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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Planning Commission - 08/08/2023SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 8 AUGUST 2023 1 The South Burlington Planning Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 8 August 2023, at 7:00 p.m., in the Auditorium, City Hall, 180 Market Street, and via Zoom. MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Louisos, Chair; M. Mittag, P. Engels, D. Leban, L. Smith, F. McDonald ALSO PRESENT: K. Peterson, City Planner; N. Atherton, J. Galloway, L. Bailey, D. Peters, A. Forest, T. Doyle 1. Instructions on exiting the building in case of an emergency: Ms. Louisos provided instructions on emergency exit from the building. 2. Agenda: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items: No changes were made to the agenda. 3. Open to the public for items not related to the Agenda: Ms. Galloway urged the Planning Commission to prioritize housing due to the harmful noise of the F35’s. She spoke of the effect of the noise on schoolchildren and said that soundproofing homes is not enough. 4. Planning Commissioner announcements and staff report: Ms. Peterson said the calendar is tight. The goal is to have a public hearing date of 22 August. There will be time to review what is heard at the public hearing. Mr. Smith asked if the plan can be amended after it is filed. Ms. Peterson said it can, but it is a very long process. The Planning Commission can change something after their public hearing, but the City Council cannot. Ms. Peterson also noted that the city’s new Communications Director will do copy editing and formatting of the final Planning Commission product. 5. Planning Commission discussion of City Plan including public comments: SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 8 AUGUST 2023 2 Ms. Louisos reminded members that part of their job is to be equitable in the decision they make and asked members to think about the voices that could come for public comment. She noted that one public concern was that protections are being taken away from Wheeler Park. She said the intention was not to remove policy but to shorted descriptions. She suggested they may want to add some of the removed language back in. Mr. Engels said they need to be sure all of Wheeler on the land use map is green. Ms. Peterson showed some potential language to add back in. Ms. Louisos moved to add that language. Mr. Engels seconded. A friendly amendment was proposed to make all of the Wheeler property green. Ms. Peterson said the land swap allowed development on the piece that is not green. Everything owned by the city is green. Mr. Engels said there is an appeal of the Act 250 decision that allowed the development. Ms. Peterson reminded members that another piece of land was made “green” in the land swap that had not been “green” before. Mr. Smith asked what would happen if the appellants win. Ms. Peterson said it could then be all green. She added that the City Attorney has said there is a legal obligation to honor the agreement’s intent. A majority of members did not support the proposed amendment. In the vote that followed, the original motion passed 5-1 with Mr. Engels voting against. Members then proposed changes as follows: Mr. Mittag noted that on p. 16, the target to add 1000 new affordable units would add children to the school system. He asked how they can plan for services for doubling the size of the school system and other population. Ms. Peterson said the city’s history is for 140-150 new units a year. That is now up to 200. There are already plans for 1500-2000 units. These do not all have to be new buildings (e.g., conversion of hotels to housing, etc.) and some “newly affordable.” Mr. Mittag said there will be a lot of “inward migration,” and there should be language to indicate the city is thinking about that. He questioned whether the quality of life in the city can be maintained if the population doubles. Ms. Leban cautioned against getting into restrictive zoning. Ms. Louisos then moved that in the population section to add a sentence regarding maintaining the quality of life and studying the city’s “carrying capacity.” Mr. Mittag seconded. Motion passed 6-0. SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 8 AUGUST 2023 3 Mr. Smith suggested addressing the “dog population.” Members agreed to have Ms. Peterson come up with appropriate language. Regarding language about religion, Ms. Louisos noted that only 2 are identified by name. “Neutral” language was proposed to address this. Mr. Mittag moved to adopt the proposed language. