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April 18, 1986 <br />Planning Commission <br />City of Orono <br />P.O. Box 66 <br />Crystal Bay, MN 55323 <br />Re; Commercial Use of Single Family Residences as Motels/Restaurants <br />Zoning Amendment Application //1017 <br />Dear Members of the Commission: <br />Please permit us to again raise our concerns and objections to <br />the City of Orono*s permitting single family residences to be <br />used as motels/restaurants. <br />In our view Orono is a unique community, and it is that unique­ <br />ness that induced us to purchase our home. It is unique not <br />only visually and statistically (witness its "country roads", <br />low density housing, wetlands, and limited commercial develop­ <br />ment), but also because it has taken specific action to preserve <br />its uniqueness. This is something other communities have not <br />done. Examples? Orono took upon itself the task of on-site <br />sewage treatment management, thereby preserving its rural size <br />lots. Another? Orono has attempted to keep County Rd. 15 a <br />two lane road, thereby protecting all those homeowners, their <br />property values, and the character of the City*s lake frontage. <br />In short, Orono is unique because it has made an effort to pre­ <br />serve its main characteristic ‘(rural-like single family residency^. <br />Now, is this proposed amendment by itself equivalent to widening <br />County Rd. 15? Obviously not. But that does not mean that there <br />cannot be longer-term implications and unforeseen results that <br />will follow from approval. And it does not mean that Orono <br />officials should feel at all obliged to be accommodating with <br />a plan that is, no matter how you cut it, the opposite of what <br />single family residency is all about. <br />We note that when this discussion was last brought up, there <br />was considerable material developed about where a "B&B" would <br />fit into the existing community. A "B&B" was called "quasi­ <br />commercial". "Continental Breakfast", not meals, would be served. <br />People using the facilities would be "guests". We are reminded <br />of the joke about the woman who was asked by a man if she would <br />sleep with him for, first, one million dollars (yes she would).