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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, February 10, 2014 <br />7:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />    Page 13 of 30   <br />(7. #13-3644 CITY OF ORONO – ZONING CODE AMENDMENT – MINIMUM DWELLING <br />SIZE STANDARDS – ORDINANCE TABLED, Continued) <br /> <br />Levang stated she is not so sure the City needs to regulate the size of the house. Levang asked whether <br />Staff feels the building code would be sufficient. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated in the application discussed last summer, the building envelope was 11 x 38 feet and the <br />applicant suggested that he could construct a park model. Gaffron noted the only factor that would have <br />prevented that was the average setback variance for that specific lot. <br />Bremer noted zoning was also an important factor in that application. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated one of the issues in that application was whether the City Council was comfortable with <br />allowing that kind of house if the only thing they had to come back for was an average setback variance <br />and the sentiment at that time was no. <br /> <br />Printup asked if the Council is looking at this draft ordinance because of a past application. <br /> <br />Gaffron indicated that is correct and that the City has not had a standard for the rest of the City outside of <br />Big Island since 1983. Gaffron indicated a number of other cities have a similar ordinance in place and <br />that the City has done a limited number of RPUDs where this would be an issue. Gaffron indicated in the <br />past it has not been necessary because the City has been struggling to keep the houses from getting too <br />big. <br /> <br />Printup stated he does not see this becoming an issue in the future. <br /> <br />Bremer stated the point is that the City would have to approve that type of dwelling if they do not have a <br />minimum standard. <br /> <br />Levang asked whether a minimum standard could be included in another section of the code. <br /> <br />Mattick indicated the zoning code is the logical place to include it and that the building code has a very <br />limited standard. Mattick commented a very small house could become a neighborhood issue, and if the <br />Council feels this is over regulating, doing nothing is one option, but that it should be understood the City <br />would not be able to stop something like that without a minimum size standard. <br /> <br />Bremer stated it appears the Planning Commission felt that the 1,000 square feet is a relatively common <br />number although some cities have a smaller number. Bremer asked whether Staff has any recollection <br />what the other cities’ numbers were. <br /> <br />Gaffron sated he did not write those down and that he does not recall them at this time. The Planning <br />Commission noted that some of the cities that used smaller numbers also looked at limiting the number of <br />stories and what those stories can consist of. Gaffron commented there are a number of different ways of <br />approaching it and that the Planning Commission wanted something simple to define and simple to <br />understand and would be in the middle of the road in terms of what other cities are doing. <br /> <br />Bremer stated she was surprised that most of these cities were not lakeshore cities and the fact that Orono <br />is on Lake Minnetonka may be one reason to have a minimum size standard.