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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Planning Commission - 10/24/2023SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 24 OCTOBER 2023 1 The South Burlington Planning Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 24 October 2023, at 7:00 p.m., in the Auditorium, City Hall, 180 Market Street, and via Zoom. MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Louisos, Chair; D. MacDonald, P. Engels, D. Leban, L. Smith, F. McDonald ALSO PRESENT: P. Conner, Director of Planning and Zoning; K. Peterson, Senior City Planner; A. Chalnick 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: Members agreed to briefly discuss City Counselor Emery’s letter to the editor in The Other Paper. 3. Open to the public for items not related to the Agenda: No issues were raised. 4. Planning Commissioner announcements and staff report: Ms. Louisos reported that the City Council has received the 2024 City Plan. They will hold their first of 2 public hearings on 16 November. They will also have a Council work session on the plan at a special meeting on 30 October. Mr. Conner said it would be good to have a Commission member at that meeting. Mr. Engels noted that Tyler Barnes has resigned from the Council as he has accepted a job out of state. The Council will be interviewing for that seat on 30 October. There are 10 candidates. Mr. Engels said he is one of those candidates. Mr. Conner advised that the Council has warned a public hearing on the zoning amendments for 20 November. 5. Form Based Code – East End of Market Street updates: SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 24 OCTOBER 2023 2 Mr. Conner reviewed the history. That area is in the T3+ district which allows buildings of 3-1/2 stories. The Planning Commission had expressed an interest in changing the designation to T4 which would allow for multi-family buildings with interior corridors. The frontage on Market Street and Hinesburg Road would remain T3 to respect what is existing. Staff is seeing input from the Commission before they speak to the landowners. Mr. Conner showed a map of the area and explained the ownership of the properties. He identified the wetland area and existing curb cuts. He also identified the surrounding roads and noted the potential for a 4-way intersection. There is also the potential for a footpath as well. Mr. Conner then reviewed the zoning districts in City Center and their development potential. In T3, there is a maximum building width of 93 feet. Each unit must have its own door on the street, both for residential and small-scale commercial. A single doorway can serve 2 second story units. Mr. Conner then showed a potential development concept. One area would go from T3 to T4. The applicant can request moving the zoning line to allow flexibility. This could allow a front- facing townhouse scale with a larger building behind that. Mr. Conner noted a small area that belongs to Snyder-Braverman. Staff thinks it would be good to have something more reflective of what is around it. Mr. Conner also noted a potential amendment to the Official City Map. There would have to be a roadway as Form Based Code requires a connected roadway. Ms. Leban asked what is driving up the increased density on that property. Mr. Conner said property owners have been approached, and there is an opportunity for denser housing. Also, in the TIF district, higher value brings in more revenue. Ms. Leban said she felt there are too many large buildings which has affected the character of City Center. She also felt this would be an ideal place to address that issue. Mr. Smith said he likes where the road is planned to go. He asked staff and members to think about access to a park. He felt there is the potential to create a neighborhood rather than just blocks of housing. Mr. Conner said required open space areas could be grouped together to achieve that. Ms. Leban suggested a park area in the middle, so it is a safe place for children. She added that the number of units would not have to decrease, but the interior corridors would go away. She noted it is less expensive to build a 3-story building because they don’t require elevators. She added what is built today doesn’t have any style because there is a requirement for 8-foot elevators, which are expensive. SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 24 OCTOBER 2023 3 Mr. Smith suggested the possibility of 6 story buildings to get more housing. Mr. Engels said he thought the high water table would prohibit that. Mr. Conner agreed and noted it took significant pumping to get the underground parking. Mr. Engels said the original though was that City Center would be mostly T3 and T4 with the T3 section being a nice brownstone neighborhood. He was not yet ready to give up that idea. Members asked staff to come back with some options, different scenarios. They wanted the property at the road to stay T3, and they liked the inner road. Ms. Louisos suggested the possibility of T3+ in the middle. Ms. Leban noted that one building owner has closed the playground and kids now have to go to the other park. She asked if the owner isn’t required to maintain the playground. Mr. Conner said he would check on that. 6. Presentation by the Natural Resources and Conservation Committee regarding a Tree Ordinance: Mr. Chalot said they have been working on a Tree