11-18-2013 Planning Commission Packet

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Monday, October 21, 2013 6:30 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 25 of 42 Grittman noted the Comprehensive Plan deals with land use density and not lot density. The overall residential pattern is one unit per two acres of developable land generally and lot sizes may vary if the applicant chooses a plat process that will accommodate that. The other rural land use pattern that is common within Orono is a rural land use consisting of one unit per five acres, which is a category in the Comprehensive Plan that was established for the northwest portion of the community. Grittman indicated the map shows the existing land uses for the surrounding area as well as the golf course. As one of the factors that were identified as part of the amendment process, Grittman stated it is apparent the pattern of a rural environment is a major goal of the Community Management Plan, whether it is open space or residential development. Rural residential is a prominent land use in the existing neighborhood around the golf course except for the MUSA portion. Urban land uses within the MUSA exist to the east and to the south. Most of the proposed development services are proposed to be private so there should be relatively minimal impacts on general city public services as a result of the change. One of the most prominent issues that was raised by the project relate to transportation. Grittman stated the project is likely to change the transportation pattern. There are already existing concerns with the roadways in the area. As a result, transportation issues have been identified as one area that needs to be looked at closer. Grittman noted there have also been changes in the economy that would compel the City to consider a land use change. Grittman stated to elaborate on that a little bit, the golf course designation or parks and open space designation restricts the private use of this property to an open space category. One of the restricting factors for the City, when you look at land use regulation, is the City is allowed to regulate land use but the City has to create a viable, beneficial use of the property for a private property owner. The City cannot regulate it in a way that takes beneficial use away from private owners. Grittman noted that factor is applicable to other developments as well. Grittman noted an open space district provides very few opportunities for the property owner to make beneficial use of the property. Grittman stated the City’s land use regulatory authority is also limited in a way that the City cannot place burdens on individual property owners that are not in proportion to their impact in the system. In this particular case, open space preservation as a goal of the City cannot be borne by a single property owner and it crosses the line in that cities are not allowed to require that of private property owners in dealing with land use. Grittman stated from a Comprehensive Plan standpoint, the surrounding land uses are predominantly rural residential. The current zoning is RR-1B, which allows rural residential development at one dwelling unit per two acres of dry land. The roadways in this area are definite issues and are factors that any development would have to consider. Grittman recommended a traffic study be considered but noted that rural residential would likely have the least amount of impact as compared to other residential uses. Grittman noted retaining the current open space designation is not economically viable for the private land owner. The City cannot compel a single property owner to provide public space out of the scope that the individual property owner contributes to that cause. Grittman stated he would recommend the City consider a change to the land use for this parcel and that the question becomes what the scope of the change will be and what the development may look like. In addition, the applicant has prepared a sketch plan to illustrate what they propose to do with the property. Grittman noted sketch plans are done before a lot of the supporting data is known and is Item #01 - PC Agenda - 11/18/2013 Approval of Planning Commission Minutes 10/21/2013 [Page 25 of 42]