04/15/2013 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING � Monday,Apri115,2013 ' 6:30 o'clock p.m. OLD BUSINESS 6. #13-3596 CITY OF ORONO,ZONING STUDY—ACCESSORY USES AND STRUCTURES,7:56 P.M.—9;06 P.M. Gaffron noted the Planning Commission reviewed the topic of accessory uses and structures at its regular meetings in February and March as well as at its March 6`h work session. During the March 18"'meeting, the Planning Commission reviewed the tables of unlisted but extremely common accessory uses and structures and provided comment on how these items should be addressed in the City's ordinances. The Planning Commission did not review the"somewhat"or"marginally"common items at that time. Staff has,however, drafted a proposed ordinance amendment for discussion that addresses all three categories of unlisted uses. The attached draft ordinance begins with a title revision and adds Section 78-201 which is a general statement indicating that if a use is not listed, it's not allowed. The ordinance proposes revisions to the `accessory uses' section of each of the 9 basic single-family residential districts,so there is necessarily a significant amount of text duplication in the ordinance formatting.Additionally it amends just the Accessory Use section preamble of the RPUD, Industrial, and B-1 thru B-6 districts. Finally it amends specific sections of the Zoning Code pertinent to accessory uses regarding height of structures, standards for tennis courts,pools, etc., and non-encroachments,as well as a few minor word additions to selected sections. A brief summary of the ordinance revisions: Section 1. The title of"Supplementary Requirements and Restrictions-Accessory Buildings" (encompassing Sections 78-1431 thru 78-1440) is amended by adding"and Structures"to reflect that this section also deals with structures that are not buildings. Section 2. This is a new section under"District Regulations—Generally,"which states that uses not specifically shown as permitted, conditional or accessory in a zoning district shall be considered as prohibited,and allows for the City or applicant to initiate an amendment to the Code per the existing zoning amendment process to determine whether such use should be allowed. Staff has discussed the alternative of inerely having the Council make a `same or similar' determination on a case-by-case basis. Staff does not recommend that, as such a process would either result in a denial, or an approval that requires a code amendment process to document it. Sections 3 thru 1 l. These are significant revisions to the `Accessory Uses' section within each of the single family residential districts. With one exception,the text revisions are identical within each district. The exception is that `Farm Animal Structures' is added only in RR-districts where Keeping of Farm Animals is an allowed accessory use. � In these nine sections,the order of items has been changed from alphabetical to groupings by similar topic. Also,the preamble sentence within each district's accessory use section has been modified by stating that onlv the listed uses are permitted,provided thev are subordinate to, and associated with and located on the same lot as a permitted use. - "Private garages and parking spaces,which is a listed use in all districts,"is followed by a listing of allowable detached buildings that are not garages, as garages are subject to a variety of specific setback and location rules within various sections of the code. Page 15 of 26