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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, June 16, 2014 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />Page 5 of 18  <br />  <br />Richard Anderson, Orono, stated he owns the marina next to this marina. Anderson stated what broke <br />that requires redoing is the fact that the site is only 1.08 acres total and there are a number of business <br />activities going on. The site has one of the biggest Yamaha dealers in the country filling up the parking <br />lot with retail boat sales as well as the biggest boat club organization in possibly the five-state area, which <br />also requires extra parking. Anderson stated when he owned the marina, there was not one boat parked <br />on the bituminous that is currently slated for parking, not one boat parked in the residential area at any <br />time, and it was controlled because there was not a major retail operation or a boat club. <br /> <br />Anderson stated this site could easily handle the docks that exist but not all the other uses that are going <br />on. Anderson stated the City should let him tear the residential buildings down and create extra parking <br />but that does not mean the City needs to create a separate subdistrict. The least that should be done is <br />make one of the residential properties commercial and leave the other one residential. <br /> <br />Anderson reiterated that one acre of land is not enough land for all of these activities and does not support <br />the amount of retail and activity that is happening on the site. Anderson stated for anyone who has visited <br />the area, they will see that the majority of the bituminous parking lot is filled with boats. People park on <br />the street going the wrong way. Anderson stated there is way too much activity on the site whether it is <br />commercial or residential, which is why this situation is broken. Anderson stated if the residential lots are <br />converted to commercial, the amount of activity on the site will only increase. <br /> <br />Matt Johnson, 1432 Shore Line Drive, stated his first observation is that a significant portion of the <br />parking that exists is under water currently near the gas tank and that the water only intensifies on the <br />other side of the road. Johnson noted the conditional use permit that exists now does not allow for boat <br />storage but boats are stored on the residential properties every day and a big pontoon was placed there <br />today. <br /> <br />Johnson stated what he has noticed is that as the site becomes more and more used and the number of <br />activities are increased, the existing conditional use permit is not being followed or enforced. Johnson <br />indicated a car has been parked on the adjoining residential lot for a week with grass growing up as high <br />as the tires. Johnson stated the idea of changing this to commercial would allow them just simply to <br />move their docks, which is not the right reason to make the change. Johnson stated maintaining the <br />residential zoning and having a better defined, more practical conditional use permit would solve more <br />problems than rezoning, which would only allow them to push more docks to the north. <br /> <br />Johnson stated at the last meeting, when the question came up about the timeline, the owner said they did <br />not have the funds available to do this for the next few years. Johnson stated the City is talking about <br />making a pretty extraordinary change even though the applicant does not have the means to make all the <br />improvements. Johnson stated in his view the best thing to do at this point is to table the application and <br />have the applicant come back with a specific plan so it can be properly evaluated. <br /> <br />Tim Keane, Attorney-at-Law, stated he is appearing on behalf of the nearby residential property owners. <br />Keane stated what exists is a narrow piece of land that is divided by a county state aid highway that is a <br />major collector street serving the south and north. The road experiences great volumes of traffic as well <br />as truck traffic. Keane stated that narrow piece of land that is divided by the thoroughfare is supporting <br />way more activity than what is appropriate to the land capability. Keane stated it is only by placing <br />extraordinary burdens on the roadway and surface water that the commercial operation can enjoy the <br />intensity of use that drives their business. <br />Item #03 - PC Agenda - 07/21/2014 <br />Approval of Planning Commission Minutes 06/16/14 [Page 5 of 18]