11/03/2004 - work session Planning Commission Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION Wednesday, November 3, 2004 5:30 o'clock p.m. ROLL The Commission met on the above mentioned date with the following members present: Chair David Rahn, Commissioners J. Marc Fritzler, Jim Leslie, Cynthia Bremer, Ralph Kempf, and Travis Winkey. Alternate Commissioners Sandra Smith and Jule Hannaford were also present. Representing Staff were Planning Director Mike Gaffron, and Planners Janice Gundlach and Melanie Curtis. Chair Rahn called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. OLD BUSINESS 1. #04-3063 WJM Properties LLC - 2605 West Wayzata Blvd. -Minor Amendment to CUP and Industrial Site Plan, 5:35 p.m. to 7:02 p.m. Gaffron described the parameters of the revised lighting request, noting that the requested additional submittals to support the request have been provided in the packet. He indicated that the City Engineer had reviewed the plan and his comments indicated this proposal was in compliance with the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) standards for a parking lot, including a max-to-min footcandle ratio of 15:1 or less and an average footcandle rate of approximately 4FC where the standard would be 2-5 FC. Gaffron also noted that the lighting level at the perimeter of the lot was generally in the range of 0.0 to 1.5 FC, and that it would be virtually 0.0 at all lot boundaries. Gaffron also noted that the applicants had reviewed surrounding properties for possible visual impact, and the two nearest homes, many hundreds of feet distant from the site, were screened by existing vegetation, topography, existing non-residential buildings, and proposed Highway 12 walls and berms, such that the impacts to those properties would be very minimal. Leslie indicated he felt the plan is reasonable given the intended and approved uses of the property. Smith questioned whether and to what extent the lighting plan was initially reviewed when the original CUP was being considered. Peter Johnson, speaking on behalf of the applicant, briefly noted how the regulatory issues regarding this site had slowed the project down. He noted that lighting was probably not given the level of attention by the applicant or the City that it might in retrospect have deserved at that time, as the variety and nature of proposed uses of the site was the more pressing issue at that time. Gaffron concurred, noting that while the height of the light poles had been reviewed and they were reqiuired to be lowered, a review of lighting intensity or a footcandle analysis was not contemplated at that time. Only when the applicant this summer proposed to add lighting to the site did this become an issue. Rahn closed the public hearing at 6:55 p.m. General discussion ensued regarding the proposal. It was noted that the vegetative screening along Highway 12 was incomplete, and would be finished in the spring of 2005. Commissioners also suggested that the a recommendation for approval should establish Page 1