10-14-2002 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO JOINT CITY COUNCIl., PLANNING COMMISSION. AND PARK COMMISSION WORK SESSION Thursday, September 12,2002 5:30 o’clock p.m. to your line of thinking. While it would be beneficial if the communities were more cohesive, Orono hasihe greatest responsibility thrust upon them. Callahan maintained that both Elob Searles and Brad Van Nest were not just good Mayors, they were recognized beyond Orono borders and throughout multi-communities. This philosophy will require each of us to take personal responsibility for making the contacts and furthering the effort. White handed out a Project Assessment Worksheet, used as a Community Decision Making Tool, which he has referred to often over his thirty years of experience in the development arena. He encouraged the Council and Commissions to think globally, and spend their meeting time on the most important issues affecting the Community. He refer^ to the worksheet as “things your mother never taught you about development”, and encouraged members to always ask who would benefit most ftom a development. White noted that land controls are failing miserably throughout the U.S. and more emphasis will need to be focused on looking at how our own growth will be changing over the next 10-15 years. He pointed out that the trap that many cities have found themselves in is that they have spent their budgets and are waiting for the next big project to bail them out. Cities need to keep their money in the bank so that they are not forced to compromise their people or their principles. Jabbour explained that Cities do not get any money from big commercial development, there are zero dollars in it in the long run after you t^e into consideration the affect on roads, services, etc. Foroinatcly, Orono sets a budget, where 60% comes from users. He reiterated the disastrous effects diverting from the Comprehensive Plan has on a City budget. Meyers asked if Orono was at risk currently of compromising its Comp Plan. Gaffron pointed out that the risk comes from not following the Comprehensive Plan. Meyers asked if the main goal was to save the lake, its water quality, versus residential or commercial development. Jabbour repeated that commercial development is a negative cash flow. Moorse pointed out that commercial office is a good investment versus retail commercial that requires more serv ices. He maintained that the traffic generated by high volume or intense retail would have a huge impact on our roads and intersections. Meyers asked if there was the need to set a more defined set of standards. White reiterated that developers will always ti> to push you to the edge of what you find acceptable. He referred to potential development pressure for the Highway 12 and County Road 6 intersection as one example facing Orono in the near future. White noted that by talking officials into changing zoning standards, Donald Trump once wrote, “1 made my money off the incompetence of City Officials”. PAGE 4