08-12-2013 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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' MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,August 12,2013 7:00 o'clock p.m. (l0. #13-3614 FRED JOHNSON ON BEHALF OF PATRICIA L. PFEFFER, 1565 ORCHARD BEACH PLACE— VARIANCES, Continued) Printup moved,Anderson seconded,to recommend denial of Application No. 13-3614,Fred Johnson on behalf of Patricia L.Pfeffer, 1565 Orchard Beach Place. Bremer asked what the difference is between this lot of record and the state law that gives owners of lots of record some rights. Mattick stated the nonconformity does not comply with today's rules regarding setbacks, etc., and that the fundamental premise of a nonconforming was that they would gradually go away. The legislation primarily dealt with lakeshore lots. With the increase in the number of lakeshore lots, some legislation was passed guaranteeing owners of smaller lots the right to proceed with building without having to get a lot area variance provided some criteria is met. One of those requirements is the lot must have a minimum of 10,000 square feet and all other zoning requirements. Mattick stated when Staff reviewed this application, it was determined that the application does not meet all of those requirements. Mattick stated in this particular instance the change in the state statute does not help the applicant. Bremer asked if a house existed on the lot now, whether the owner would be allowed to rebuild. Mattick indicated they would be allowed to rebuild in that situation but at this point it is treated as a vacant lot. VOTE ON THE ABOVE MOTION: Ayes 5,Nays 0. PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR/CITY ENGINEER'S REPORT 11. ORONO PUBLIC SCHOOLS—STOP SIGN REQUEST Struve stated on June 26 he received a letter from the Orono Public School District making a request to add at the north school entrance by the middle school and the high school a 4-way stop sign. There are currently stop signs for the parking lots and the school district would like to add one additional stop sign for northbound traffic. Based on some past information regarding traffic patterns and traffic counts,which was compared to the warrants for this stop sign, it was determined, it does not meet the warrants for a stop sign. Struve indicated there is a provision to allow for some flexibility to conduct an engineering study. There are some traffic concerns that arise mainly in the afternoon based on the information provided by the Orono Public Schools. Approximately 350 students per day traverse the roadway. Struve indicated he did present the request to Police Chief Farniok,who is also in support of adding the stop sign in this location. There are some concerns about traffic potentially backing up on to County Road 6. If the Council decides to move forward with the creation of a 4-way stop,the stop sign will be monitored once school starts to see if traffic is actually backing up and the stop sign can be removed if necessary. McMillan asked if the stop sign would help with the buses and pedestrian traffic. Page 27 of 37