08-10-2009 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, August 10, 2009 • 7:00 o'clock p.m. (5. #09 -3418 DENNIS BATTY ON BEHALF OF BROOK INVESTMENT GRO UP, LLC, 3421- 3425 SHORELINE DRIVE, Continued) have less than the required 10 -foot separation between a principal structure and an accessory structure. 5. Structural coverage and hardcover variances. Structural coverage would increase from 19.94 percent to 27.57 percent. The maximum allowed is 15 percent. Hardcover on the site is proposed to increase from 89.65 percent where 30 percent is normally allowed within the 250 -500 setback zone. Staff notes this applicant has not changed from the concept application and that it is Staff's feeling that what is being proposed is simply too much for this site. There is no space for adequate parking or landscaping. If there are not enough parking spaces, customers will park in the 3465 Shoreline Drive parking lot, on Kelly Avenue, and/or in the Lund's parking lot. The pavement of Kelly Avenue is only 28 feet wide, not wide enough for on- street parking. There may be congestion as drivers look for a parking space. Eventually businesses may move or close if the parking is inadequate. The site plan shows a deficiency of 23 parking spaces. The applicant is proposing to expand the existing building on each end. The basement garage located in the middle would be replaced by a two -level addition with storage on the lower level and commercial space on the upper. The footprint of the addition would be about 160 square feet larger than the existing • garage because of an expansion in the southwest corner. A 5,000 square foot single -story addition would be placed on the Kelly Avenue end of the building. Landscaping, especially adjacent to the street, is important to creating an attractive commercial area and trees in particular have many environmental benefits. Additional trees are being recommended to provide shade, filter the air, and buffer noise. A recent innovation in drainage is to have the runoff from parking areas flow into landscaped areas planted with trees. The landscaping, especially the trees, absorbs the runoff. The majority of the proposed landscaped areas are minimal and are too small to sustain the plant materials for any length of time. A setback of 29 feet from Kelly Avenue right -of -way is proposed for the east addition. The required setback is 35 feet. A setback of 0 feet from the west property line is proposed for the upper level of the west addition when the required setback is 35 feet. Setback variances are requested for both parking lot expansions. The new portion of the upper parking lot would be located 4.16 feet from the right -of -way of Shoreline Drive and 3.5 feet from the right -of -way of Kelly Avenue. Code requires a 10 -foot setback from Shoreline Drive and a 20 -foot setback from Kelly Avenue. The new portion of the lower parking area would be 8.42 feet from the south property line when the code would require a 15 -foot setback. It would be 15 feet from the right -of -way of Kelly Avenue when a 20 -foot setback is required. Sylvia Bertagnoli, 2499 Kelly Avenue, stated she would like to have it in writing that the trees between her property and this structure would not be removed. Bertagnoli stated if the smaller trees are included in the calculation, there are approximately 25 trees in that area that she would like to see preserved. • Bertagnoli indicated she does not have an issue with the lighting any more since it appears to have been remedied with the bowling center application. Bertagnoli noted that three of the neighbors would like to remain in their residences in their retirement and have concerns regarding the noise and traffic. PAGE 5