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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 01/05/1978CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 5, 1978 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Thursday, January 5, 1978 at 7:30 p.m. in the Assessor's Office, City Hall, 1175 Williston Road. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, William Burgess, Martin Paulsen Member Absent Frank Armstrong Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Stephen Page, Planning Assistant; Richard Ward, Zoning Administrator; Fran Brock, Free Press; Richard Spokes, City Attorney; William Wessel, Planning Commission Chairman; Spenser Baker, Scott Hallock Review draft of Interim Zoning Regulations Mr. Spokes said that there had been tremendous development pressures lately and that that had caused two areas of concern - the capacity of the Airport Parkway sewage treatment plant and the traffic situation in the commercial areas, particularly Williston and Shelburne Roads. He said that it was Mr. Szymanski's position that the sewage treatment plant was near capacity and would be at or would exceed capacity if all the projects which have city approval are built and occupied. Because of the day-to-day pressure of the large number of applications being processed by the city offices, there has been very little opportunity to do planning as such and look at long range goals. Mr. Spokes said that he and Steve Page and Bill Szymanski had looked at the situation recently and that they had felt that the capacity of the Airport Parkway plant was the most immediate concern. He said that he felt Interim Zoning was a drastic and emergency measure but that from what he heard from the city, he felt it was time to look at it. He went through the draft they had worked up on the issue. Exhibit A, he said, sets forth facts which, if accurate, would justify this emergency measure. On a map of the city, he showed the Council the areas which would be effected if Interim Zoning were put into force. (see attached copy) The area outlined in blue is the area that is presently or could be serviced by the Airport Parkway plant. The area in red is the Route 7 Commercial District. He said that he viewed these areas as an overlay on the city for the time being that will be lifted eventually. Interim Zoning can be in effect for two years and can be extended after that, but the thinking right now is that this will be in effect for one year. The objective is to curb the growth pressure for a period of time in order to let the city study and analyze the situation and the end would probably be amendments to the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance and perhaps the Subdivision Regulations. Only those uses which would not increase the flow of effluent into the Airport Parkway plant would be allowed in the blue area. If the policy went into effect, no use which presently would be excluded in the area would be allowed. Mr. Spokes said that what the Council had was just a draft and he said that they should study it and revise it if they wished to. Some of the sections are just a starting place. He said that anyone could apply to the Council for a conditional use permit for any use which is not permitted, and Section 6 of the Interim Zoning Regulations sets forth the criteria with which to evaluate an application. Permitted uses in the Route 7 Commercial area would be limited to low traffic generators. Mr. Spokes said that the process for adopting this is simpler because it is designed to cope with an emergency situation. He warned the Council that it did not want to encourage the number of applications that the Zoning Board and Planning Commission had been dealing with. The aim is to preserve the status quo and look to the future. There is a clause in the document which will preserve a project with approval from the Zoning Board or Planning Commission. The Council also looked at a proposed ordinance to amend the Sewer Regulations. Section 2 of the amendment would give the City Manager the authority to deny an application for a sewer permit if he finds, based on his records, that that particular application would increase the flow, BOD, or suspended solids beyond the standards set forth in the temporary pollution permit issued by the Vermont Agency of Environmental Conservation. Section 1 of the amendment deals with private sewage disposal systems. Mr. Spokes said that the city did not want a rash of applications in the Airport Parkway plant area for on site sewage disposal with plans to hook up to the municipal sewer as soon as possible. He felt personally that if the city spent a good deal of time processing applications, then they did not have time to plan for the future. Section 1 allows the City Manager to issue a permit for a sewer system which meets all city and state standards, provided that municipal sewer is not expected to be available for three years. (see attached copy) Mr. Spokes said that he could not emphasize enough that the city had to do planning during the Interim period or they would be in no better shape at the end of the time. He also said that the action was quite unusual in the state and he could not guarantee anything. The Council decided that it wanted to go as far as to have a public hearing on the issue. Mr. Burgess asked why the Planning Commission could not just say no to developers because there is no capacity. Mr. Spokes said that they had and that it had created a waiting list for capacity but has not discouraged the number of applications. Developers are hurrying to get on the list. Mr. Farrar said that what was happening now was that the Commission was spending all its time hearing applications which they had to turn down at the end when they could have been spending the time planning for the future. Mr. Burgess felt that if there was an easy way to solve the problem, he would rather do it than adopt such a radical measure. Mr. Spokes replied that if they did not think the problem was serious, they should not adopt Interim Zoning. He said that they should analyze Exhibit A and see if they feel those things are true and if so, do they constitute a drastic situation. Mr. Paulsen said that he shared Mr. Burgess's thoughts. He had studied the plan and said that he did not know why the city needed to do it. He felt that if the present situation arose from inadequacy of the 1974 Master Plan or an excess of development pressures in the last year and a half, those conditions should have been planned for. He said that he wanted to know why the planning had not been done, and said that the city should have been able to see the situation coming a long time ago. Mr. Spokes pointed out that the number of applications for development that the city administration has been dealing with in the last year and a half had been overwhelming and has not given them time to look beyond day-to-day work. The unexpectedly high growth rate is what also put the Airport Parkway plant over capacity before expected. It was pointed out that the number of developments in the last 6 months has put the city well over the planned growth rate even when one takes into account the years in which the growth rate was less than planned for. Mr. Paulsen said that he would like to see the figures on that. Mr. Spokes said that the Commission could not deal with the present volume of applications and still plan for the future. It does not have the time. Mr. Paulsen said that he did not see the rationale of putting an iron curtain around South Burlington but could not suggest an alternative off the top of his head. He asked if the capacity of the plant could be expanded sooner than planned and was told that it could be, but not by much. Mr. Farrar said that the Master Plan required the iron curtain because of the present situation, and said that they could enforce the Plan or change it. Mr. Spokes emphasized that this would be a temporary measure. It is not designed to solve any problem - just give the city time to breathe. Mr. Wessel testified to the pressure the Commission is under right now. Mr. Burgess asked if 1 year was enough time and was told that that would depend on what the Commission and Council got done in that time period. Mr. Wessel said that the Council would have to get involved in the planning process. Mr. Flaherty moved that the Council adopt the resolution to hold a public hearing to consider interim zoning. (see attached copy) Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which passed with 4 yes votes and one absent. Consider going into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the Economou vs. City litigation Mr. Paulsen moved to adjourn and reconvene in Executive Session for the purpose of discussing litigation against the city. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.