HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Planning Commission - 09/29/2020South Burlington Planning Commission
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 846-4106
www.sburl.com
Special Meeting Tuesday, September 29, 2020
7:00 pm
IMPORTANT:
This will be a fully electronic meeting, consistent with recently-passed legislation. Presenters and members
of the public are invited to participate either by interactive online meeting or by telephone. There will be
no physical site at which to attend the meeting.
Participation Options:
Interactive Online Meeting (audio & video): https://www.gotomeet.me/SBCity/pc-2020-09-29
By Telephone (audio only): Phone # (571) 317-3112; Access Code: 617-365-661
AGENDA:
1. Agenda: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items (7:00 pm)
2. Open to the public for items not related to the agenda (7:02 pm)
3. Announcements and staff report (7:10 pm)
4. Work Session on Land Development Regulation Amendments (7:12 pm)
a. *Continue review of Forested Habitat Block applicability (7:12 pm)
b. *Discuss applicability of Planned Unit Development Types throughout the City (8:15 pm)
c. Preview of minor amendment to SEQ-NRP subdistrict design standards to support conservation
(8:35 pm)
d. Staff update on 500-year Floodplain questions from Commissioners (8:40 pm)
5. Consider approach to review of LDR amendments under consideration (8:50 pm)
6. Other Business (8:59 pm)
a. *Act 250 Notice of Initial Application Filing – Chittenden Solid Waste District, 1021 Redmond Road
Williston
7. Adjourn (9:00 pm)
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Conner, AICP,
Director of Planning & Zoning
* item has attachments
South Burlington Planning Commission Meeting Participation Guidelines
1. The Planning Commission Chair presents these guidelines for the public attending Planning Commission meetings
to ensure that everyone has a chance to speak and that meetings proceed smoothly.
2. Initial discussion on an agenda item will generally be conducted by the Commission. As this is our opportunity to
engage with the subject, we would like to hear from all commissioners first. After the Commission has discussed an
item, the Chair will ask for public comment. Please raise your hand to be recognized to speak and the Chair will try
to call on each participant in sequence.
3. Once recognized by the Chair, please identify yourself to the Commission.
4. If the Commission suggests time limits, please respect them. Time limits will be used when they can aid in making
sure everyone is heard and sufficient time is available for Commission to conduct business items.
5. Side conversations between audience members should be kept to an absolute minimum. The hallway outside the
Community Room is available should people wish to chat more fully.
6. Please address the Chair. Please do not address other audience members or staff or presenters and please do not
interrupt others when they are speaking.
7. Make every effort not to repeat the points made by others.
8. The Chair will make reasonable efforts to allow everyone who is interested in participating to speak once before
speakers address the Commission for a second time.
9. The Planning Commission desires to be as open and informal as possible within the construct that the Planning
Commission meeting is an opportunity for commissioners to discuss, debate and decide upon policy matters.
Regular Planning Commission meetings are not “town meetings”. A warned public hearing is a fuller opportunity to
explore an issue, provide input and sway public opinion on the matter.
10. Comments may be submitted before, during or after the meeting to the Planning and Zoning Department. All
written comments will be circulation to the Planning Commission and kept as part of the City Planner's official
records of meetings. Comments must include your first and last name and a contact (e-mail, phone, address) to be
included in the record.
575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 tel 802.846.4106 fax 802.846.4101 www.sburl.com
MEMORANDUM
TO: South Burlington Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning
SUBJECT: Continue Review of Forested Habitat Block Applicability
DATE: September 29, 2020 Special Planning Commission meeting
Note: this memo has been updated from its original date of 9/22 to include staff recommendations for
discussion.
In March, the Commission had begun review of the applicability of Forested Habitat Blocks based on the
Arrowwood Environmental Habitat Block Assessment and Ranking.
The Commission elected to remove the following areas from applicability:
• Areas within the City Center Form Based Codes District
• Areas on pre-existing lots less than 1 acre in size built with a single-family home
• Areas within 50’ of an existing building
During the spring, staff worked with the consultants from Arrowwood Environmental as well as Jens Hilke
from the Agency of Natural Resources to identify key “connectors” between habitat blocks. Those mapped
connectors are included in the May 26th Environmental Protection Standards, and the rationale for their
selection is discussed in the accompanying memo.
At this meeting, Commissioners are invited and encouraged to review the remainder of the Forested Habitat
Blocks identified by Arrowwood Environmental and consider whether any additional areas should be
exempted from review under the LDRs. These could include areas where other City objectives / priorities may
outweigh the presence of the Forested Habitat Block.
We have recently added the City’s water & sewer infrastructure to the Interactive Map Viewer. In addition,
the planned infrastructure (principally transportation) is available via the Comprehensive Plan (see page 203
for the map), and upon request could add it to the Map Viewer. If Commissioners would like to have any
other information or data to assist with this evaluation, please let staff know.
Staff recommendations:
Staff recommends that the Commission discuss the following areas where forest blocks and planned
transportation infrastructure intersect:
• The southwestern intersection of Hinesburg Road and I-89, where the City’s Comprehensive Plan
envisions a possible Exit 12B. This location is shown on the Official Map and as such would be
reserved from private development unless abandoned by the City Council
• The connection between Preserve Road in South Village and Upswept Lane in South Point. This
connector is a planned roadway and recreation path connection between the neighborhoods, and
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further would continue as a recreation path across the Underwood Property to Nowland Farm Road
(as shown in the Underwood property Master Plan and included in the City’s Capital Improvement
Plan). In considering this, the Commission may also wish to discuss the small forested area to the
west of this connection.
• More generally, The Commission may wish to examine the forested blocks that were among the
lower-ranked. In doing so, staff would recommend considering their context in terms of both the
built environment and also in terms of connectivity between habitat blocks.
