04-26-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 26, 2010 7:00 o'clock p.m. (7. ORONO 2010 -2030 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE, Continued) Metropolitan Council is expecting to see that the number of units per acre on average never falls below three units per acre. Murphy asked if that is three units per acre for the whole city. Gaffron indicated it is three units per acre for the areas included in the MUSA. Murphy asked what the expectation is for the unsewered areas. Gaffron stated the Metropolitan Council would like no more than one unit per ten acres with the idea that at some point in the future, when those areas develop, they would develop at three units per acre. Gaffron noted there are very few properties that are left within the City that are over 10 acres. There are approximately 30 to 50 properties within the City that are over 10 acres. Those properties are also scattered throughout the City, which does not provide any rationale for inserting a high density development. Murphy asked Gaffron to explain what some of the difficulties the City has encountered with the Metropolitan Council have been over the last 10 years. Gaffron stated one of the first ones was for properties that were put into MUSA in 1998. The City had expected that the Metropolitan Council would allow those properties to hook up to municipal sewer. • Those permits were denied on two separate occasions because the City did not meet the three units per acre density in their Comprehensive Plan. Franchot noted the City's residential mixed use has been developed largely in response to Metropolitan Council's suggestions. Franchot asked how committed the City is, particularly in the Navarre area, to stay with the mixed used district. Gaffron noted the City does have the opportunity to submit an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan at any time. The City has done a number of amendments since 2000, so it is not an unusual process. If it meets the Metropolitan Council's goals, it is likely they would approve it. McMillan asked how the exemption would work in neighborhoods with houses that are of varying ages. Gaffron indicated those are for areas outside of MUSA and consist of neighborhoods that have two acre lots. The first two questions that would need to be asked are, when were the houses built and do they have alternate septic sites. The criteria are that it has to be pre -1995 construction and there must be proof that there is no available alternative septic site. There are a number of pre- and post -1995 neighborhoods scattered around the City and it will be difficult to leap frog over certain neighborhoods. Gaffron indicated that is one of Metropolitan Council's policies that may change in the future. Staff will attempt to help them understand the impacts of that policy and that he expects the Metropolitan Council will be looking at a 20 -year time frame. White opened the public hearing at 8:03 p.m. Randy Gilbert, Mayor of Long Lake, stated he understands the dilemma faced by Orono in trying to fit • within Metropolitan Council's template but that the City of Long Lake objects to Orono's Comprehensive Page 6of15