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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, August 10, 2009 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ PAGE 5 Staff notes this applicant has not changed from the concept application and that it is Staff’s feeling that what is being proposed is simply too much for this site. There is no space for adequate parking or landscaping. If there are not enough parking spaces, customers will park in the 3465 Shoreline Drive parking lot, on Kelly Avenue, and/or in the Lund’s parking lot. The pavement of Kelly Avenue is only 28 feet wide, not wide enough for on-street parking. There may be congestion as drivers look for a parking space. Eventually businesses may move or close if the parking is inadequate. The site plan shows a deficiency of 23 parking spaces. The applicant is proposing to expand the existing building on each end. The basement garage located in the middle would be replaced by a two-level addition with storage on the lower level and commercial space on the upper. The footprint of the addition would be about 160 square feet larger than the existing garage because of an expansion in the southwest corner. A 5,000 square foot single-story addition would be placed on the Kelly Avenue end of the building. Landscaping, especially adjacent to the street, is important to creating an attractive commercial area and trees in particular have many environmental benefits. Additional trees are being recommended to provide shade, filter the air, and buffer noise. A recent innovation in drainage is to have the runoff from parking areas flow into landscaped areas planted with trees. The landscaping, especially the trees, absorbs the runoff. The majority of the proposed landscaped areas are minimal and are too small to sustain the plant materials for any length of time. A setback of 29 feet from Kelly Avenue right-of-way is proposed for the east addition. The required setback is 35 feet. A setback of 0 feet from the west property line is proposed for the upper level of the west addition when the required setback is 35 feet. Setback variances are requested for both parking lot expansions. The new portion of the upper parking lot would be located 4.16 feet from the right-of-way of Shoreline Drive and 3.5 feet from the right-of-way of Kelly Avenue. Code requires a 10-foot setback from Shoreline Drive and a 20-foot setback from Kelly Avenue. The new portion of the lower parking area would be 8.42 feet from the south property line when the code would require a 15-foot setback. It would be 15 feet from the right-of-way of Kelly Avenue when a 20-foot setback is required. Sylvia Bertagnoli, 2499 Kelly Avenue, stated she would like to have it in writing that the trees between her property and this structure would not be removed. Bertagnoli stated if the smaller trees are included in the calculation, there are approximately 25 trees in that area that she would like to see preserved. Bertagnoli indicated she does not have an issue with the lighting any more since it appears to have been remedied with the bowling center application. Bertagnoli noted that three of the neighbors would like to remain in their residences in their retirement and have concerns regarding the noise and traffic. Dick Edwards, 2480 Carman Street, stated he has lived in this area at the time the old bowling center was open and that they experienced a number of issues with traffic, lighting, and noise. Edwards stated given current state of the economy, it is likely the bowling alley will not be viable. Edwards expressed a concern with the current traffic situation in the area and requested the City Council follow the recommendation of the Planning Commission. Tom Richie, 2507 Kelly Avenue, stated his main concern deals with the congested traffic and moving anything closer to Kelly Avenue, which would negatively impact their quality of life. Richie expressed concern that there will be a major accident in this accident if any additional vehicles are added. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 08/24/09 Approval of Council Minutes 08/10/09 [Page 5 of 12]