Laserfiche WebLink
SUPPORTING DOCU jVIENTATION <br />I. Background and Summary of Request <br />In 1975 the City of Orono adopted as its key guiding principle, the enhancement and <br />preservation of the water quality of Lake Minnetonka. Orono s plan to accomplish this <br />goal is many-faceted, including: <br />- preserving existing wetlands to enhance stormwater runoff quality <br />- strict lakeshore setback regulations and limitations on hardcover percentages to <br />maximize infiltration of runoff <br />- limitations on development density in the upper watershed areas to no more than <br />one dwelling unit per 2 acres <br />Orono has experienced great success in each of these areas over the last two dwades. <br />Wetlands have been protected and enhanced by private property owners throughout the <br />Cit>’ and virmally no wetland acreage has been lost by filling or draining. Stnct <br />enforcement of setback and hardcover regulations has resulted in a substantial green buffer <br />along the majority of Orono’s 40 miles of Minnetonka lakeshore. And with 80% of <br />Orono’s land area zoned for single family residential use with 2-acre and 5-acre minimum <br />lot sizes, development of the rural areas of the City at low densities has continued at a slow <br />but steady pace. <br />Residential Areas <br />Orono's 1980 Comprehensive Plan identified within the city's rural areas a number of <br />neighborhoods developed long before the 1975 city-wide rezoning. Ttese ar^ <br />included lots ranging from one-fifth acre to just over one acre in size. Five neighborhoods <br />were identified as 'critical' in terms of continued septic system use, and a number of others <br />were identified as 'rural clusters' which should be monitored. <br />During the 1980's and early 1990's, each of the five 'critical' neighborhoods was the <br />subject of an Alternative Waste Management Study conducted by the City. In each case <br />it was concluded that long-term septic system use was no» a viable option, and all five <br />neighborhoods were sewered during the period 1981-1993. <br />Six neighborhoods originally identified as 'rural clusters' and four additional <br />neighborhoods are now being proposed for provision of sewer service. <br />Minnesota Pollution Control Agency regulations were revised in the late 1980 s to define <br />existing septic systems not meeting a three-foot separation from seasonal water tables as <br />■nonconforming'. DNR Shoreland regulations and Orono ordinances require that <br />nonconforming systems be made conforming. It is estimated that 50% of the existmg <br />septic systems in Orono will be classified as nonconforming under the regulations. <br />Lk._____