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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 28, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 12 of 27 9. #15-3768 MICHAEL AND LISA LARSON, PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT RELATED TO DOG BOARDING AND GROOMING IN B-1 ZONING DISTRICT (continued) Mike Larson stated he also drove to that building and parked his car between the building and the residential homes. Larson indicated he sat there for half an hour with his windows open and did not hear a single sound. Larson stated in his view that feeds into the assertion that there is not an issue with noise with these facilities. Lisa Larson noted the B-1 district is a commercial district and not a residential district. Larson stated they are attempting to be sensitive to that but noted every business will generate noise. A restaurant will have traffic impacts, noise, and environmental smells. Larson stated they are not saying the facility will be silent all the time but that they are willing to spend a considerable amount of money to eliminate the sounds from going into the neighbors’ homes. Larson noted people will not be in their back yards the majority of the year due to the Minnesota climate, and to think that the sound is going to travel from inside a sound-mitigated facility and travel across to the two neighbors and into their homes is not realistic. Lisa Larson stated she feels strongly about this and that they intend to have a 100 percent supervised facility. The dogs will never be outside without a person, and if a dog starts barking, it will come back into the facility. Larson stated dogs bark because they are stressed, dogs bark when they are alone or when they are looking for their owners. Larson stated dogs that are playing are a different kind of a situation with regard to barking. Larson stated the dogs will be worn out and will sleep at night. Lisa Larson noted they chose TWC because they are the best at what they do. TWC constructs dog facilities. Larson noted Adogo did not use a firm like TWC to construct their facilities but that they have chosen to pick someone who constructs dog care facilities. TWC has constructed hundreds of these facilities and they are willing to invest this kind of money in Navarre. Larson stated TWC knows how to mitigate the sound. Tim Parsons, TWC, stated over the past couple of weeks he has worked with the Planning Commission, Staff, and the owners to come up with a successful project. Since the Planning Commission meeting, they have been tweaking the site plan and floor plan to make it as inoffensive as possible. Parsons stated they have taken the comments from the neighbors and thought about how to alleviate those concerns, which included moving the vestibule further away from Shoreline Drive and creating a more attractive parking area. In addition, the relief area has been moved closer to Shoreline. Parsons stated they have tried to get some of the potential sound away from the neighbors to the north. Another revision is shifting the sidewalk in order to place some more conifer plantings in that area. Parsons noted closer to the property line there is an existing chain link fence and some trees and plantings. Parsons stated they could evaluate the quality of the plantings and perhaps place some more plants in that area. In addition, the fence could perhaps be a little more opaque. Parsons stated they are attempting to address the concerns that have been raised and in their view they have made some positive changes to the plan. McMillan stated she had a question about the waste management and how that will be managed.