04-26-2004 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINTITES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday, January 20,2004 6:00 o’clock p.tn. (MIKE KEAVENY ON BEHALF OF RICHARD M. KEAVENY REV. TRUST, 342S SHORELINE DRIVE, CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AND COMMERCIAL SITE PLAN REVIEW - Continued) Austin Evans, 2497 Kelly Avenue, the nearest neighbor to the south of the bowling alley, voiced numerous concerns: 1) As Kelly Avenue is a residential street, he found the additional traffic worrisome within a residential neighborhood. 2) The fact that the restaurant and lounge would have a liquor license was a concern, especially since the neighborhood is kept up at night from the commotion at the Narrows currently. 3) He questioned whether there was adequate space for restaurant use and the parking to accompany it. 4) The City carmot ensure how long the Pizza Factory will remain, and the City would lose control of what type of restaurant or lounge occupies this space in the future by allowing this today to go forward. 5) The traffic exiting onto County Road 15 would make a dangerous situation and intersection worse. 6) Evans cautioned that re-location of the bus shelter at the junction of Kelly Avenue and County Road 15 would be far more dangerous than where it is cunently. Encouraging pedestrians to cross 2-4 lanes of traffic between cars stacked up for the light would be hazardous. 7) ^^f■hat would the impact be to Lake Minnetonka from this additional development merely 200 ’ from the lake. Might people try to snowmobile or obtain boat access to the restaurant. 8) 68% of the little proposed landscaping at all is located primarily in the rear where few see it. In fact, no landscape plan has been provided. Reminded of the Navarre Town Meeting a year ago, during which residents asked for additional landscaping along County Road 15 in Navane. 9) The proposed parking facilities are incomplete and inadequate. While 53 spaces are required, contrary to zoning regulations, the proposal offers a mere 30 spaces for a 75 seat restaurant. The additional xrse requires 91 total spaces, short 7 in the proposal, with no setbacks or grcenspace provided. 10) This approval would increase the use of the lot to 16,000 s.f. of retail space, which required by zoning should assume 1 ’ of lot area per 4’ of retail space. Evans maintained that by approving this request the City will continue to perpetuate an unacceptable planning state of affairs for Navarre. 11) In the Navarre Town Meeting several points were echoed by the residents. Since Navarre is considered Orono’s town center, why not make it more like Wa>'zata or Excelsior with additional landscaping, street lighting, and updating facades of the businesses in the area. Evans encouraged the Planning Commission to give serious consideration to denial of this applicant’s request and recommend the owner address alternative uses for the site. He PAGE 46 of 53 L