01-27-2014 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, January 27, 2014 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10 of 32 (5. #13-3637 WILLI ABBOTT ON BEHALF OF THE BROADWAY GROUP, LLC – 2350 WATERTOWN ROAD AND XXX WILLOW DRIVE NORTH – PRELIMINARY PLAT AND RPUD REZONING, Continued) Gaffron noted based on the total lot areas, use of the RPUD standard 0.50 floor area ratio yields allowable floor areas ranging from 8,700 square feet to 19,000 square feet. Use of the 0.50 floor area ratio for the development would potentially allow much larger homes than the developer anticipates. Staff does not recommend use of the 0.50 floor area ratio standard. Gaffron noted the average size of the house would be 4,100 square feet. The two smallest lots in Block 2 located on the south side of the road are the most able to accommodate the large rambler footprint since they are the least constrained by setbacks, wetlands, and buffers, but they would have the most difficulty meeting a 15 percent footprint limit. Gaffron indicated he has laid out a number of options for the City Council to consider for the lot coverage limit and those are contained on Page 3 of Staff’s report. Each one of them has impacts varying by the size of the lot. The applicant’s preference is to establish the limit as the larger of 3,820 square feet or 15 percent. Under this scenario, house footprint limits would range from 3,820 to 5,700 square feet. Gaffron noted the proposed grading for the site is to grade virtually the entire site south of the wetland and southwest of the tree line adjacent to the creek. The applicant has indicated future buffering will likely be new plantings or possibly transplants of existing, higher quality materials from the site. The applicant is also proposing additional screening along Willow Drive and buffering to adjacent properties. The applicant Mr. Abbott has revised the rain garden locations to be completely within each individual lot and not straddling lot lines. The rain gardens would be protected via an expansion of the perimeter drainage and utility easements. Gaffron noted the new landscaping plan suggests elimination of rain gardens in favor of shallow swales, which would be a conflict between the new landscaping plan and the new grading plan. Staff has reviewed the various easements and covenants that would be required and considered the possibilities for consolidating them into a more compact format. Gaffron stated the following easements would be required: perimeter drainage and utility easements; other drainage and utility easements devoted to stormwater facilities, ponds, rain gardens, and non-wetland drainageways; wetland flowage and conservation easements; a trail easement; city sewer easement; tree preservation easement, and a wetland buffer. Gaffron indicated the MCWD is requiring a 16-foot buffer bordering the wetland. Gaffron noted if the road is to be private, it would be platted as an outlot over which the City historically has required an underlying road, drainage and utility easement as well as a covenant establishing that the neighborhood has maintenance obligations for the road. In the case of Oliver Hill, the road is proposed to be platted as a public road, which automatically places the ownership and maintenance responsibilities on the City and no easements are required.