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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION JOINT WORK SESSION Monday, March 26, 2012 5:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 9 McMillan stated she also does not like the board spacing option with less than 1/4 inch since that seems to be getting too picky. McMillan indicated she would like to give credit for either 100 square feet of permeable feet of patio pavers or 100 square feet of decking and not doing the 50 percent credit. If you have a lakeshore home, that would allow you 100 square feet without it being counted towards hardcover. Rahn commented a quarter inch spacing used to be very typical but that has kind of gone away. McMillan stated she does not feel they need five tiers and that perhaps three should be the maximum. The DNR allows 25 percent regardless of lot size. McMillan stated one of the problems the City has had with lots that are not quite located on the lakeshore is that their property drains to properties that are on the lake. Bremer commented it also depends on the topography of the lot. Some lots are quite a distance from the water but have had drainage problems. If the back of the lot is not regulated as much and there are larger structures in that area, it could create a worse situation. Rahn stated you cannot assume the topography slopes down to the lake because it may slope toward the adjoining property. Rahn asked what the 35 percent hardcover would be in relationship to the structural coverage. Gozola stated structural coverage would be a separate issue. Rahn commented that goes hand-in-hand with his concerns about the performance based design. The City has seen over the years that builders will do whatever they can to gain a square foot of space, and under the performance style it will turn into a hardcover game where they will try to gain as much as they can. Rahn stated he also understands there has to be some method of enforcement and that the performance based option talked about a voluntary fee and yearly inspections. Rahn stated he has an issue with that since new owners of the property will be unaware of that aspect. Bremer asked how the City can communicate to the long-term residents the new regulations. Gozola stated the City could go to the people who submitted applications previously and wanted to do a big project but felt that these regulations shut down what they wanted to do and the City could explain that they did not necessarily want to stop that project. The new regulations would allow you increased hardcover if you are willing to show us that you will implement certain measures to ensure the City is still meeting their goal of protecting the lake. The new regulations will make it easier for people to do what they want to do but putting regulations in place to monitor the hardcover and the lake. McMillan stated the performance based option is the most complicated option because you have to rely on an engineer to get the added hardcover. Engineers were big on curb and gutter 20 years ago and now they have gone away from that. There are some engineering techniques that are felt to be good today but may not be found as effective 10-15 years from now. Rahn commented the new regulations may bring a whole new round of applications and that he is not sure whether that is good or bad. Rahn stated he likes the prescriptive option since it is very similar to what the City is currently doing and allows for some of the things that the residents would like. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/09/2012 Approfl of Joint Council & Planning Commission Work Session Minutes 03/26/2012 [Page 4 of 9]