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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, May 19, 2014 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />Page 14 of 31  <br />  <br />Schwingler stated when he drove by the site yesterday around 4:00, it was fairly crowded. Schwingler <br />asked what other unintended consequences there might be. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated a lot of it has to do with what is currently allowed in the B-2 District. Gaffron indicated he <br />does have a concern that with the additional hardcover there will be some negative environmental and <br />visual impacts. The current proposal does not include any interior trees or vegetation that would break up <br />the parking area. The site currently has a parking area that is approximately half a football field. <br /> <br />Gaffron stated as it relates to the neighbor, there could be additional noise and glare from headlights. <br />Gaffron stated in the winter the site likely will be quieter, but in the summer there will be cars coming in <br />early in the morning and leaving later in the evening as well as boat storage during the winter. Gaffron <br />stated without screening, those items could have a greater impact. Gaffron stated in his view those are <br />some of the unintended consequences that need to be considered. <br /> <br />Luke Kujawa, Applicant, stated four years ago they started their operations and it was made clear at the <br />beginning by Staff that this is an extremely complicated site. Some of the issues raised right from the <br />start were multiple ownership of sites that were considered, for practical purposes, as one site in <br />determining the amount of shoreline, the number of allowable dock slips, and parking. Staff had <br />indicated it is very rare to have lots that were zoned residential on one part of the lot and commercial on <br />the other portion and they would like to get that cleaned up as much as possible. <br /> <br />Kujawa indicated since beginning operations at the site, they have been working through the various <br />issues on the site. The first issue was obtaining a conditional use permit for operation of the boat club. <br />Your Boat Club has operated out of there for three years now. Other issues were looking at common <br />ownership of all of the sites and the fueling situation, which has been resolved. Kujawa stated they are <br />now looking at issues dealing with the multiple access points to the road and the zoning issues. <br /> <br />Kujawa stated having these two lots zoned residential does not make sense since they are considered <br />commercial by the LMCD and the City as well as by the previous owners. The residential lots have <br />commercial on one side with an easement by the marina to utilize the property, there is a permanent <br />easement on the other side, and a sanctioned permanent lease to allow commercial parking in the middle. <br />Kujawa stated there really is no way to clean up the blighted property unless it is rezoned. Kujawa noted <br />the properties have already been used for commercial and the empty house was used as some type of club <br />house at one point and does not appear to have been used as a normal residential house. <br /> <br />Kujawa noted the rezoning will increase his taxes substantially but that the rezoning makes sense <br />functionally for the site. The site has been considered commercial for approximately fifty years and that <br />they are probably the first owners of the property that are attempting to deal with some of these issues. <br />Kujawa stated their site plan attempts to meet the requirements of the City as much as possible, including <br />eliminating one of the access points to the county road. The site also contains a boat dealership and a <br />marina, which means there will be trucks and trailers pulling in. Kujawa stated at times they pull into the <br />residential lots since that is the biggest lot to turn around but that their plan would solve that. <br /> <br />Kujawa stated in response to the comment that the area was quite busy, it should be noted that there is <br />currently undergoing construction on part of the site, which has contributed to the congestion. <br /> <br />Kujawa stated approximately seven days after the closing they were made aware that the dock was out of <br />compliance and that they were told it needed to be corrected immediately even though the situation has <br />Item #01 - PC Agenda - 06/16/2014 <br />Aproval of Planning Commission Minutes 05/19/2014 <br />[Page 14 of 31]