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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 09/18/1978CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 18, 1978 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, September 18, 1978 at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, City Hall, 1175 Williston Road Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Kenneth Jarvis, William Burgess, Martin Paulsen Member Absent Michael Flaherty Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Greg Premo, Pauline and Gordon O'Brien, Sandy Kleppinger, Robert Roesler, Gerald Milot, Peter Collins, Edward Smith, Richard Tarrant, F.M. Field, Fran Brock, Ralph Schell, Vernon Kehoe, Gordon Hurley, Albert Audette, Jean Cochran, William Schuele, Lowell Krassner Additions to agenda Three items were added to the agenda: 1. Discussion of the auditor's report 2. Discussion of Brewer Parkway reconstruction 3. Discussion of possible computer problem resulting in late paychecks Minutes of September 5 and 11, 1978 Mr. Paulsen asked that it be noted in the September 5 minutes that he felt that the lights at the Dorset Street - Williston Road intersection were not in the right sequence and that he would like to have some discussion about it. Mr. Paulsen moved that the minutes of September 5, 1978 be accepted as corrected. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Mr. Burgess then moved to approve the minutes of September 11, 1978. This motion was seconded by Mr. Jarvis and passed unanimously. Disbursement orders The disbursement orders were signed. Act on Interim Zoning District applications Trachte Metal Building - Shelburne Road The Council read a memo from the City Attorney regarding an inconsistency between the findings and the stipulations of approval in this case. It stated that the Council could modify either of them so the document would be consistent. Mr. Robert Roesler, an attorney representing National Life, said that he agreed that the company had no vested rights in the particular use but added that the subdivision was the way it was because it had been laid out according to the requirements of the South Burlington Planning Commission. He felt the warehouse facility would be one of the lower traffic generators which would be put on the lot, and he asked that the findings, not the stipulations, be modified. The findings state that the traffic load would be acceptable only if Green Mountain Drive were used and the developers do not want to use it. Mr. Burgess asked about the traffic for this project and was told that surveys of like businesses had indicated that it would be from 55 - 150 cars per week, or about 8 - 25 cars per day which would come in and out. The lot is clearly visible from Shelburne Road and Mr. Burgess noted that the sign for the business would also be easily visible. Mr. Burgess moved that the South Burlington City Council approve the conditional use application of Elmer Argast for a mini-warehousing business, as depicted on a plan entitled "...Trachte...,", dated 6/9/78, drawn by MPR, based on the following findings and stipulations: A. Findings 1. The proposed use is consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the City of South Burlington and standards 2, 3, and 4 of section 5 of the Interim Zoning Regulations. 2. Access to the site from Route 7 via the service road is not consistent with standards 1 and 5 of section 5 of the Interim Zoning Regulations, based on traffic data submitted by the applicant in relation to traffic speed, intensity, and spacing, as well as roadway geometry, on Route 7. 3. Access to the site via the signallized intersection at Green Mountain Drive is compatible with the above referenced standards 1 and 5 by providing adequate storage space and signallized access control for the mini warehouse traffic, with minimal interference to other traffic. 4. The frontage along Route 7 assures the project of excellent exposure to the motoring public; there is no necessity for access to be contiguous to the most conspicuous portion of the property, particularly when signallized access is available, and the rate of customer turnover is relatively low. 5. That this proposal is in conformance with Section 5B (dimensional requirement). B. Stipulations 1. Any subdivision of the property shall be in accord with the original stipulations of the National Life Plan approval and shall be governed as well by the city Zoning and Subdivision regulations. 2. No retailing or wholesaling of goods or service on premises will be permitted, except disposal of delinquent merchandise as incidental to the warehousing business. 3. No school bus service will be provided to the property. 4. The applicant must obtain site plan approval from the City Planning Commission prior to the issuance of a zoning permit. 5. This approval expires 6 months from this date. 6. Access to the site shall be by way of the signallized intersection at Green Mountain Drive. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed 4-0. Restaurant at 1633 Williston Road - parking lot expansion Mr. Burgess moved that the South Burlington City Council approve the conditional use application of Edward and Robert Smith for conversion of an existing restaurant - motel at 1633 Williston Road into another restaurant with expansion of the parking area, as depicted on the plan of record, based on the following findings and subject to the following stipulations: A. Findings 1. The proposed use is consistent with the health, safety and welfare of the City of South Burlington and standards 2, 3, and 4 of Section 5 of the Interim Zoning Regulations. 