Ordinance to protect more trees in the city. They originally wanted a separate ordinance, but now think the regulations should be part of the Land Development Regulations. The Committee worked with the City Arborist and State people in developing the plan. It uses different categories of trees, based on size, species, etc. The plan notes the value of trees as an asset to the city. It lists trees by species which could be used by developers. It also allows for housing to be created around trees, wherever possible. If a tree has to be removed, there must be a replacement plan. The City Arborist should be the one to determine which trees go/stay. Ms. Leban suggested having NRCC review the plans as there have been plans submitted that had no basis in reality. She said that most large developments will take down a lot of trees which may not be able to be replaced on that site. She questioned whether trees could be placed on other sites or even in other communities. Ms. Louisos said the Commission likes to begin with a concept and asked what the Committee is trying to do in each category. Mr. Bossange said they are looking to protect important trees outside of the habitat blocks. SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 24 OCTOBER 2023 4 Mr. Smith said they will be told this will make housing more expensive. He felt there needs to be an education piece before this can happen. Mr. Engels noted that the LDRs will have to be amended to conform to new legislation, so this is the time to write this into the LDRs. It will also be popular at this time. He also noted that replacing a tree is not the same as preserving a tree. Ms. Leban agreed and said every tree requires a setback so its root canopy is not dug into. Setbacks need to be adjusted to accommodate trees. Mr. Engels said if it is in the LDRs, it the DRB’s obligation to enforce it. Mr. Conner said the DRB would look for “compliance” not “enforcement.” Mr. Francis MacDonald said that one there is a preservation plan, there should be an ongoing tree management plan. Ten years down the road, a homeowners association doesn’t know what was originally planned. Ms. Louisos asked whether every tree on a site would have to be identified or only trees of a certain size. Mr. Bossange said they would look at having a plan for which trees would be cut down. Preserved areas wouldn’t have to be identified, just the ones they would be removing and how they would replace them. Mr. Smith said the earlier this can be brought into the development process, the better. Ms. Leban said there are some pretty scrubby forested areas where no trees can flourish. Some are in wildlife corridors. A forester is needed to help create a sustaining forest in those areas. Mr. Bossange said there are animals that have homes there, so they would need advice on that. Ms. Louisos asked whether the Committee has considered invasives which are important to take into account. There could be a credit for replacing invasives with a good trees. Ms. Leban said everything that grows above ground has a life below ground. If you build too close, you kill a tree. Mr. Duncan MacDonald suggested having staff review this and come up with a process that could coincide with the streamlining of the LDRs. Ms. Peterson said they would have to check everywhere in the LDRs where trees are mentioned. She suggested staff take time to do this, and timeline wise she thought they were looking at February. The top priorities now at compliance with Act-S-100 and updates to For Based Code. SOUTH BURLINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 24 OCTOBER 2023 5 Mr. Chalnick reminded members that the city does not have the authority to regulate trees except in conjunction with development. Mr. Bossange said they want something in place before there is another clear-cut. Ms. Peterson said it is staff’s recommendation that this does not go into the LDRs as one piece, so she advised the NRCC to update their policy positions, not fine-tune language. 7. Meeting Minutes of 10 October 2023: Mr. Smith moved to approve the Minutes of 10 October 2023 as written. Mr. Duncan MacDonald seconded. Motion passed 6-0. 8. Other Business: Mr. Smith said he was surprised by Ms. Emery’s position as stated in The Other Paper. He got together with her and had a good conversation. He questioned whether there is something the Commission can do to get such comments before a document is passed on to the Council. Ms. Louisos said the Commission did pass updates along to the Council, but maybe they weren’t clear enough. Ms. Smith said the draft was there; Ms. Emery just missed it. The Council also was involved in creating the Guiding Principles. Mr. Engels said Ms. Emery was reacting to the draft even before the Council received it. He said she had been the Council liaison to the City Charter Committee and had become so insistent on what she wanted that the Committee just eventually gave in. Ms. Louisos questioned whether there is a communications issue. Mr. Duncan MacDonald said he didn’t think so. Mr. Engels said the Commission had a strong document, and he felt that was OK, and the Commission was united when it was passed on to the Council. Mr. Smith added that the vast majority of Commission votes were unanimous. As there was no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned by common consent at 9:39 p.m. ___________________________________ Clerk