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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br /> Monday,May 20, 2002 <br /> 6:30 o'clock p.m. <br /> (#02-2780 OTTEN BROTHERS NURSERY, Continued) <br /> Weinberger stated that parking issues had been reviewed and that staff had determined that the restaurant <br /> use would have no additional impact on parking. <br /> Weinberger stated that staff recommends approval of the request to the PUD Agreement to allow a <br /> concession stand style restaurant to operate within the building as an accessory use to the nursery retail. <br /> The restaurant approval would permit the operation to use 900 s.f. of area with seating for 44,as currently <br /> available on-site. Staff recommended approval subject to 6 criteria in the memorandum. Based on these <br /> criteria, any exception to restaurants in general should be denied at this time and reviewed independently <br /> as amendments to the PUD Agreement through the normal public hearing process. <br /> Weinberger added that staff recommends denial of the request to include all B-1 uses as permitted uses. <br /> Furthermore, any proposed uses not listed by the existing PUD Agreement will be reviewed <br /> independently as amendments. An amendment to the PUD Agreement would effectively"rezone"the <br /> property to B1-B6 which is not consistent with the City's vision for development along the Highway 12 <br /> corridor at Willow Drive. <br /> During a recent visit of nurseries on the west coast,Mr. O'Reilly stated that more than 50%of them offer <br /> some sort of food service. <br /> Mr. Often addressed the PUD items and questioned the logic behind some of the crossed off items. He <br /> stated that the idea behind his concessions is to bring people to his retail store. <br /> Mabusth and Mr. Otten discussed the history of Often Brothers. <br /> Gaffron noted that,making items conditional uses rather than doing a PUD amendment,makes the <br /> process easier at the risk of the City losing its control authority. <br /> Kluth did not support the idea of giving Otten blanket approval over usage and believed there must have <br /> been some base logic in striking many uses in the original PUD Agreement. <br /> Hawn suggested adding to item#1 of the staff recommended criteria that signage that `exclusively' <br /> advertises the restaurant is not permitted. <br /> Mr. Otten stated that he was comfortable with the staff recommendations. <br /> Joel Walvatne, 710 Dickey Lake Drive, stated that his main concern centered around the traffic at the <br /> mall. Many people park there and the dance and karate studios have concentrated drop off and pick ups <br /> which only make traffic worse. <br /> PAGE 25 <br />