Laserfiche WebLink
MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING <br />Monday, May 20, 2013 <br />6:30 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br />  <br />Page 10 of 25  <br />  <br />Kujawa stated they could have as many rental boats as they want. Whereas, a boat club is pulled out from <br />that code and requires a separate conditional use permit. <br /> <br />Kujawa indicated they have a number of members throughout the metro area and they have access to <br />boats at eight different locations throughout the state of Minnesota. The members can go online, reserve <br />a boat, and take the boat whenever they want. <br /> <br />Schoenzeit asked whether the gas that is sold has a road tax on it. <br /> <br />Kujawa indicated it does have a road tax on it. Kujawa stated they do not sell any retail fuel but simply <br />replenish the boats. <br /> <br />Bennett asked if there is any place for people to come in off of the lake and fill up. <br /> <br />Kujawa indicated there is not. Kujawa indicated they have had conversations with the City and the <br />DLMC where down the road they may put a more permanent underground tank and a retail gas dock, but <br />at this time that is not on the table. <br /> <br />Landgraver asked how the change from the marina usage to the boat club usage would impact traffic in <br />the area. <br /> <br />Kujawa stated there will be some impact but no more than what other uses are permitted in the B-2 <br />District. If there was a facility that had a rental fleet consisting of 20 boats and those boats were rented <br />every single day, there would people showing up to use those 20 boats. That is no different than the boat <br />club. The boats typically go out on a morning session. When they are brought back, they are cleaned up, <br />filled up with gas, and then in the afternoon they go out again. A boat club will allow more people access <br />to the water and access to the boats but it is not of a higher use than a boat rental facility would be. <br /> <br />Kujawa stated on a busy weekend, such as a holiday weekend, people are out using their boats anyway. <br />There will be a slight impact on the traffic but there are also a lot of things that are assisting the parking in <br />the area. The retail tenant will be taking a lot more slips for display so that will result in fewer people <br />driving boats. In addition, the boat club will be moving into larger slips that are designed for larger boats <br />than what the boat club has. The larger boats are being replaced by 23 and 25-foot boats that do not <br />accommodate as many people, which results in fewer people and fewer cars. <br /> <br />Leskinen asked what is being done to alleviate the fear of pedestrian crossing. <br /> <br />Kujawa stated it is a challenging spot and that the area is busy. One of the main reasons they would like <br />to move to the side is when they have all of their boats on the Taniger Bay side as well as the retail <br />business being on that side, parking got congested and the other side was not busy. The relocation of the <br />boat club will allow the parking to be more balanced. Kujawa indicated there may be busier times when <br />people have to park across the road but there is a crosswalk. Kujawa stated in his view there will be a <br />definite net decrease in how often boat tenant users will have to cross the road. <br /> <br />Leskinen asked if all of the boat club boats park on the side where the gazebo is. <br /> <br />Kujawa indicated they are and that last year they were on the other side. <br /> <br />Item #01 - PC Agenda - 06/17/2013 <br />Approval of Planning Commission Minutes 05/20/2013 <br />[Page 10 of 25]