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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, February 16, 2021 <br />6:00 o'clock p.m. <br />Mr. Saddiqui noted that is one reason Mr. Barnhart made a comment that if the company was willing to <br />do that, there might be more exceptions for the setbacks on Wayzata Boulevard because that will be <br />shrunk quite a bit. <br />Libby understands and said from an engineering standpoint his point is valid, they will have to move all <br />the townhouses closer to the sidewalks in the front to accommodate the driveways in the back. They are <br />then going to have to accommodate pick-ups for waste and recycling and will lose a substantial amount in <br />the rear. <br />Mr. Saddiqui said talking about the trucks coming in for service purposes, he is not opposed to the other <br />suggestion, but this particular plan will eliminate the aesthetics in the neighborhood by keeping the <br />internal part of the neighborhood clean. It will be on the outside and will be all screened, so it will be less <br />optical aesthetic. From a practical standpoint, this is a good flow as a development and is what they <br />would like to leave behind; however, they are not opposed to the other idea. <br />McCutcheon asked if the garages are 21 feet deep. <br />Mr. Rausch believes they are 22 feet. <br />McCutcheon noted this is truck country so they just need to be sure a truck will fit. <br />Ressler opened the public hearing at 8:40 p.m. <br />Ressler closed the public hearing at 8:40 p.m. <br />Ressler noted he cut off Libby's comments so brought the discussion back to him. <br />He said he was not second-guessing or criticizing their planner's suggestions; he has been on-site, boots <br />on the ground on both of these designs before and there is always a give-and-take, especially with a <br />limited lot size, even at the density they are at now. Some utility providers are willing to work with <br />smaller vehicles, but they have to come back more often because they don't have the capacity to take the <br />entire neighborhood at once. <br />Barnhart asked to comment and clarify, his proposal is that Road A, instead of looping to the outside of <br />Blocks 5, 6, 7, and 8, would loop around the center feature and provide frontage or access to these lots. <br />He noted Willow Drive and Wayzata Boulevard will not provide any access to any of the lots from a <br />service standpoint. The reason his comment was made about flipping the lots is to provide a front door <br />appearance to this neighborhood onto those public streets, which are pretty important public streets in the <br />community. If a utility truck or FedEx truck can access Road A for Blocks 1-4 here, they will be able to <br />do it for these other blocks. <br />Libby understood that and the handout with a drawing looks exactly how he pictured it, if the net effect <br />was having to move all of the townhouses closer to the front, sidewalk, walkway, and exterior service <br />road, which is exactly what his point was. <br />Mr. Saddiqui said from a developer and builder's perspective, or more importantly, if he is a buyer in this <br />neighborhood, would he want to be in his home with the front door looking at Wayzata or Kelley every <br />morning. That would be the question he would ask ... or would he rather park his car and be looking at an <br />Page 26 of 38 <br />