05-08-2017 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,May 8,2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 16. #17-3922 CITY OF ORONO,TEXT AMENDMENT: WETLANDS REGULATIONS— ORDINANCE NO. 196,Third Series.—conNnued Barnhart stated the Watershed District may not require a wetland delineation in certain situations under their rules and then a wetland buffer would also not be required by the Watershed District. Barnhart stated in drafting the proposed text amendment,he looked at what other cities are doing. Minnetonka Beach has a 25-foot setback from the edge of a wetland,Minnetonka requires a 35-foot setback from the wetland overlay district and 10 feet from the buffer,Minnetrista measures 35 feet from the wetland edge, and Plymouth uses a straight 15-foot setback from the buffer. Overall Orono is basically in line with what the other cities are following. The Planning Commission was provided with three options to review at their April meeting. Those are as follows: 1. Recognizing that the Watershed District's focus is regional and the City's is smaller,retain the existing setback requirements and make no changes to buffers. 2. Recognizing the City's role in water quality protection,yet balance the need for use of land, reduce the setback to 22 feet where no buffer is required or has been established. The 22 feet is nine and one half feet more than the shortest possible buffer required by the Watershed District for residential properties. In addition,22 feet is a memorable setback, less likely to be lost in the mind of the applicant,to the benefit of protecting the wetland. 3. Completely defer buffer requirements to the Watershed District and remove the requirement of a setback from undeclared buffers and the additional ten feet from declared buffers. Following a lengthy discussion,the Planning Commission ultimately recommended no changes to the buffer setback based on the information before them. The Planning Commission did recommend,however, some changes to the wetland delineation language. The City currently requires a formal delineation on any property where a project is within 150 feet of a wetland regardless of the type of wetland. The Watershed District only requires a wetland delineation when specific wetland rules are triggered,which is usually when a new home is built or the property is subdivided. Walsh noted wetland delineations can only be done when the vegetation is actively growing,which is May through mid-October,and that this change would provide Staff with some flexibility. Barnhart noted the Watershed District also requires a 15-day comment period following completion of the delineation to allow residents to comment on it. The proposed ordinance would allow Orono to accept information for a desk review in lieu of a formal delineation for projects not likely to impact the wetland due to project scope,distance, and/or topography, similar to methods employed by the Watershed District. If the applicant disagrees with the City's interpretation of the wetland boundary, a full delineation may be provided. Walsh stated if the information is more conservative and the resident does not agree with it,he would have the ability to obtain a formal wetland delineation. Page 21 of 34