03-29-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 8, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10 of 23 sidewalks will connect to the Kelley Parkway public sidewalk and also a proposed sidewalk along Willow Drive. Staff has provided a suggestion that the sidewalks also connect to the future trail along Wayzata Boulevard and the County has concurred with that. Barnhart said the Comp Plan amendment will be required; currently this property is guided for a high density residential of 20-25 units/acre. When a project to that level of density came forward, the Council suggested that it is a bit too dense for this area and they wanted to see something a little more consistent with the Stone Bay Development. Based on that feedback the project came back with a townhome development at 10-20 units/acre. From a Met Council standpoint, they look at densities based on the lowest number of the range, so they only care about the 10 units/acre. This project is 10 units/acre so it meets the minimum requirements for that density guidance. During the sketch plan review Barnhart commented that it seemed like they had enough capacity from a density calculation standpoint, which they do, this project will reduce the density of the City from about 4.16 units/acre to 3.79 units/acre. They may recall the minimum is 3 so they are well above that. He reported earlier that the 2021-2030 growth periods, the City must provide opportunity for growth in its sewered area to meet the expectation of demand. Earlier he had reported that they had capacity there and in his revision of the calculation he noticed they were short 4 units. In speaking with Met Council, the staff person he spoke with seemed to think that 4 units is within the acceptable limits, however he has not received confirmation from that person’s superiors at this point. If the Council is uncomfortable in moving forward, they can certainly table until they get the feedback. In terms of affordable housing units, they do meet the minimum requirements there and the Council may recall the Met Council looks at affordable housing as any unit or area guided for density of 8 units/acre or more. The City is required to have 15.4 acres guided at that density, and keeping this project at 10 units/acre it does not impact that at all. Barnhart said this project was developed as RPUD zoned. As most of the City’s high-density projects come through as an RPUD, Barnhart likes to identify all the areas where waivers may be requested, and the RPUD district allows the Council the opportunity to grant waivers in order to satisfy other City goals, density being one of those. They do not have a zoning district that allows this level of density by itself, all of the higher density projects come through as an RPUD zoning district. Generally, the project conforms to the standards established by the RPUD district and there are a couple waivers he wants to alert the Council to. There are external setback requirements off of Kelley, Wayzata, and Willow. Setbacks required off of Kelley are 35 feet, off of Willow and Wayzata are 50 feet, and there is a drive line setback of 20 feet from the property line. The drive line off Wayzata Boulevard is 10 feet (waiver is requested), and the Applicant proposes a row of arborvitae or screening along that edge to provide some buffer. The buildings are 35 feet off of Kelley and meet those requirements; most buildings are 50 feet from Willow Drive though lot 4 is 36 feet back (waiver of 14 feet requested). Blocks 6-8 are 50+ feet from Wayzata Boulevard and are okay. The external setbacks were an issue during the sketch plan review and at the time the setbacks were quite a bit tighter. During the development of that project, they came to learn that they really cannot drop below 10 units/acre – if they start dropping below 10 units/acre or 37 units they start running afoul of those other things mentioned, such as the affordable housing calculations and the overall growth numbers. They go from a deficit of 4 to a deficit of more than 4. The Applicant really tried to stay to the minimum 35 feet and has conformed to the setbacks with the exception of that issue. Staff does support that change. Barnhart said one concern Staff has, and identified with the Planning Commission, if they look at the overhead map there is a potential concern is the front of the buildings front onto sidewalk. Owners would enter the garage space from the rear of the structure and it is this area (noted on screen) that the rear of the structure faces Willow and faces Wayzata which are two highly-visible streets in town. He wants to make sure the Council is aware that is the face that will be seen as one is sitting at the intersection – they will be seeing the rear of those buildings and the garage doors. The screening proposed is fairly robust based on the landscaping plan, but from a planning perspective they generally try to avoid a situation where screening or landscaping fixes the problem, rather they try to find situations where berming or street orientation or