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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSD-18-16 - Supplemental - 0907 Shelburne Roadr 1    MEMORANDUM  FROM:  Frank Kochman  TO:  Marla Keene and Bill Miller  RE:  COMMENTS OF VALLEE APPLCIATION   DATE:  October 1, 2018  A. WHETHER THE APPLICANT MUST MEET THE PURPOSE OF PUD TREATMENT IN  ORDER TO SUPPORT REVIEW AS A PUD.  15.05 Sketch Plan Review  …(C) Sketch Plan Review Procedures  … (3) Review by DRB.  The Development Review Board shall determine whether  the sketch plan meets the purposes of these regulations and shall, where it deems  necessary, make specific suggestions to be incorporated by the applicant in  subsequent submissions.  DISCUSSION:  It seems clear that the board not only may,  but is required to, determine whether  the review of the application as a PUD would be consistent with the purpose of  PUD review,  as specified in section 15.01.  Although PUD review is mandatory in certain circumstances not applicable here  (see 15.02 (B)),  nowhere is PUD review a matter of right for the applicant.   Generally, an applicant may “request review pursuant to the PUD process and  regulations” (15.02 (C), but whether to grant that request is a matter of discretion  with the DRB.  The LDR grant authority to the DRB for PUD review,  but do not  mandate review on request. Rather, as noted, the threshold requirement for PUD  review is a finding at the sketch plan stage that the application meets the purpose  of the regulations.   I agree with the applicant that, in general,  mere statements of purpose in a  zoning ordinance do not establish criteria for approval of projects that otherwise  meet the specific stated criteria of the LDR.  But that is not the circumstance.   Here, the purpose is incorporated into a positive command to the DRB.  That  2    command can have no other import but to require the DRB to disallow PUD  review if it finds the purpose of PUD treatment is not met.   B.  WHETHER THE PROPOSAL INCLUDES AN IMPERMISSIBLE ENLARGEMENT OR  EXTENSION OF A STRUCTURE DEVOTED TO A NONCONFORMING USE.  3.11 B (2):  “A nonconforming use may be continued provided that such  structure shall not be enlarged or extended unless the use therein is changed to  a conforming use.”  “Service Station.  A building, place of business, land area, or other premises, or  portion thereof, used or intended to be used for the retail dispensing of gasoline,  oil and grease, and other vehicles fuels,  and including, as an accessory use, the  sale and installation of batteries, tires, lubricants, and other automobile  accessories and retail items.  Minor repair service may also be rendered….”  LDR,  Article 2.  A service station is a non‐conforming use in the district.  DISCUSSION:    The syntax of 3.11 (B (2)  is not perfect,  but its meaning is not ambiguous. The  only reasonable interpretation is that an increase in the size of the structure(s)  devoted to a nonconforming use categorically is not allowed.  (This should not be  confused with the rule applicable to non‐conforming structures, which may be  enlarged within certain limits. See 3.11 D.  The applicant has, in fact, mixed them  up during his testimony.)  The only “land area[s] or portion or thereof” from which gasoline is “dispensed”  are the pump islands.  The islands are “structures.” An enlargement  in the size of  the existing islands or the additional of another island is an “enlargement or  extension”  of “such structures,”  and is therefore not allowed.      The  applicant’s attempt to use the reduction in the size of the building as an  offset against the alterations to the islands is a red herring.  The activities within  the building have always been accessories to the primary use.  We are not talking  about a mere change in the volume of sales as between products in a retail store,  as applicant maintains.  Abandonment or reduction in the area occupied by  3    accessory uses does not justify enlargement or extension of the structures  devoted to the primary use.    The applicant himself distinguishes the activities in the building (“office  functions”) from the conduct of the actual business of the service station, which is  dispensing gasoline.  “The pumping site is a service station while the site where  bills are paid is an office. Vallee’s proposes exactly this arrangement…”   Anderson letter of August 15, 2018, page 2, first full paragraph.  C:  WHETHER “PLANTERS” CAN BE USED TO SATISFY LOT COVERAGE  LIMITATIONS THAT ARR NOT OTHERWISE MET.  “Lot coversage.  The total area covered by all principal and accessory buildings  and impervious surfaces on a lot unless otherwise specified in these  Regulations…”  DISCUSSION:    I have made no independent lot coverage calculations or determinations.  I have  relied in you for the proposition that the application as poposed does not satisfy  lot coverage limitations unless the applicant’s proposal to install “planters” on top  of the area that covers his underground tanks can be treated as if it changed the  character of the impervious surface on which thwy would be situated.   On its face,  the proposition is unpersuasive.  