01-23-1989 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Procedures for Marina License Review January 17, 1989 Page 2 of 6 City staff has attempted to direct dock use issues to the LMCD, although the significant issue which held up North Shore Drive Marina’s 1985 license had to do with dockage of the marina owner's private boat within the required dock setback area. Arguably, the City's only legitimate specific concern was whether that extra slip required additional parking space on land. Two of the six full-scale marina operations in Orono have been the subject of recent land use applications which authorized major renovations, and which involved a complete review of the land use issues. The remaining marinas are ripe for similar re-development, which in each case would undoubtedly require specific variances. Staff is obviously geared-up to do such reviews as they come up, but was unable to free-up time in 1988 to do a thorough licensing review of each existing marina as was hoped for. An update review and analysis of the degree to which each marina conforms to existing codes may be a good objective, but may take as much as one or two full days for each marina, to accomplish. Staff would note for the record that marina licensing in Orono in the 1980s has been relatively ineffective, from the standpoint that specific marinas have been operating for many years without licenses. The City has not seen fit to attempt to gain compliance by shutting them down, apparently because of the extremely high attorney fees and staff time that would be involved, coupled with the fact that the concerns generally are not strictly related to health, safety or welfare. Staff questions whether licensing of marinas is a practice that should continue, and that is the reason in 1986 and 1 987 the City was looking at the possibility of making them a conditional use in the B-2 zone. That concept met with opposition from some of the marina operators and has never been followed through.