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Ms. Leban expressed concern with the ability of the city to ensure that single family homes are meeting the Energy Code. She noted that individual homes do not need a permit, so there is no tracking to see if they are meeting the Stretch Code or using fossil fuels. Ms. Peterson said this borders on implementation. She noted that homes that are being built are subject to the language that was in effect when the development was approved. Ms. Leban felt the city shouldn’t allow homes to be built that do not meet today’s standards. Ms. Peterson said she would not be comfortable with that unless she ran it by the City Attorney. Mr. Smith moved that the Commission adopt Ms. Leban’s wording if it is approved by the City Attorney. If it is not approved, it should be added as “an aspiration.” Ms. Leban seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Mr. MacDonald expressed confusion with the reference to 51% on p. 34. Members were OK with removing that figure from the first sentence. Mr. Engels asked to add to page 23 language from the Airport Rezoning Task Force. Ms. Peterson said that Task Force was focused on one issue, and staff’s intent is for a much bigger process that gives the issue all the resources it deserves. Mr. Mittag suggested that the people who wrote that report be asked to reword it so it is not so specific to that issue. Ms. Peterson said she would give it a try. Mr. Mittag moved to ask staff to have the language Mr. Engels presented reworked to include the sentiments of the community. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Mr. Smith felt there should be language in the housing section to incentivize redevelopment. Mr. Peterson suggested adding “and adaptive reuse.” Mr. Smith also asked for language for a goal of encouraging ownership in multi-family housing. Ms. Peterson suggested “ownership options.” SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 8 AUGUST 2023 4 Mr. Smith moved to add the language proposed by Ms. Peterson. Mr. Mittag seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Mr. Mittag moved to remove the added sentence at the end of p.17. Mr. Smith seconded. Ms. Leban said the sentence shows “we have common sense.” In the vote that followed, the motion passed 4-2 with Ms. Leban and Ms. Louisos voting against. In the transportation section, Mr. Smith asked to move public transportation networks and bike-share distribution in neighborhoods up to goals. Ms. Peterson said these are actions to get to goals. She suggested adding “by greater distribution in neighborhoods and making them more affordable.” Ms. Louisos moved to make an addition to the community gardens goal (p. 33) to make it a priority for those who don’t have unit types that don’t have access to their own land for gardening. Mr. Smith seconded. The motion passed 6-0. Ms. Louisos also moved additional language regarding a Recreation Center or a network of smaller centers accessible to a majority of the population especially in neighborhoods with more multi-family buildings. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed 6-0. In the transportation section, Mr. Mittag said it should be made more expensive for people who bring a car to school. Ms. Leban said part of the implementation plan for the Climate Action Plan is parking management. Ms. Peterson said this tips over into the school’s province. Mr. Engels cited the Rice High School traffic problem. Ms. Peterson suggested adding “and private schools” to the existing language. Mr. Mittag suggested that on p. 54, second paragraph, to add that future parks master plan should indicate which lands are for passive recreation and which are for active recreation and which are for conservation. Ms. Peterson read the proposed language. Mr. Mittag moved approval of that language. Ms. Louisos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Smith moved to add to the first goal in the energy section “insuring equity in transition to non-fossil fuel” so it is accessible to everyone. Ms. Louisos seconded. The motion passed 6-0. Ms. Leban noted that at the listening sessions, people were concerned with avoiding heat islands. She suggested adding language to explore that. Ms. Peterson noted it is in 2 place. Ms. Leban suggested adding it to the higher use areas. SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 8 AUGUST 2023 5 On p. 53, Mr. Mittag suggested adding language re “energy facility siting.” Ms. Peterson said this text was suggested by CCRPC as it gives the city preference regarding siting. The language is written to meet the regulation. On the Land Use Map, Mr. Mittag moved to change the yellow strip at the north end of Spear Street from yellow to red. Ms. Louisos seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Mr. Mittage asked to change the yellow strip along the lakeshore to all green, eliminating the yellow. Ms. Peterson said the yellow does not exclude it from being a park. Ms. Louisos noted that some of the yellow is already a developed neighborhood. Ms. Leban said she was reluctant to make that change as there could be some high quality development there. The vote that followed was a 3-3 tie, and the motion was deemed to have failed. In the environment section, Mr. Smith asked to add something regarding noise. Ms. Peterson read some proposed language.. Mr. Smith also asked to add language regarding educating the public about use of pesticides and herbicides. 6. Meeting Minutes of 27 June and 11 July 2023 Mr. Mittag moved to approve the minutes of 27 June and 11 July 2023 as written. Mr. MacDonald seconded. Motion passed 6-0. 7. Other Business: No other business was presented. As there was no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned by common consent at 9:47 p.m. ___________________________________ Clerk