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MINUTES OF THE <br /> , ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br /> Monday,March 21,2011 <br /> 6:30 o'clock p.m. <br /> operation could be tied to the annual marina license review process. However, Staff is currently <br /> attempting to streamline the marina licensing process we have attempted to follow in the past. Issuance <br /> of annual marina licenses has often been delayed due to the perceived need to verify compliance with <br /> operational standards via a site inspection. Staff would prefer to separate the issuance of licenses from <br /> enforcement of specific zoning standards,which runs counter to the idea of an annual review of a boat <br /> club as part of the licensing process. ' <br /> Given the options noted above, Staff would recommend the interim use permit option be pursued,with a <br /> numerical standard for boat club parking,provisions for a review or renewal process at stated time <br /> intervals and the ability to curtail the use if it becomes a problem. We aclrnowledge the marina operators' <br /> wishes to not be highly regulated. We understand the Planning Commission's hesitation to recommend <br /> fixing a potential problem that does not yet exist. Staff is looking at the topic proactively and believes it <br /> would be in the City's best interest to have measurable and defensible standards to fall back on should <br /> boat clubs become an issue due to parking problems. <br /> Acting Chair Lesldnen opened the public hearing at 8:06 p.m. <br /> Luke Kujawa, 1444 Shoreline Drive, stated the biggest challenge is defining what a boat club is. There <br /> are family trusts that own boats,people that have informal agreements,which should be considered <br /> fractional ownership, and boat clubs that own boats and rent them out to its members. Your Boat Club, <br /> LLC, is set up as a rental organization but it does not rent boats to anyone from the general public who <br /> might want to rent a boat on any given day but only rents to its members. <br /> Kujawa stated nowhere in the country has there been a need to do something different for boat clubs since <br /> they fall within those two definitions outlined in Staffs report. The City already has those two guidelines. <br /> Kujawa stated in the past the boat club got pulled out from those two definitions and required a <br /> conditional use permit,which does not make any sense since there are all different kinds of people that <br /> rent boats. The fundamental issue is trying to define boat clubs. The way the code is written right now, <br /> the City needs to come up with a definition since there are many different types of boat ownership. <br /> Kujawa commented he understands Staff has a concern about parking and how that can be controlled. <br /> The marina already has regulations it needs to comply with and he is not sure why we need more laws on <br /> top of those. Having boat clubs separated out does not make sense and muddies the water. <br /> Kuja,wa stated he also understands the interim use permit,but the City already has boat rental as an <br /> accessory use and it is akeady allowed. The one thing that would completely simplify this�is to make <br /> boat clubs an accessory use rather than a conditional use permit. The City has annual license renewals at <br /> which time those issues could be addressed. <br /> Kujawa pointed out that when it comes time to put a number to the parking,you could have a boat club <br /> that owns 10 or 15 fishing boats or you could have a boat club that has twenty 40-foot cruisers,which <br /> would have a significant impact on the parking. <br /> Acting Chair Leskinen closed the public hearing at 8:12 pm. <br /> Feuss stated at the last meeting the Planning Commission reviewed this and there was no evidence since <br /> 1994 that parking was a fundamental problem. Feuss stated she is opposed to imposing additional <br /> regulation if it is not necessary, especially when there is no evidence to demonstrate a problem. <br /> Page � <br /> 17 <br />