03/21/2011 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Monday,March 21,2011 . 6:30 o'clock p.m. � The Planning Commission should consider the following options: 1. Recommend no changes, continue the current status of boat clubs as a conditional use, and establish appropriate conditions for a given site at the time a CUP is requested. Whatever conditions are established that would allow the City to limit or curtail the use in the future must articulate a rational basis for such curtailment. 2. Revise Boat Club Conditional Use Standards. In this option,the Planning Commission could recommend that a numerical standard be established for parking relative to the number of boat � club boats being operated. Adding a numerical standard creates an administrative tool that would automatically limit the allowed use to a certain level. The counter argument is that a numerical standard may be viewed by those being regulated as arbitrary and anti-business. 3. Interim Use Pernut. The Interim Use Permit is a tool that might be very appropriate for the boat club use. An I[TP does not grant permanent rights that stay with the property; it can contain sunset provisions that make the use disappear if certain triggers are met. It can be subject to regular review. The IUP is especially applicable in situations where the City is concerned about the impacts of a use and doesn't want to make a permanent commitment to allow the use. It is generally more acceptable for uses that do not require investments in infrastructure such as buildings,roads,etc. The Planning Commission could recommend that the zoning code be amended by(a) adopting provisions to allow Interim Use Permits and then(b)removing boat clubs from the list of B-2 conditional uses and adding them to a new list of interim uses allowed in the B-2 District. Then any request for a boat club CUP would be granted as an Interim Use Permit,perhaps requiring a review or renewal ever 2-3 years to determine whether or not the use should be allowed to continue. The basis for doing so would be that the boat club use may be appropriate under a given level of operation but if it becomes problematic,conditions would be in place to curtail or eliminate the boat club use. . 4. Make boat clubs an accessory use. If the Planning Commission feels that regulation of boat clubs as a conditional use permit is not appropriate because issuance of a CUP grants a permanent right to that use, an option might be to change their status to an allowed accessory use. In this case,the City would rely on the annual marina licensing reviews to address and resolve any issues that arise related to the boat club use. . As an option, a standard might be added to the accessory use listing that limits the level of the boat club use to a certain percentage of the marina's on-water slips. Any expansion beyond 25 percent would require a variance or might have a corollary conditional use entry. Gaffron stated reliance on a set of regulatory criteria that does not contain clear standards by which compliance can be easily measured will be dif�cult to enforce if the need arises. For that reason, Staff is recommending that a numerical parlcing standard be established for the boat club use. While the marina owners/operators would prefer to not be bound by a standard that will potentially limit their use,the City needs to have some level of confidence in its ability to enforce its laws. Orono has licensed marinas since the 1960s. It has been suggested that annual review of a boat club Page � 16