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Home My WebLink AboutSP-23-036 - Supplemental - 0024 Berard Drive (13) 180 Market Street, South Burlington, Vermont 05403 | 802-846-4106 | www.southburlingtonvt.gov TO: South Burlington Development Review Board FROM: Marla Keene, Development Review Planner SUBJECT: #SP-23-036 24 Berard Drive DATE: November 21, 2023 Development Review Board meeting PROJECT DESCRIPTION Site plan application #SP-23-036 of Engineers Construction, Inc., for after-the-fact approval for a contractor’s yard and alteration of grade. The project consists of authorizing the continued use of a contractor’s yard to place fill materials, 24 Berard Drive. COMMENTS The Board reviewed this application on September 14, 2023. The Board continued the hearing for the purpose of allowing the applicant to address Board feedback, particularly on the southern access to the site. The applicant has provided a vehicle turning movement plan to demonstrate their proposal. The parties have also identified that the City’s Official Map includes a proposed public park and open space on the subject property. This is discussed below under 3.02G below. A) SITE PLAN REVIEW STANDARDS 14.07 Specific Review Standards C. Access and Circulation. All proposed development shall comply with site access and circulation standards of Section 15.A.14. The site has two access points on Berard Drive, one at the north off the cul-de-sac and a second at the southern end of the public street frontage. The Board on September 19 expressed concern that the southern entrance created unsafe conditions on Berard Drive due to the extremely limited sight distance of approximately 40-ft. As noted in the September 19 report, the speed limit on Berard Drive is 25 mph and on-street parking is permitted on both sides. The southern access point was developed for the adjoining property but merged with the subject property in 2004 when a subdivision took place to convey land from the southern property to the subject property. The applicant has an existing equipment storage area near the southern end of the frontage on Berard Drive that is currently accessed via the southern entrance. The Board directed the applicant to provide a design that modified the southern entrance to create a safe configuration. The applicant reports the new entrance has a sight distance of +/-250 ft and would result in clearing approximately 45 ft of existing vegetation along Berard Drive, resulting in 1,600 sf of 2 clearing. The existing southern access drive is proposed to be closed by restoring the vertical curb and removing the gravel within the right of way. The existing equipment storage area, and remaining access to the equipment storage area, are proposed to be retained. The plan submitted by the applicant entitled “New Access Drive Plan,” dated 11/7/2023, depicts the entrance movement of a 53-foot articulated vehicle, a representation of which is shown on the plan. The truck is depicted as not crossing the center line of Berard Drive when it enters the site at 7.2 mph, or a crawl speed. The applicant has proposed to widen the entrance radius to 30-ft on both north and south sides of the driveway, though it is unclear why widening on the north is proposed since the entrance is proposed to be one-way in only, and Berard Drive is a dead end street. The Deputy Director of Capital Projects reviewed the revised plans for traffic safety on 11/14/2023 and expressed agreement with the proposal, and noted the applicant will need a road opening permit from the Department of Public Works prior to commencing work within the right of way. Staff is generally supportive of the revised entrance. However, given the existence of a northern entrance which provides full access to the site, Staff recommend the Board discuss the following limited aspects of the proposal with the applicant. 1. The design speed. Staff considers the design should default to success rather than provide a solution that only works in limited circumstances. What is a typical speed for an entering vehicle? 2. The northern curb radius. Based on the discussion on 9/19, it seems a one-way in entrance should not require anything but a very modest radius on the northern side. If the objective is sight distance, a tree clearing zone could instead be proposed. B) OTHER 3.02G Official Map: The Official Map of the City of South Burlington is adopted pursuant to subsection 3 of section 4401, Title 24 VSA Chapter 117, as amended, filed in the office of the City Clerk, and incorporated herein by reference. State statute 24 VSA 4412 governs use of the Official Map. § 4421. Official map A municipality may adopt an official map that identifies future municipal utility and facility improvements, such as road or recreational path rights-of-way, parkland, utility rights-of-way, and other public improvements, in order to provide the opportunity for the community to acquire land identified for public improvements prior to development for other use and to identify the locations of required public facilities for new subdivisions and other development under review by the municipality. (5) Development review for properties with mapped public facilities. Any application for subdivision or other development review that involves property on which the official map shows a public facility shall demonstrate that the mapped public facility will be accommodated by the proposed subdivision or development in accordance with the municipality’s bylaws. Failure to accommodate the mapped public facility or obtain a minor change in the official map shall result in the denial of the development or subdivision. The legislative body shall have 120 days from the date of the denial of the permit to institute proceedings to acquire that land or interest in land, and if these 3 proceedings are not started within that time, the appropriate municipal panel shall review the application without regard to the proposed public facilities. The property includes a planned public park and open space. Of note, the subject parcel of this application is separated by another narrow parcel from the Winooski River, and portions of both are included on the Official Map. This area appears to have been adopted in 2003 as one of many official map changes. This area was created for the purposes of creating / preserving open spaces along the Winooski Gorge and Winooski River. Given the topography, it is likely any public access features in this area would be limited to a trail or trails. Staff has spoken with the Winooski Valley Parks District (owner of the nearby Winooski Gorge park along Lime Kiln Road) and understands that the area in question is generally steep and wooded. As shown on the applicant’s plans, a large riparian wetland traverses the entirety of a portion of parcel #0200-0028, which separates the subject property from the Winooski River. The Winooski Valley Parks District and the City of South Burlington remain interested in creating open spaces along the Winooski Gorge and Winooski River, but are unlikely to create any developed trail network until such time as safe access is available through several contiguous parcels comprising the official map feature in this location. The applicant’s proposal to accommodate the planned public park and open space is as follows. In order to preserve this area shown on the Official Map, the Project proposes to restrict the use of this area to include only placement of fill, stormwater treatment and access to stormwater treatment. To allow for possible future use of a trail through this area, the Project proposes an Easement Area to benefit the City of South Burlington between the existing concrete barriers and the eastern property line of the Project parcel, or a Boundary Line Adjustment between the Project parcel and abutting parcel adjacent to the Winooski River. An Irrevocable Offer of Dedication for this area of land would be made to the City of South Burlington to be conveyed at some future time once the City has secured access to the land. The proposed Easement Area or Boundary Line Adjustment is shown on C-1.0 Overall Plan, and C-1.2 Site Plan. Staff considers the applicant’s proposal to comply with the requirement to accommodate the official map feature, and recommends the Board include a condition that the applicant cannot use the land of the official map feature for anything other than fill, stormwater access, and stormwater treatment. Staff also recommends the Board impose a condition requiring the land between the subject property line and the concrete barriers placed at the toe of slope when the property was first permitted for fill be reserved either via easement or boundary line adjustment within 1 year of approval of the site plan. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Board discuss the project with the applicant and close the hearing.