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ORONO JOINT PLANNING COMMISSION <br />& CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br />Wednesday, March 2, 2011 <br />5:30 o'clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />  <br />Page 1  <br />  <br />   <br />ROLL <br />The Orono City Council and Planning Commission met on the above-mentioned date with the following <br />members present: Mayor Lili Tod McMillan, Council Members Doug Franchot, Aaron Printup; Planning <br />Commissioners Kim Kang, Denise Leskinen, Loren Schoenzeit, Jon Schwingler, and Alternate David <br />Rahn. Representing Staff were City Administrator Jessica Loftus, Assistant City Administrator of Long <br />Term Strategic Planning Mike Gaffron, Planning Coordinator Melanie Curtis, Planning Assistant <br />Christine Mattson, Consulting City Planner Ben Gozola, and Recorder Jackie Young. Council Member <br />Cynthia Bremer arrived at 6:43 p.m., and Planning Commissioner John Thiesse arrived at 6:47 p.m. <br /> <br />The work session was called to order at 5:38 p.m. <br /> <br />NEW BUSINESS <br /> <br />HARDCOVER REGULATIONS UPDATE <br /> <br />Ben Gozola thanked the City Council/Planning Commission for allowing him to speak tonight. Gozola <br />noted he has 12 years of planning and zoning experience and currently works for approximately 12 cities. <br /> <br />Gozola noted on January 24, 2011, the City Council authorized City Staff to begin the process of updating <br />the City's regulations governing hardcover. One of the purposes of tonight's meeting is to discuss the <br />general overarching goals that Staff should use as guideposts throughout the review process of the City's <br />hardcover regulations. Staff will be seeking consensus from the group as to what general outcomes are <br />being sought. <br /> <br />Some of the overarching project goals to discuss include the following: <br /> <br />1. Simplification of the regulations so all parties understand what is required and how to comply. <br /> <br />2. Continuance of historically stringent standards for the protection of local water bodies. <br /> <br />3. Greater options for citizens to legally comply with code requirements in light of the revised <br /> variance standard established by the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2010. <br /> <br />4. Openness to new technologies as they may arise. <br /> <br />5. A transitioning of the City's focus away from "meeting minimum standards" towards <br /> "achieving desired results." <br /> <br />6. Reaffirming Orono as a civic leader in hardcover management policy. <br /> <br />Gozola asked if there were any additional overarching goals that should be included. <br /> <br />Kang commented the bullet that talks about transitioning from meeting minimum standards to achieving <br />desired results is a good goal. Kang stated the City needs to clearly define what its desired results are. <br /> <br />McMillan stated the original philosophy of Orono was fairly comprehensive and helped to reduce the <br />Item #03 - CC Agenda - 03/14/2011 <br />Approval of Joint Planning Commission & City Council <br />Work Session Minutes [Page 1 of 13]