08-13-2012 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL Monday, August 13, 2012 7:00 o'clock p.m. (S. #10-3491 CITY OF ORONO -HARDCOVER REGULATIONS AMENDMENT, Continued) Rahn stated in his view it is more uniform to have it based on distance if they are going to go with something similar to the zones. Rahn noted the properties will still need some limited survey work but that he is not sure if that benefit overcomes the issue with the uniformity and the proximity to the lake. Bremer noted you would still need a survey to determine how much hardcover is on the lot. Gaffron noted Exhibit E is the table compiled by Staff. If you look from 2003 to 2011 at all of the lakeshore rebuilds that have a 250-500 foot zone, the City had 41 properties within that time period that met that 30 percent criteria. Staff compared the combined total square foot of hardcover that would be allowed under the current code with the total amount of hardcover granted by a variance for the 41 properties. Twelve of those properties required a variance. If you take the total square feet of overall hardcover that would be allowed under the draft ordinance, which is 25 percent in the 0-250 plus 30 percent in the 250-1000, and then change the requirement for the 250-1000 foot zone to meet 25 percent, the City would end up with all of the properties requiring a variance. Under the existing system, only 12 of the 41 properties required a variance. Gaffron stated Staff s concern has been that if you allow hardcover allotments from those rear zones to be pushed into the 75-250 foot zone, you have the potential to end up with a lot of hardcover right at the 75 - foot line and that the City will need some way to mitigate that hardcover. Mayor McMillan opened the public hearing at 7:45 p.m. Mary Drazan, Orono, indicated she served on the hardcover task force. It was her understanding that the direction they got from the City Council was to keep the tiers and that she is now confused given the discussion this evening. Drazan stated the task force went on this path based on what they thought was council direction and that they put a lot of thought and effort into the tier system. McMillan stated the Council wanted to make sure that people who are conforming today are not made nonconforming whether the regulations are governed by tiers or zones. McMillan commented the City Council is open-minded and that no final decision is being made at this point. McMillan stated she would be interested to know if the task force feels strongly about tiers and why. Rahn noted he was the council representative on the task force and that he attended the first three meetings. Rahn stated it took the task force a while to get into the residential side of the regulations but that he does not specifically recall discussing tiers or saying that tiers is the path they should go down. Gozola stated the initial public meetings provided public input and the feedback from those meetings, as well discussion at the joint City Council/Planning Commission meetings, is what was brought forward to Staff to discuss. The task force actually looked at two different paths, the tier system and the performance based option. It was ultimately determined that the performance based option was not the best path. Drazan asked whether Staff feels it will be easier with the tier system. Curtis indicated it results in a map which allows each resident to know which tier they are in and in that respect it is easier. Drazan asked whether it would reduce the number of variances. Page 8 of 19