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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 10, 2012 7:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 26 (5. #10-3491 CITY OF ORONO - HARDCOVER REGULATIONS AMENDMENT, Continued) McMillan stated as it relates to Step 5, her question was whether those properties needed to be included, and that she does not have a strong feeling one way or another on whether they should be included. McMillan indicated her thought was that they may be getting too much regulation in the code but that she understands the environmental value. McMillan stated her second concern was the retaining walls and whether they should be counted as hardcover. McMillan noted boulder retaining walls do not retain much of anything and that it is difficult to consider a rock as hardcover since it seems to be a more natural feature. Rahn asked if Mayor McMillan would like the walls to be excluded or included. Rahn stated excluding retaining walls from hardcover may prompt more residents to have them. McMillan stated some of the more natural boulder walls or keystone should not be included. Bremer stated retaining walls are typically keystone or boulder. McMillan stated she would rather keep them as an exclusion. McMillan asked if Staff envisions a number of people coming in and requesting a 100 square foot patio or deck. Curtis stated it is a mix and that there are a number of new homes that may not have a patio. Curtis noted they have had two variance requests this past year for a patio and the 100-foot exclusion would allow those types of requests to have a small patio. Rahn stated in his view it is important to revisit this issue in 12 months. Rahn moved, Bremer seconded, to approve Application #10-3491, City of Orono - Hardcover Regulations Amendment, with Item No. 4 - Retaining Walls, being removed from the hardcover exclusions and to count them as hardcover. McMillan indicated she would like to see if there is any public comment regarding the hardcover prior to voting on the motion. McMillan opened the meeting for public comment at 7:57 p.m. Todd Kimmis, 2660 Casco Point, stated he has attended meetings regarding this item for the past two or three months and that in his opinion retaining walls and rock outcroppings should not be counted as hardcover. Kimmis stated he has not heard one person against the ordinance. In addition, the 0-75 foot zone is a killer, and if the Council is worried about people pushing the limits, there already are people who do that because the regulations are so restrictive. Kimmis stated he does not feel that will change and people will always try to get as much hardcover as they can. Orono has a staff that is very attentive to that, which is good and will help ensure that Lake Minnetonka is protected. Kimmis noted this process has gone on for over a year and that it is time to make some headway on this ordinance. The City Council can go back and forth for another two months but in his view it needs to be resolved at some point. Ralph Kempf, 3675 Togo Road, stated as it relates to retaining walls, if you have a slope that runs from the house down to the lake, that water will hit the ground and start to move toward the lake. If you have the same front yard with a retaining wall halfway to the lake, all of the water that hits above the retaining Item #02 - CC Agenda - 09/24/2012 Approval of Council Minutes 09/10/2012 [Page 8 of 26]