as shown to keep an appropriate amount of area for open space and also provide 20 -foot separation between the building and the street so one can park without blocking the street. Barnhart said one comment that the City Engineer raised was the City standard for roads that serves this many units, a private road should be 28 feet. These roads are shown at 24 feet; at 24 feet there would be no on -street parking as part of the fire code. At 28 feet they may be able to have parking on one side and to address that, the Applicant showed 10 guest parking spaces adjacent to the open space to accommodate some guest parking. Barnhart said the parking will be satisfied with a 2 -car garage and parking stalls in the driveway area off the street, so technically each unit will provide 4 spaces, two of which will be covered. One thing Staff typically looks for in a townhome development is the distance between the buildings and distance between the back of the building and the street. This project shows 10 feet between buildings which is a little less than Stone Bay at 14 feet on the smallest measurement; they show 20 feet here (on screen) and Stone Bay's smallest measurement was about 18 feet. He said it is similar but not exactly the same. The Applicant has provided drawings of the proposed buildings and Barnhart noted this is one of the areas the City has received comment from the neighboring community. As mentioned before the Applicant has taken heed of the Planning Commission and City Council's comments during sketch plan review and at the time were concerned about setbacks and preserving external setbacks. One thing Staff has a slight concern with is Block 5, 6, 7, and 8 — the face of those buildings face out to Willow or Wayzata Boulevard. He said this is the garage side of the building, which is often the more private space but is also where a garbage can is stored and they do not usually want that at the front entrance. Staff has some concern with this orientation and would suggest flipping these buildings so they face Willow or Wayzata. To do so and maintain the same number of units they would have to reorganize this road here (on screen) to provide access to all of the lots. They would also need the support from the Planning Commission and City Council for waivers for the setback. Page 22 of 38