11/16/2009 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,November 16,2009 6:30 o'clock p.m. (#OS-3164 CITY OF ORONO, CONSERVATION DESIGN ORDINANCE, CONTINUED) 2. On Page 3 of the ordinance,the term Ecological Quality Levels has been changed to Ecological Management Categories,to distinguish it from the"MLCCS M-34X Natural Community Quality Modifiers." The basis for this change is that the M-34X Modifiers are intended to categorize natural communities as(A)highest quality—no disturbance and natural processes intact: (B) Good quality— natural processes intact,but show signs of past human impacts; (C)Moderate condition—obvious past disturbance but still clearly recognizable as a natural community; and(D)Poor condition—includes some natives,but is dominated by non-natives and is widely disturbed and altered. The ordinance,on the other hand, categorizes communities into 3 "management"levels: (1)Ecological"off limits"areas such as wetlands,buffers,required drainage,etc.; (2)Ecological "opportunities,"including existing degraded drainage ways and existing degraded ecosystem remnants; and(3)Ecological"possibilities,"i.e., areas so degraded as to not be worth of preservation, and therefore suitable for converting to uses such as storm water ireatment. The problem with attempting to correlate these two systems of categorization is that,for instance,we may look at a(D)Poor condition wetland that could be restored,so it would be categorized for management purposes as a level(1)"off-limits"or as a level(2)ecological "opportunity." Trying to put the two concepts together would be like comparing apples and oranges. Also,to distinguish between the two systems,the Management Categories have been changed to 1-2-3 rather than A-B-C. 3. A definition of"significant tree stand"has been added to provide clarity as to what that term might mean. The definition proposed contains some numerical parameters that should make it easier to discern what is or is not a significant tree stand. 4. In Section 78-1635 Basic Conservation Design Master Plan Requirements and Evaluation Criteria,Item 6 has been revised to require justification and mitigation of,rather than prohibition of, negative impacts to ecological communities based on the four M-34X categories,with negative impact being defined as a reduction in M-34X category level. 5. In the same section,Item 8 has been revised to require protection of positive views and mitigation of existing or potential negative views. Section 78-1635 was also revised to require that the Master Plan specifically include proposed methods of storm water phosphorus reduction. Kang noted the Planning Commission did review the draft ordinance at its work session recently. Chair Kang opened the public hearing at 6:44 p.m. Jennifer Haskamp stated she did meet with Mike Gaffron regarding their concerns that they had with the first draft of the conservation ordinance and that they still have similar concerns with this draft of the ordinance. Haskamp stated their concerns relate to some of the terms contained within the ordinance and how an application under this ordinance would be approved. As it relates to page three of the ordinance,the ecological management category,they have concerns as to how a property would be classified,what level the property would receive, and who would deternune the classification. They had recommended at the last hearing that MLCCS categories be incorporated into the Page 2