08-17-2009 Planning Commission Packet

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Conservation Design Ordinance August 13,2009 Page 3 - Numerical formulas for determining density bonuses - Extensive detailed standards for common open space areas such as size, dimensions, location, natural feature preservation, encroachments, allowed uses, - required management practices - Standards for landscaping that include credits for preservation of existing vegetation, guidelines for the use of street trees, detailed requirernents for establishment of buffers between and among housing clusters and streets, lists of appropriate trees to plant and invasive species to remove - Detail on optional methods of common space ownership and maintenance, and requirements to provide plans and funding for long term maintenance and stewardship of protected areas - Evaluation criteria to be used by the City in determining whether the goals of Conservation Design have been met It would appear that the more detailed ordinances are attempting to limit the level of subjectivity in the plan review process; this may make the developer or consultant's job easier but if taken too far can result in reduced flexibility of design. Also, much of the "procedures" type of detail contained in such ordinances is in our Rura1 Oasis Study documentation that the developer is required to address, and a great deal of"standards" detail appears in our Residential Planned Unit Development(RPUD) ordinance. However, not all developments that are subject to the Conservation Design process will be developed via RPUD, which was designed primarily to apply to urban-density residential development. Orono's PRD "Planned Residential Development") ordinances are still being used for low-density (2-acre and 5-acre) developments in the rural area, and the level of detailed standards in the PRD ordinance is minimal, almost non-existent. This is where the lack of detailed standards has a potential to make the Conservation Design process less objective and prone to broad interpretation; this can result in greater � confusion or increased flexibility, depending on how one views the process. Evaluation Criteria Planning Commission members attending the August 5 work session concluded that the level of detail in the Draft Ordinance is appropriate, considering the information contained in the Rura1 Oasis Study,the Comp Plan, and the RPUD and PRD ordinances. However, there was also a consensus that a set of evaluation criteria should be added to the Ordinance as a companion to the list of"topics to be addressed by developer" shown in the Basic Conservation Design Master Plan Requirements (78-1635). Absent many pages of specified design parameters, commissioners concluded that evaluation criteria would provide the developer, staff, Planning Commission and Council with a distinct set of expectations against which a development proposal can be measured.