05-23-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 9, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 7 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT 15.LA22-000012 – STONEWOOD LLC., 2987 & 3005 CASCO POINT ROAD AND PID 20- 117-23-34-0027, SKETCH PLAN Curtis stated the application is a sketch plan to create an additional lakeshore lot from the existing. The Applicant tis proposing to re-plat all three lots in the Hartzell Addition. The LL1C district dimensional minimums are ½ acre and 100 feet in width. In April the Planning Commission discussed the sketch plan and although no public hearing was held, members of the public did provide comment centering on existing drainage concerns on Casco Point Road and house locations on the properties; submitted comments are included in the packet. Since Planning Commission’s review the Applicant’s surveyor has reanalyzed the existing property dimensions and has determined that lot 2 is 97 feet wide at the 75 foot setback where 100 feet is required and is currently non-conforming. The Applicant is requesting informal feedback. Initially Staff did not support the proposal as there were no identified practical difficulties supporting the creation of a non-conforming lot where three conforming lots existed. The new information regarding the existing non-conformity of lot 2 changes the analysis. While there are two conforming lots and one non-conforming lots now, at the conclusion of this process there will be two conforming lots and one non-conforming. The non-conforming status is proposed to change from one lot (Lot 2) to another (Lot 3). Sven Gustafson with Stonewood, 153 Lake Street E, included a lengthy breakdown of thoughts on the property and showed aerial photos of the property to explain. Mr. Gustafson noted what they are requesting is very much in character with everything up and down the street. Two of the lots being proposed are wider than 75% of the adjacent thirty homes on screen. He noted 75% of the lots are non- conforming in one way or another and only 8 of the 30 lots are conforming in width and in area. The Applicants are looking for feedback from the City Council. Bonnie Martinson lives across the street and stated her biggest concern is the drainage issue. This will add two more houses draining water into the street and across the road to the neighboring properties. Ms. Martinson would like to suggest the Applicants put in a rain garden to collect water so it does not drain across the street. She clarified the tennis court has a berm between it and the road so that water must stay on the west side of the road. The Hartzell driveway is draining down the road. Ms. Martinson noted her backyard is already being flooded from just an inch of rain and they really need to address the water that is swamping them across the street. Johnson understands the argument but the creation of a non-conforming lot in a new process has not been supported in the past. Mayor Walsh wonders what Pandora’s box they open by swapping it out and making one lot conforming and the other non-conforming. Printup is not very comfortable with the proposal and stated however this goes in the future a plan layout for drainage is important. Mr. Gustafson clarified the non-conformity is width and it will still be a non-conformity of width as there is no way to make the lots conforming the way they are currently. They are rearranging things but not making it any worse in any way. He asked if it would change the Council’s opinion if the non-conformity on Lot 2 remained on that lot. He brought up Wildhurst noting he read through the documents and it went