The Map Viewer has also been upgraded to include information on the percentage of habitat block (exclusive
of hazards) on properties around the City. Under “other layers”, click on “percent of parcel area within
Habitat Blocks (overlaps with hazard removed).
If Commissioners are prepared to make decisions regarding any of these possible areas, staff would happily
accept them. The item is not “critical path” at the moment, but as it relates relatively closely to the prior
agenda item, Jessica and staff felt it would be a good time to discuss this.
Staff would like to have the Commission’s full draft list in the next 1-2 meetings if not this evening, however,
to help having a complete draft for Council and public review in October.
575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 tel 802.846.4106 fax 802.846.4101 www.sburl.com
MEMORANDUM
TO: South Burlington Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning
SUBJECT: PUD applicability Draft; Initial outline of SEQ applicability
DATE: September 29, 2020 Planning Commission meeting
The Commission has previously, generally reviewed the applicability of Planned Unit Development types
cross the City. Below is a table of proposed applicability (from your August 25th memo):
PUD Type Allowable Zoning Districts
Infill/ Redevelopment Applicable TND / NCD districts
Conservation PUD All Zoning Districts where thresholds are exceeded (ie, a parcel contains
more than 70% natural resources); R1, R2, SEQ-NR, SEQ-NRT, SEQ-VR,
SEQ-VC;
TND R1-PRD, R1-LV, R2, R4, R7, Lakeshore, Allen Rd, Swift St, C1-LR, R7-NC,
SEQ NR, SEQ-NRT, SEQ-NRT, SEQ-VR, SEQ-VC
NCD R12, All C1- Districts, C2, Allen Road, Swift St, R7-NC
The table above is reflected in the attached maps [my apologies for the hand-drawn map; we will update this
shortly with a GIS-based map].
Staff has also advanced the Commission’s discussed from 2019 regarding modifications to underlying zoning.
This summer staff further refined this work to be as closely pertinent to the PUD work as possible. Staff will
provide this in a mapped form at your next meeting for your review and consideration.
The majority of these modifications are designed to better align types of uses and types/scales of buildings
with the Comprehensive Plan. These will inform the applicable PUD also. For example, a TND in a higher-
intensity underlying zoning district is proposed to be able to incorporate the underlying zoning district’s uses
into the PUD, and would also likely “unlock” additional, larger building types than a TND in a lower-intensity
district.
Staff also draws the Commission’s attention to the Hill Farm and a couple of adjacent properties on the west
side of Hinesburg Road immediately south of I-89. This land is presently zoned Industrial/Open Space. The
2016 Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map indicates that the property should be re-designated for a
mixed-use area, with conservation in the western portion. These properties have been proposed to be
eligible for a TND, NCD, and/or Conservation PUD (or some combination thereof). In order to facilitate this,
the underlying zoning will need to change to a mixed-use district. Staff will present this with your meeting
packet for next meeting.
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The remainder of this memo was included in the PC’s 9/22 Memo on PUDs:
Initial Staff thoughts on PUDs in the Southeast Quadrant (SEQ) and TDR applicability:
Staff is continuing to develop how this portion of the regulations would operate. The Commission’s
recent (and current) decisions will help to shape staff’s recommendations for how to integrate the
specific elements of the SEQ and TDR standards into the updated Regulations. Below, to help with this
week’s work on Environmental Protection Standards, is our current working outline:
Current Standards: all properties in the SEQ have a base density of 1.2 units per acre. Through transfer of
TDRs, receiving areas have a maximum density of 4 units or 8 units per acre. All subdivisions must be
PUDs under the current regulations. PUD standards are contained within Article 9 and reference the
Subdivision/General PUD standards of Article 15.
Possible Future Standards: applicants exceeding the threshold for a PUD would be required to select a
PUD type [replacing the existing Article 9 PUD standards]. Pending Commission review of applicability
(later this month), these may be a Conservation PUD, a TND, an Infill TND, or a combination.
• TND PUD:
o Land within the NRP is excluded from being in a TND, but may be included in a Master Plan to
allow for be an internal transfer of TDRs and connectivity of trails, working lands, etc.
o Hazards and Level I Resources outside the NRP are removed from buildable area as with TNDs
citywide
o Base density remains 1.2 dwelling units per acre [Commission to discuss whether this includes
or excludes Hazards]
o All designated buildable areas must have a minimum of 4 units per acre, which must be
designated at the Master Plan level.
o TDRs may be used to acquire TDRs for all development above 1.2 dwelling units per acre
within buildable area, up to the amount allowable via building types
o If, in designating buildable areas, there is leftover land (due to TDRs not having been fully
applied), remainder of land must either be designated for permanent conservation, or
reserved for future use. Reserved areas must be indicated on the Master Plan and are
removed from the land use allocations for the PUD until the Master Plan is amended.
• Conservation PUD: standards apply per city-wide within the area outside the NRP.
[Commission/staff to review whether to apply minimum density, and to determine whether NRP on
the parcel should be factored in]
1. NRP Subdistrict amendment:
Related to, but not specifically part of the work above, staff recommends the following adjustments to the
NRP subdistrict to advance its objectives to foster land conservation:
Current: the NRP subdistrict permits one home on parcels up to 15 acres in size, and 3 homes on parcels
up to 100 acres in size
Proposed: No change in dwelling unit total. Proposed modification to require establishment of a
maximum building envelope for all homes (to provide the DRB with guidance on how large a home, lawn,
etc. can be within the NRP), and to eliminate the requirement for each allowable dwelling unit to be a
single family home (therefore allowing the 3 homes on a 15+ acre parcel to be in either a triplex or a
duplex and a single family home).