03-13-2017 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday March 13,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 12. #17-3903 ALEX UGORETS,2520 SHADYWOOD ROAD, SKETCH PLAN—Continued- Dankey stated it is very difficult to pull out of Lund's since there is always traffic there. Alex Ugorets, 175 Brentwood Avenue,Tonka Bay, stated he bought the Freshwater business center and tried to bring it back to life. Ugorets commented it is a lot of work and cost a lot of money but that he gets a lot of compliments from people stopping by. Ugorets stated he is very proud of that project and that in his view it will be very successful. Ugorets stated his taste is very contemporary and that he noticed Byerly's and Lund's have been doing similar things. Ugorets stated the whole neighborhood is becoming more modern and that this building could be apartment units or condominiums or senior care but that he just wants to know what size box they can put in there. Ugorets stated it could also be turned into a parking lot for the Freshwater Business Center. Dankey suggested he consider a little smaller box than what he is proposing. Ugorets stated he has had a lot of requests to turn it into an event center and that his original idea was to turn a portion of the building into an event center. Ugorets indicated he has people who would be willing to run it and the neighbors have indicated they would like to have weddings there. Ugorets stated he put that on hold given his concerns with parking,but if this project does not go through,one of his options is to add more parking for an event center. Ugorets stated that is not a bad use for the neighborhood but that they will be looking at a parking lot rather than a building. Ugorets indicated he will do just fine with a building or without a building but that this project would be an asset to the city and to the neighborhood. Ugorets commented there are a lot of older people who would not mind living in the penthouse and that it is a major feature of the building. Without the penthouse, it will be just another ordinary building, which he does not really want to build. Ugorets stated he wants it to be a nice property for the people who can afford it and enjoy it,but if the building is reduced in height, it will be a different building. Ugorets stated the penthouse will bring in enough revenue to make the building feasible. Ugorets stated as far as the distance from the wetland,the City is encouraging him to have underground parking,but that creates a whole story. Ugorets stated 30 feet in the front is not that much when there are 10-foot ceilings. Ugorets stated people like high ceilings and that he wants to put a nice expensive building there, but that if the size of the building is reduced too much,he might not be building anything there. Ugorets noted the person that sent the letter is actually located on County Road 19 and that his property borders this property by a tiny little section. Ugorets stated he also wants a fence in there and that he is willing to give him a fence but his complaint does not make much sense since he is one of the least ones being impacted. Seals stated the Council would like to thank him for all the improvements to the Freshwater building. Seals encouraged him to reach out to the residents to get more feedback and to try to get them to support the project. Page 20 of 32