05/17/2004 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MONDAY, MAY 17, 2004 6:00 o'clock p.m. (5. #04-2974 RELIANCE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY,LLP, Continued) Chair Mabusth invited public comments at this time. Hearing none, she closed the public hearing at 6:59 p.m. She asked if the applicant had any further comments at this time; Mr. Trautz indicated there were none. Chair Mabusth directed discussion to the Summary of Remaining Issues to Address as outlined earlier by Gaffron. 1. Address approval of the lot area and widths as proposed, as well as the lot coverage issue. Chair Mabusth indicated this matter had already been fully discussed in prior discussions. She extended a thank you to Ms.Van Dell who prepared the Stonebay Marketplace Narrative. 2. Address approval of the west side setback for Retail Building A. Chair Mabusth asked for confirmation from staff that the adjoining property to the subject property's west side currently is owned by MnDOT and therefore is considered a side street requiring a 35' building setback. Gaffron confirmed this information and added that in the future the MnDOT property with the storm water pond may become County or Orono property,which would make the subject property line an interior side instead of a side street,reducing the required setback from 35' to 10'. Chair Mabusth asked who would be responsible for maintaining the sitting areas proposed for Outlot B. Gaffron replied that the applicant/property owners ultimately are to be responsible as it is actually a part of the Stonebay Marketplace development, even if the improvements are on public land, and recommended the responsibility be stipulated in some form of written agreement. Chair Mabusth asked the Planning Commission if there were any problems with the proposed 20' side yard setback. There were no objections. 3. Address acceptance of the 150-stall parking proposal. Chair Mabusth stated she was satisfied with 144-stalls as the applicant has demonstrated they have met the B-i standard of 1 stall per 150 s.f. of net retail space, acknowledging that one stall may be lost with the pedestrian walkway proposed by Phil Carlson,DSU. There were no Planning Commission member objections. 4. Address any remaining landscape issues or concerns. Leslie pointed out comments from Phil Carlson, DSU, including `beefing up' vegetative screening of loading areas,Exhibit K. Ms. Van Dell responded that there are existing deciduous trees along Kelley Parkway and where there are trash enclosures very large evergreen trees are proposed to screen from the street,both on the west and middle retail building, as well as for the back of the pharmacy. With the proposed screening,Ms. Van Dell stated they think this is adequate. Mr. Trautz indicated he did not oppose landscaping in the back to screen from residential. Leslie stated his principal concern was to screen the residential from the commercial. Rahn commented the goal is to 100% screen Kelley Parkway from the trash dumpsters. Page 12 of 40