01/22/2013 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday,January 22,2013 6:30 o'clock p.m. with the saxne faqade materials and color scheme as the existing building,with the intent to have visually seamless facades that will appear to have been part of the original construction. The Crystal Bay Business Center was platted in 2007. JEM purchased and occupied the building at 550 Old Crystal Bay Road in 2011-2013. They recently purchased the existing metal buildings at 450 Old Crystal Bay Road North in order to relocate their machine shop operations. JEM now requests industrial site plan approval in order to continue improving the site's parking areas,construct an addition and modifications to the existing building. The site plan approval includes a conditional use permit for deferment of the number of required parking stalls with a variance due to location and a setback variance .for the proposed parking area to the building. JEM entered into an agreement to purchase 550, concurrently working with Ryan and the City to replat 450 and 550,making SSO longer and 450 shorter with the intent to expand the building at 550 southward. This left 450 with a lot that was substandard in area to support the amount of parking required by code for the existing old warehouse building. The intent was that this old building would be removed, and a new, smaller building eventually be constructed meeting all City requirements. After gaining City approvals for its expansion of 550,JEM later deternuned that the expansion was not financially feasible. However,JEM also concluded that the existing old warehouse at 450 would serve their space needs if renovated. In December,2012,the City Council approved a conditional use permit authorizing JEM to use alternative exterior finish materials to improve the building and continue the existing color scheme for the Crystal Bay Business Center. The renovation of the existing building at 450, on what is now a lot that is too small to allow all code requirements to be met, only makes sense in the context of TEM's ownership of both sites and the sharing of parking, etc.,that makes this industrial campus function. Parki.ng stalls will be created along the Old Crystal Bay Road side of the building in a similar fashion as the lot to the north. City Code requires parking stalls that serve the building to be located on the same lot as the principal use. JEM is proposing to construct 39 stalls and requests a conditional use permit for deferment of parking for the remainder of the required spaces. City Code Section 78-827(� states that a reduction in the number of required parking stalls may be permitted by a conditional use permit provided that certain conditions are met. Curtis noted the City's parking ordinance does not take into consideration the type of facility and that a fully automated manufacturing facility would likely require less parking stalls than a retail operation. City Code states that"in no case shall the amount of parking provided be less than one-half of the amount of parking required by the ordinance."The applicant is proposing to construct only 39 of the required 101 spaces. The conditional use permit requires at least 50 spaces be constructed. A variance will be needed to allow the proposed number of parking stalls. Since the property owner also owns the adjacent property to the north, a portion of which is currently vacant, open space is available for future parking development. . Curtis noted the applicant has provided information that indicates a maximum of 31 parking stalls is required. Currently the day shift has 24 employees and the evening shift has seven employees.Both shifts on the weekends have six employees each. Page 5 of 18