05-18-2015 Planning Commission Packet

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' ' • 15-3720 1'[ March 2015 Pege 3 of 9 $SC�I 011IIt� The applicant proposes to develop a portion of the property with 11 single family lots, lea.ving major portions of the site undeveloped. The property contains a large area of established prairie that is higlily visibie from County Road 6 and for many decades has visuaily `announced' to passersby that this is the boundary between rural Orono and more urbanized Plymouth. As well, the property contains an area considered to be a Big Woods remnant, which provides a backdrop to the prairie views and which is apparently treasured by some azea residents in equal measure with the prairie element. The northeast quadrant of the property abuts Mooney Lake, and 7 of the 11 proposed lots will be lakeshore lots. Mooney Lake is a Recreational Development lake classification and its shores abut property in Medina and Plymouth as well. The developer in creating this plat called Mooney Lake Preserve has indicated to staff that the two large outlots are to remain undeveloped, and functionally are not part of the development site. Tn that respect it may be irnportant to establish, for the portion of the property that is being developed, what elements are being preserved; how they are being preserved; why they are being preserved; and what is the basis for these decisions to fully preserve certain elements and not others. Conformity with the Orono 2030 Community Management Ylan The proposed I 1-lot subdivision appears to be in conformity with the guiding of this area for single family nual residential developrnent at a density of 1 unit per 2 acres. The proposed development will be required to conform to the 2.0 acre, 200' width standards of the RR-1B Zoning District. Conformity with Zoning District Lot Requiremcnts The property is in the RR-1B, Rural Residential District, which allows for single family residential uses with a minimum lot size of 2 dry bualdable acres. Under a standatd subdivision process, each proposed lot rnust contain a minimum of 2A acres of contiguous dry builda.ble land. The current survey depicts 11 lots each meeting the minimum azea requirement. Roughly over half of the property is within the Shoreland Overlay District. The OHWL of Mooney Lake is 988.0' and based on that contour, a11 lakeshore lots as proposed meet the minimum 2Q0' width requirement at the shore and at the lake setback line. F,a.ch lot appears to have a suita.ble building site meeting the minunum lake, front, side and rear setbacks of the RR-1 B District. The two `back lots' proposed (Lot 2, Block 1 and lot 2, Block 2) each meet the 3-acre minimum area requirement for such lots. The developer is advised that u,nless site grading to create individual house bui�ding pads as part of the subdivision improvements is proposed, the existing grades for measuring build.ing heights and number of stories will be the grades that e�st today. Raised pads that are created must be acknowledged in the development approval stage as creating `new existing grades'. Relationship to 5urrounding Development The pmposed single-family devetopment with 2-plus acre lot sizes is consistent with existing development in the sutrounding neighborhood. Lazge single family lots sa.rround this site on the north and east. The properties to the north are witbi.n the City af Medina; the properties to the east are located in the City of Plymouth. Ta the west and south, homes in Orono are generally on 2-plus acre lots.