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The history of Orono's development is one of conversions: conversion of the Lake <br />Minnetonka shoreline from Big Woods to summer homes in the late 1800's and early <br />1900's, and a second conversion from summer homes to year round residences since <br />WWII; and conversion of the off-lake woods and prairie openings into farmland in <br />the 19th century, with a more recent conversion from farms to low-density residential <br />homesites beginning in the 1950’s. <br />Development of the lakeshore historically had been at the whim of developers, and <br />hundreds of 50-foot wide lakeshore lots were platted in the late 1800's. Orono ’s first <br />Township zoning regulations were adopted in 1950, and grew progressively more <br />strict through the next two decades as Orono residents realized that uncontrolled <br />development would lead to undesirable results. Several residential and commercial <br />zones were initially established, requiring minimum lot area and width standards, and <br />defining allowable uses. The first wetland protection ordinance was established in <br />1963, about the same time that municipal sewers were first provided to the Na\ arre <br />area. <br />Perhaps the single most important event that has shaped Orono's development in the <br />last half-century was the City-wide rezoning in 1975. Much of the City had been <br />zoned for residential development with 1-acre lots by 1967, with most of the N avarre <br />area around Lake Minnetonka being zoned 1/2-acre, and a few areas in nonheast <br />Orono requiring 1-1/2 or 2-acre lot sizes. The 1975 rezoning took into accomit two <br />important factors. First, that creating and maintaining a low density of development <br />in the watershed is critical to preserving Lake Minnetonka: and second, that lots must <br />be large enough to accommodate on-site sewage treatment systems on a permanent <br />basis, due to the high cost of sewering and the "urbanization spiral". <br />As a result, the 1975 rezoning established a minimum lot size of 2 acres (or 5 acres <br />in northw est Orono) for 80% of Orono's land area. This had a dramatic effect not <br />only in slowing development, but in effect capping the City's ultimate potential <br />population at around 10,000 rather than the 30-40,000 that had been predicted under <br />typical suburban development scenarios. <br />Table__: Important Dates in Orono History <br />i