I would hold that such treatment is  an obvious impermissible  evasion of the plain meaning ofthe regulatory  definition.  To believe otherwise,  I would need to see a holding of the Vermont  Supreme Court that supports the applicant. I would hold this view regardless of  the size or configuration of the planters.                 luth Burlington Motel Residents Worry About Its Planned Demolitio... https:/AnvNv.sevendaysvt.com/OfMessage/archivest2Ol8/06/19/south... VERMONT'S INDEPENDENT VOICE TUESDAY,JUNE 19, 2018 DEVELOPMENT/NEWS South Burling w—)t Motel R,es.11,der�,� s �Af rry About ilea Planned Demolition POSTED BY MOLLY WALSH ON TUE, JUN 19. 2018 AT 1:08 PM Gasoline mogul Skip Vallee wants to demolish the extended -stay Maple Leaf Motel on Route 7 in South Bm$ngtonto make way for alarge service station and convenience store — leadingresidents to fret aboutwherethey'll live. Some say they'll have nowhere to go, given the shortage of affordable housing in Chittenden County. "They are goingto make us homeless,"predicted Jamie Thompson. Thompson works as an aide for a special -needs child and has lived in a one -bedroom efficiency at the motel for three years,. she said. She pays $500 a month, and so does her roommate, who Thompson said works at a gas station and aDunkin' Donuts. It will be very difficult to find an equivalent $1,000-a-month rental anywhere nearby, Thompson said. "I don't know what's going to happen,"she said. "I really don't. Ifs a scary thing." The expanded station would be one of nearly 50 Maplefields constructed by Vallee, CEO ofR. L. Vallee. The longtime GOP donor served as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia. He's currently fighting multiple nlyeloma, ablood cancer. The proposal, submitted this month for preliminary review, has not been approved by the South Burlington Development 1 of 3 6/20/2018, 9:27 AM South Burlington Motel Residents Worry About Its Planned Demolitio... https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OftMessage/archives/2018/06/19/south... Review Board. Vallee proposes to demolish the two -building motel as well as a small retail building at an adjacent Gulf gas station. Its eight pumps would stay mid four more would be added, as well as a new 4,500-square-foot building that would offer snacks, beverages and the usual Maple fields fare. The properties are just south of the bridge over Interstate 189 near tine vacant Mont plaza parking lot. Vallee said he's planning to lease the property from owner Ernest Hoechner. It's up to Hoechner to sort out arrangements with residents, said Vallee. "The relationship is between him and his tenants and that's not something we've tried to interfere with other than accommodating him to give folks there a lot of lead time," Vallee said. Vallee said that Ire was unsure how difficult it would be for people to move. "I'm not a low-cost housing expert in Chittenden County," he said. Sap W, w N3 Mme Hoechner did not return messages seeking comment. JAMES BUCK On Monday, rain drizzled outside the tired, dingy motel as cars whizzed by on Shelburne Road. The exterior is dilapidated, but Thompson's door was decorated with a floral wreath and opened onto a small but immaculately clear and carefully decorated unit, complete with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Thompson said she was on a waiting list for a Section 8 rental voucher but so far hadn't qualified for the federal subsidy. She found out about the possible demolition after a zoning application was posted at the Gulf station. Approximately six units at the motel are rented now, while the owner has left several others vacant, Thompson said. The owner has not told Thompson she has to move, but she's assuming it's inevitable. "The housing situation is horrible enough as it is. Vere going to be put out on the streets, "she said. South Burlington zoning staff raised concerns about the project, including whether it conforms to the goals of the city plan. Vallee said he's responding to the concerns mid expects the permitting process to continue through the summer. If the project is approved, construction likely wouldn't start before next year. Last week, the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition released a report stating that Vermont has the fifth Ingest "affordability gap" for rental housing in the nation when average earnings are compared to average rents. At Vermont's current minimum wage of $10.50 an hour, a wage earner must work 68 hours per week to afford a modest one -bedroom apartment and still have money left over for food, car repairs and basic necessities, the report found. 2 of 3 6/20/2018, 9:27 AM South Burlington Motel Residents Worry About Its Planned Dentolitio... https://Nvww.sevendaysvt.coro/OftiMessage/archives/2018/06/19/south... The bu'dng at this Gulf MOLLY WALSH Tags: South Burlington, housing, gas, Skip Vallee, staple Leaf Motel, Ernest Hoechner, Image about the artist James Buck buckC'sevenda,,A.com '`B, C'jamesbuck _ 1 FOSox <2]B94s°rnz rs jamesbu<k.org James Buck is a multimedia Journalist for Selen Days. All content © 2018 Da Caro Publishing, Inc. 255 So. Champlain St. Ste. 5, Burlington, VT 05401 3 of 3 6/20/2018, 9:27 AM