2. The proposed use is consistent with standards 1 and 5 based on the evidence submitted by the applicant and Traffic Engineer Bruce Houghton, that the proposed use will have no adverse impact on the city. Traffic generated should have a lesser impact due to a new designed traffic circulation pattern. B. Stipulations 1. All existing curb cuts are to be closed and access shall be via a new entrance, location of new entrance to be reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission. 2. Bonding shall be posted to guarantee all site improvements, i.e., curb cut closings, new entrance and landscaping. 3. This approval is limited to use as a restaurant (as proposed) and shall expire six months from this date (for commencement of this use). Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Burlington Data Processing - Kennedy Drive Mr. Farrar stated that the Council had received a letter stating that the parking spaces would be 20' x 9'. Mr. Paulsen asked about connection to municipal water and sewer lines and was told by Mr. Tarrant, who represented the applicants, that they had wished to find out if the Council would be receptive to the application before they put a lot of money into engineering studies of how much it would cost to hook up. The services are at least 800 – 1000' from this property, said Mr. Szymanski. Mr. Burgess stated that he would have a hard time voting for this appeal because he felt that under normal circumstances the Zoning Board would not grant a variance for this and that the Council should not either, just because an unusual situation (Interim Zoning) gave them the power to. He said he did not see anything unusual about the lot which would not allow it to be developed according to how it was zoned. Mr. Burgess moved to instruct the staff to prepare findings and a motion to the effect that the conditional use application of Burlington Data Processing for an office on Kennedy Drive be denied based upon the existing zoning before Interim Zoning Regulations were in effect, which caused this area to be zoned Residential 7. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and all members voted for it. Public hearings on conditional use applications within the Interim Zoning District Residential development (34 units) - Kennedy Drive - Mr. Gerry Milot stated that he owned the land and he located it for the Council. It is adjacent to Treetops and surrounded by city land. The city has an easement over this lot for its park land. The State Highway Department and the City Planner have said that the access as shown for the parcel is the best one possible. There will be 34 2 bedroom units with carports and they will hook to municipal water and sewer lines. Mr. Milot said he was having a traffic study done on the area but that he had a preliminary one that he himself had done. Mr. Milot looked at Manor Woods and Georgetown, two complexes in the area, at peak hours on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday from 7-9 a.m. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. He said that at Manor Woods he had seen .47 trips per unit per peak hour and at Georgetown the figure was .31. These numbers averaged to .39, and with 34 units, Mr. Milot expects 13.26 peak hour trips in his complex. He also felt that a lot of the people who would live in the complex would work at Digital, which would cut down on peak hour traffic in critical intersections in the city. He felt off peak traffic from the development was of little significance in the city. Mr. Milot said he had not talked to the School Department yet but that he would. Mr. Burgess asked about the trips and was told that the figure of 13 cars per peak hour was cars going in or coming out - that an entrance or an exit was a trip. Mr. Jarvis moved to continue the hearing on this application until the applicant can present a letter from the School Department and the completed traffic study. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Dance studio - Intersection Dorset Street and Kennedy Drive - Mr. Gordon Hurley presented the application. He said the application had preliminary plat approval. Originally the request was for 7 units in an R7 district but now he wants to have 6 units of smaller capacity and make the seventh one a dance studio in which his wife will locate. She presently teaches at their home. He said he had done a private traffic study on a development with 10 units and had stayed there for 10 hours, including two peak hours. He counted 30 cars per day or 3 cars per unit per day. He said a dance class would have about 5-8 students in it and stated that his wife had two classes in the afternoon and two in the evening, which would give a total of roughly 20 cars per day. He felt that some of the students might walk across the street from the high school to class, thus cutting down on some of the traffic. Mr. Hurley said the studio was 1600 square feet and that he was short two parking spaces according to the regulations. The Council wondered if this would be considered a home occupation or a non-conforming use and felt that issue should be looked into. Mr. Hurley said he would have 10 parking