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) C. Required Parking. Gaffron pointed out that in accordance with past Planning Commission discussions,the proposed 150-stall number exceeds by one stall the requirements established for the site in terms of accepting Walgreens 60-stall need and the remaining retail at the City requirement of 1 stall per 150 s.f. of net retail space. Even if a stall is lost to provide the suggested pedestrian connection from Walgreens to the Willow/12 corner,the parking needs will be met. Staff recommends approval of the parking plan as designed. D. Lot Coverage. Gaffron referred to numerous prior Planning Commission discussions regarding where there is a substandard lot created and applying the 15%lot coverage requirement as required by Code Section 78-1403 which limits lots of 0-1.99 acres in area to 15% lot coverage by structures. The subdivision of the subject property results in the following: - Lot 1 (86,268 s.f. or 1.98 acres)is proposed with buildings totaling 13,930 s.f. or 16.1% coverage. - Lot 2(74,428 s.f.) is proposed with buildings totaling 14,820 s.f. or 19.9% coverage. -Overall coverage of the 3.69-acre site is proposed at 17.9%,not including freestanding trash enclosures. Gaffron supplied information on the small number of developing or redeveloping commercial sites in Orono that were subject to the 15% lot coverage requirement. These include: Service 800 on Hwy 12 (0.96 acres, 26.1%lot coverage) -pre-existing site Culver's in Navarre(1.52 acres,20.2%lot coverage) -pre-existing site Snyder's in Navarre(1.9 acres, 14%lot coverage) -pre-existing site Wagner Rental in Navarre(1.2 acres, 12 %lot coverage) -pre-existing site The dental office on Kelley Parkway was a pre-existing 2.0-acre lot and not subject to the lot coverage limit. It has about 18%lot coverage. Gaffron stated that from staff's perspective the overage above the 15%is not an issue here and appears to be reasonable given the limited amount of site. He recognized the Community Management Plan references holding to the 15% limit but saw few potential problems as the City has so few sites zoned for commercial uses that he recommended maximizing rather than underutilizing the site. He spoke of a `balancing act' and needing to have balance when applying requirements with the Community Management Plan's goals and policies. E. Green Space. Under the current proposal with the elimination of`proof-of-parking', green space on the site will be 26%,which meets the 25%goal. F. Loading Berths and Trash Enclosures. Location and details for loading berths and trash handling facilities, including cross-sectional views,were provided and shown on the plans. G. Sipnape. The two primary monument signs are proposed at a dimension of 10'high and 14'-8" wide, exceeding the 10'width recently adopted for monument signs (See Exhibit N, Ordinance No. 6,Third Series), including the pillars. The building wall signage appears to be consistent with what would be expected for a Walgreens and a small retail center and meets code standards. The Stonebay Monument at the corner of 12/Willow is acceptable to staff as designed. Page 7 of 40