09-13-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 13, 2010 7:00 o'clock p.m. • (5. ADOPT 2008 -2030 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, Continued) could negotiate with Metropolitan Council on getting what Orono wanted. While the Comprehensive Plan protects a lot of the one unit per two acre properties, it ended up creating other high density parcels that are uncharacteristic of Orono. Murphy stated he basically disagrees with the "comments of Council Member McMillan and that he does not feel the process became politicized. Staff, in his opinion, has done a good job at putting together a Comprehensive Plan that will work for Orono. McMillan stated the City Council as well as Staff is a part of the process and that in her view the public hearing process was rushed somewhat. Bremer commented both council members are entitled to their opinions and that ultimately the Council members will vote their conscience on the various applications. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 1, McMillan Opposed. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Following the City Engineer's Report, Mayor White commented to Mr. Marfield as he was leaving that he was welcome to stay for the remainder of the meeting. Sam Marfield, Orono, stated he was disappointed that the public did not get a chance to speak during the • discussion regarding the comprehensive plan and that a number of people are not happy with the proposed density for the fire station site. ` White reiterated that the Comprehensive Plan discussion was not a public hearing and asked if Mr. Marfield would like to address the Council. Marfield commented that he doesn't agree with the zoning for the density proposed behind the fire station and putting all the potential people right on Long Lake's boundary and making them angry by increasing the number of housing units. He added that it is wrong to have high density at that site and it isn't Orono. White stated Marfield's comments will be added to the discussion on the Comprehensive Plan along with the two other letters received from Long Lake residents. Michael LeQuey, P.O. Box 94, Crystal, stated he also felt the process was rushed since it went right from the public comments to the City Council for a vote. The date on the City's website said March for a date on the Comprehensive Plan but that it now states a May date and that it was hard to compare each version of the Comprehensive Plan. Gaffron stated following the March version of the Comprehensive Plan, the changes that were made related to the mixed use density areas, which reflected a decrease in the number of units that would be allowed. The other minor change that was made was regarding the 875 Wayzata Boulevard property, which increased the square footage of the building allowed on that site from 20,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. The overall Comprehensive Plan that was published on the City's website in March has not • changed significantly and the changes were the result of actions taken by the City Council. PAGE 6 of 14