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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, February 16, 2021 <br />6:00 o'clock p.m. <br />ideal spot. After the call, the company went back to the traffic engineer and spoke with him about it, <br />looked at the grades, and that is the highest peak on the street. For traffic purposes, when coming out, it <br />has a proper visibility to avoid any accidents in that area; the traffic engineer felt good about it and wrote <br />a memo based on his study relating to the intersection of Kelley and Willow versus where they are today. <br />If the company was to move that location and get closer to Kelley — and he believes they did try that with <br />the engineer and planner — Mr. Saddiqui is fearful that they might end up losing one or two units because <br />of the way it curves at the bottom. Ideally it worked out for the unit count and they did play around with <br />it but felt that this is the best option. He believes they have put all the points together for the <br />Commissioners to look at. <br />Gettman asked with the parking situation, he likes everything the company has done, and said with the <br />latest concern about the headlights, have they considered a right -turn only coming out that would eat into <br />some of that space on Kelley. It would literally angle the folks and prevent the headlights from going <br />directly into the house. <br />Mark Rausch, with Alliant Engineering, approached the podium and asked to share a graphic of the site <br />plan on screen. He wants to show how the road aligns with the cul-de-sac across the street; if they do turn <br />the traffic to the right, they will actually start to angle the headlights right at the home. Right now, the <br />elevation of the intersection is at 27 feet and the house and garage on the east side of the cul-de-sac is 30, <br />so it is about 3 feet higher and the house on the other side is actually 34 so it is actually 7 feet higher. He <br />noted they have some grade separation. He showed another photo from Google Maps on screen of what <br />the headlights look at today. Mr. Rausch said as Mr. Barnhart noted it is a tough spot, they have looked at <br />it, and there is an intersection to the east they are trying to stay distanced from. They are on the outside of <br />a curve so it is actually really good from the horizontal location; the vertical curve is exactly where it is <br />set and actually stubbed water and everything like it was set up to be a road connection. There has been a <br />lot of thought about it and it is ideal for the site plan as well, and the Commissioners have seen a couple <br />of different iterations. He asked if Gettman would like to see something that is angled to the east. <br />Gettman replied no, he is asking if they have considered a right -turn only lane out of it and actually eat in <br />to some of the park or sidewalk area they have and that would force people to not have to have the <br />headlights while waiting to turn right or left facing straight in there. It would literally have them guided <br />to the right and it would also guide the traffic — instead of cutting through the rest of the neighborhood — it <br />would actually guide them directly onto Willow Drive, rather than cutting through the back area. <br />Mr. Rausch said they have not looked at a right -in, right -out. They could look at how the headlights aim, <br />noting they would have to aim them quite a bit to the east. <br />Libby wants to let the Applicant know how much he appreciates their willingness to discuss the idea of <br />flipping the front to the back, and so on. In all respect for the planner, that may be something that needs <br />to be done. From an engineering standpoint, he has dealt with a lot of these developments that build this <br />type of row house. He asked if they were to move the driveways to the rear, they would really need to <br />move the entire front of the row houses closer to the street; he does not know how much sidewalk they are <br />willing to lose but the idea of a walkway around the front is very popular and common in the newer <br />developments. However, they would end up having to move the entire row towards the street side, <br />sidewalk, and road, and lose a substantial amount of area in the back where they must have driveways <br />even as short as they can make them. <br />Page 25 of 38 <br />