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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 24, 2012 7:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 12 (3. #10-3491 CITY OF ORONO - HARDCOVER REGULATIONS AMENDMENT, Continued) been revised to read that "landscaping with permeable lining shall not be considered hardcover” and Items 1 through 5 would be considered hardcover but excluded from hardcover calculations. Gaffron indicated Staff has put together a sheet defining the major changes within the wetland ordinance. During the process of compiling that sheet, Staff concluded that it would be appropriate to add clarifying language to the new ordinance regarding the allowance of stairways, lifts, landings, lock boxes and driveways under certain circumstances within the 0-75 foot zone. The City's past practice has been to not debit a property's hardcover allowance by the square footage of those allowed items of hardcover in the 0- 75 foot zone. Staff essentially treated them as nonhardcover for calculation purposes but it has never been codified. Those specific items have been traditionally allowed in the 0-75 foot zone without variance approval following administrative review. Staff would like to formalize that practice by adding Item No. 6 under exclusions that would state that stairways, lifts, landings, lock boxes and driveways, when in compliance with the provisions of Section 78-1282 of this Chapter, would be an exclusion. Staff recommends approval of the ordinance and summary ordinance. Mayor McMillan stated she visualized those items as being included in the hardcover calculation since the 0-75 foot area will now be counted in the overall lot area. Gaffron stated in his view the City Council would be justified in taking that position. Gaffron recommended that regardless of which way the City Council elects to go on that item, the practice should be clarified. To illustrate the question, Gaffron gave an example of a lakeshore property that is 250 feet deep and 100 feet wide, consisting of 25,000 square feet. It would be allowed 25 percent hardcover or 6,200 square feet under the new ordinance. The house, the driveway, deck, and everything past the 75-foot line would count as hardcover and in the example would total 6,200 square feet. In the past, the lakeshore stairs and lockbox, which amount to an additional 300 square feet, would have been ignored. Gaffron stated if the City Council elects to include them in the hardcover calculations, the property owner would need to reduce the size of the house or driveway since they would then be over on their hardcover limit by 300 square feet. Gaffron stated if the exclusion is not added to the ordinance, that 0-75-foot hardcover will be counted against the 25 percent. Mayor McMillan agreed that the hardcover calculation should be clarified. Bremer stated it was her assumption that everything would be counted in the 0-75 foot zone. Bremer indicated she would be willing to go either way on it. Printup commented in his view the City should include it as hardcover. Gaffron stated if the language is left as is, there would be no additional exclusions and the items in the 0- 75 foot zone would be counted as hardcover. Mayor McMillan asked whether boathouses and sheds would also be included in the hardcover numbers. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 10/08/2012 Approval of Council Minutes 09/24/2012 [Page 4 of 12]