03-09-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 9, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10 of 43 *7. #13-3623 LIN YAN/CITY OF ORONO – 1330 CHERRY PLACE – CORRECTED RESOLUTION, RESOLUTION NO. Levang moved, Cornick seconded, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. , a Corrective Resolution of the City Council for the property located at 1330 Cherry Place. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. 8. #14-3685 WILLI ABBOTT ON BEHALF OF THE BROADWAY GROUP, LLC Gaffron stated the applicant is requesting an amendment of the Development Contract and RPUD Agreement for Oliver Hill to revise the limits on lot coverage for two of the seven lots. Oliver Hill had a lot coverage limit of 15 percent per lot, which is lot coverage by structures. The developer initially had proposed to build fairly modest homes ranging from 1,800 to 2,200 square foot. Staff recently received a house plan for Lot 2, Block 2. Lot 2, Block 2 has a limit of 15 percent structural coverage. The house plan came in with a footprint of approximately 4,000 square feet or 22 percent lot coverage. Gaffron stated clearly that house does not fit the lot. The developer is still in the process of constructing the road and they have not constructed any homes at this point. The applicants have asked whether they could exchange lot coverage for Lot 2, Block 2 with Lot 2, Block 1, which is directly across from Lot 2, Block 2. Gaffron indicated Lot 2, Block 2, is a good sized lot but is small compared to the rest of the lots in the neighborhood. The lot consists of approximately 17,917 square feet and the lot across the street is almost 3,000 square feet. Gaffron stated lot coverage has always been a massing issue and that the 15 percent is based on the entire lot and not just the dry buildable land. The applicant has raised the question of whether it would be feasible to exchange the amount of lot coverage that is allotted to the lot to the north for the smaller 15 percent lot coverage for Lot 2 to the south. During the application process, the applicant indicated his intent was to build modestly sized homes, and the conceptual footprints shown on the approved development plans had no footprint larger than 2,200 square feet. The issue for the Council to consider is whether it is reasonable to allow the transfer of unusable excess lot coverage allotment from one lot to another lot. Gaffron noted that has not been done previously. From Staff’s perspective, allowing 22 percent structural coverage would be way out of proportion to the 15 percent structural lot coverage. Gaffron stated Staff remains neutral on whether it is appropriate to swap the lot coverage. Willi Abbott, The Broadway Group, stated he would like to raise a couple of points. Abbott stated it is his belief that he made a mistake and missed that lot when calculating the 15 percent on each lot. In addition, the lot lines were moved further back in order to meet the changed setback. Abbott stated when they were calculating the 15 percent initially; they knew that Lot 2, Block 2, was going to be tight but that they did not realize it would be that tight. Abbott stated they originally set out to do 2,100 to 3,000 square foot homes. Abbott stated if you look at the homes drawn on the survey, those were put on there by the surveyor to give an idea of where the homes might go rather than the actual square footages.