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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 07/14/1977JOINT MEETING - CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 14, 1977 The City Council and Planning Commission held a special joint meeting on Thursday, July 14, 1977 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, Municipal Offices, 1175 Williston Road. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Frank Armstrong, William Burgess, Michael Flaherty (late), William Wessel, Kirk Woolery (late). Members Absent Martin Paulsen, Ernest Levesque, Sidney Poger, David Morency, Jan Rozendaal, James Ewing. Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Fran Brock, Free Press Consideration of City's participation in Act 250 review of Pyramid Mall application Mr. Farrar said that the City could take one of three actions: 1) it could support the Mall, 2) it could oppose it or, 3) it could take no action. Mr. Armstrong pointed out that it could also support or oppose it conditionally. Mr. Farrar agreed and went on to say that there were three areas that the Mall could impact on in South Burlington. These are traffic, because any structure that large on the other end of Williston Road will change the traffic flow; sewage disposal because although they have their own treatment, the waste goes into the same body of water as South Burlington's does; and the tax base, because if the Mall hurt businesses in South Burlington, the tax base would also suffer. Mr. Armstrong pointed out that the Mall might mean jobs for residents and that would be a positive impact. Mr. Wessel said that Regional Planning looks at the ability of a community to provide services and the impact on existing stores. He gave the meeting the dates and subjects of 4 public hearings on questions that were related to the Mall and sewage disposal that were coming up soon. The hearing date for Act 250 has not yet been set, though. Bob Slayton, from Webster-Martin, spoke about sewage. He spoke primarily about TKN, a nitrogen compound that has a long term effect on the river. He said that when you talk about reducing the amount of TKN you begin to need a lot of treatment and that treatment becomes very expensive. He said that last year they had been trying to determine the capacity of the river but that it is a very complicated section because of power stations, slow motion, and the lake at the end and that the capacity had never been determined. Mr. Wessel read a letter from Art Hogan to Martin Johnson concerning sewage and Pyramid Mall and questioned whether the waste load allocation should go to a private company rather than a municipality. Mr. Farrar said that in most places the river can take care of itself by the process of self-cleaning but that in this area things are different because the flow is slower. Mr. Slayton said that he thought that the Council should talk to people from the Agency for Environmental Conservation who were more expert in these areas than he was and offered to arrange it. Mr. Wessel said that they should know what testimony other towns and Regional Planning were going to submit so that there was not too much duplication. The question of surface run-off was discussed, and Mr. Slayton pointed out that at the times when that is great, the river is running high naturally and that probably was not that bad. Mr. Wessel pointed out that they needed some good solid information on traffic and said that the Regional Planning Commission had done some work for them but that it costs money and that perhaps the City should be prepared to help with the costs, or engage a consultant themselves. Mr. Farrar said that they would need more facts but that it would be possible to get the money if it was a reasonable amount and would not cost more than if they did it themselves. Mr. Armstrong pointed out that it would not be good to spend more than a few thousand because of the uncertain future of auto travelling and the possibility of gas rationing. Mr. Farrar said that it was the developer's responsibility to provide the facts to satisfy the board, but Mr. Wessel pointed out that the developer provides the minimum and that it may not be as good as we want. He also cannot be expected to provide all the information desired. Mr. Farrar said that he favored doing a worst case study of the impact before any further steps are taken and that once that is done, the question would be; would that happen? Mr. Wessel said that the Mall in Ithaca had had a negative impact and Mr. Farrar said that Burlington was in a similar situation as Plattsburg. Mr. Woolery said that University Mall Knew that Pyramid was coming in and still built, so they must not think that there will be a problem. Mr. Wessel said that he thought the Pyramid Mall would hurt existing stores but he did not know how badly. Mr. Woolery said that he would like to know if any traffic studies had been done on Williston Road beyond Kennedy Drive and that he would like to have a traffic counter to measure cars now. Mr. Farrar said that he would like to see some estimates of traffic loads. Mr. Wessel said that they could request counters from Regional Planning. Mr. Woolery said that if they could see what traffic was generated by the Plattsburg Mall, which is the same size in a similar area, they could get a better idea of possible traffic impact. Mr. Wessel said that he thought it might be better to participate with Regional Planning at the hearings because resources could be pooled and they might have better standing in appeals that way. He said that they were having a special meeting on Monday and that someone from the Commission or the Council should go and represent them. Mr. Flaherty moved that the Chairman and/or the City Manager be empowered to attend to represent the City Council at the Water Resources Board meetings on July 19 and July 21, 1977. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Mr. Farrar said that Mr. Page and Mr. Szymanski could work out the tax base figures and Mr. Armstrong said that he would like more hard information on all areas of impact. The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.