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6. Amendment of the Comprehensive Plan is warranted because while the use of the westerly portion of the property will be in keeping with the currently planned "commercial" use as established in the 1980 and 2000-2020 CMP, senior housing use of the easterly portion of the property will be more compatible with the existing adjacent single-family residential use to the immediate north than would development to high-intensity retail commercial as currently guided. Amendment of the Comprehensive Plan is also warranted because topography of the site is severe, making retail development more difficult, more costly and potentially more visually incompatible with the surrounding area due to the potential need for extensive retaining walls to accommodate expanded access and parking needs. 7. The proposed senior housing meets a number of Orono's housing goals including the provision of lifecycle housing options and provision of affordable housing. 8. The proposed development has incorporated building and road design that takes advantage of the existing topography. The senior building has been designed to fit the general topography of the land, resulting in the ability to reduce the visual impacts of the 3rd story as well as maintain a vegetated buffer to the north where existing residential homes would be most impacted by the mass of the building. Likewise, the office building has been limited to two stories, has been moved to provide more than the required rear setback, and has been oriented with the short side facing the adjacent residential neighborhood, limiting its visual impacts from neighboring properies. 9. Provision of buffers on site will decrease the visual impacts to the adjacent single family residential use. The Sugar Woods Homeowners Association owns and maintains a 40' wide platted outlot buffer strip along the perimeter of that residential subdivision and immediately adjacent to the property. While restrictions were placed on each lot within the Sugar Woods neighborhood that prohibits removal of trees greater than 2" in diameter within the rear setback for those lots located closest to the proposed development, additional screening will be needed on the property to minimize the impacts of the mass and length of the senior building as well as the proximity of parking area serving the office building. Buffers to the east, south and west of the property are less critical because the property is located on Highway 12; the properties to the east and Page 3 of 14