09-28-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 28, 2015 7:00 o'clock p.m. 9. #15-3768 MICHAEL AND LISA LARSON, PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT RELATED TO DOG BOARDING AND GROOMING IN B-1 ZONING DISTRICT {continued} Paul Johncox 2948 Casco Point Road, stated he owns the building in question here and that he currently runs a cleaning company out of the building. The building has been owned for a couple of years now and has been shown to numerous people. The building requires a lot of work. Johncox stated he has had four people look at the building that were interested in putting a restaurant in it but due to the limited parking, it did not work. The Larson's are willing to come in and are willing to spend the money to improve the building. The million dollars includes working capital and the amount of money being put into the property is $600,000. Johncox indicated he will be helping the Larson's out with some of the funding and that he does not think the risk is quite as much as the Council thinks. Johncox stated if this use is not approved, there is not much else they can do except tear the building down. If a restaurant comes in, it will cause more traffic and will be open later at night. Johncox stated in his view it will not bring more congestion to the area. Lisa Larson stated last Monday at the Planning Commission meeting the veterinarian down the road said that the City needs this type of business because she has had a ton of clients asking for this type of business and has not felt comfortable referring them anywhere. Larson stated the community does not currently have something like this. Walsh stated in his view it would be a very successful venture. Walsh noted he attended the Planning Commission meeting and heard the concerns of the neighbors but that he is not sure on how to get around the noise issue. Mike Larson stated there are 18,000 cars that drive up and down Shoreline Drive daily, which means an average of 1,000 cars an hour. Larson stated he did hear the neighbors' concerns about cars cutting through the neighborhood, but that is beyond their control and has no bearing on their business. Larson stated if they are at maximum capacity with overnight guests in the 55 suites and another 18 dogs are brought in for daycare, given the fact that the average stay in a dog boarding facility is four days, 55 dogs would come out to roughly ten dogs a day that are turning over. Larson stated they would be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., which would amount to less than one car an hour that is visiting this facility. Larson stated the daycare is a little more fluid, and if they havel8 dogs in the morning with a 2 -hour drop-off window, they are talking about ten dogs an hour. Larson stated the amount of additional traffic that will be generated as a result of that on a road that has 1,000 cars an hour is statistically almost irrelevant. Walsh stated he was not concerned about Shoreline Drive but more about the neighborhood roads. Larson stated he does not see any data or evidence that points to their customers racing through the neighborhood. Walsh noted it was a concern that was expressed. Larson stated the reality is that these are people who simply want to drop their dogs off and then get on with their day. Larson stated he cannot see them doing that. Page 15 of 27