spaces for the 6 units and that they would be marked as private. He said that the dance studio could be converted to a large apartment in the future if so desired. The studio would be only for his wife's use. Mr. Hurley pointed out that many of the uses in the immediate area were more commercial than residential. Mr. Lowell Krassner felt it might be hard for people to get in and out of the lot when classes were changing but was told that Mrs. Hurley plans 15 minutes of time between lessons, which helps spread the traffic out. There is also an area with a 30' radious for fire trucks to turn around in which others could use to get around. In response to questions Mr. Hurley stated that the class times were 3:30, 4:30, 7:30, and 8:30. Classes were not held every evening and on Saturday there were some but only in the morning, starting at 9:30 am. Mr. Paulsen moved to close the public hearing on the application within the Interim Zoning District for the use of a dance studio at Dorset Street and Kennedy Drive. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed with all voting yes. Proposed Charter Amendments These amendments will not be placed on the November ballot because there is not enough time between now and then for it to be done. Mr. Farrar read the amendment on the Signs. Mr. Jarvis felt that the amendment should be referred to the City Charter Committee. Mr. Farrar said the city did not have much time and that they would need to have the amendment back at the next meeting. Mr. Jarvis moved that the Council refer the amendment to the City Charter Committee and ask them to have it back to the Council by the next meeting, which is in two weeks. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed with all in favor. Mr. Burgess said he would like to suggest that the Council also refer to the City Charter Committee a proposal to eliminate the section which allows the city to automatically increase taxes based on the expansion of the Grand List, or to at least have a modification of that section downward with a ceiling based on the city's experience of the previous year. He hoped to hear about that within 6 weeks or some reasonable time so that it could go on the May ballot. He felt the section should be more restrictive. Consider amending landfill ordinance to increase commercial dumping fees Mr. Szymanski said the rates at South Burlington's landfill were lower than other cities and as a result a lot of trash was being dumped there from other areas. Mr. Farrar read the proposed amendment to the ordinance. Mr. Jarvis moved to approve the first reading of the proposed amendment to the Ordinance for the Control of the Sanitary Landfill. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all were in favor. Review Zoning Board agenda There were no comments. Auditor's report Mr. Paulsen said that when he had looked at the financial statement in the report it had appeared that the fire, police, highway, and sewer departments had overspent their budgets. Mr. Szymanski said that those numbers included encumbered expenses and that there was another part to the report which made things more clear. Mr. Paulsen felt that the two reports should be released together so that people would understand the situation and said he would like to see the other report. Brewer Parkway reconstruction Mr. Szymanski said that the city had planned to curb the street down there and that presently there were two lanes of about 14' each with an 11' island in the middle. He proposed to take 2' off each side of the island and have a 7' island with two 18' lanes but said the whole thing had generated a lot of controversy in the area. Some people want the curbs and others do not. He said he took a poll and it looked about dead even on each side. People are concerned about killing some of the trees in the island if the road is widened, although Mr. Audette pointed out that some of those trees were in bad shape anyway. Mr. Farrar asked if the road could have two 17' lanes and Mr. Szymanski said he would check into it. Mr. Paulsen suggested contacting the Tree Committee to ask if the trees could survive if the island were 9' wide. Computer problems Mr. Burgess said a city employee who had not received a paycheck on time this week had called him saying that that had happened before and asking that it not happen again. He asked if there was a problem with the computer and Mr. Szymanski replied that there had been a problem because programs are quite expensive and the city has been working with high school students for a nominal fee. He said they only had a little time between when the time sheets come in and when the checks go out and that makes things hard if there is a problem. Mr. Szymanski said the city was able to get on the computer more now that there is a new man over at the school and that as soon as he learns the language, Mr. Szymanski expects he can be more help to the city when things go wrong. Mr. Paulsen did not like relying on students and felt the city should have somebody look into the problem. Mr. Szymanski said he had no money in the budget for any of this, but Mr. Paulsen felt the city should look at the costs involved in setting up a secure program. Mr. Farrar said he would talk to Fred Tuttle at the school about the problem. Other business Mr. Schuele asked about a charter change regarding library trustees and was told that would be looked at. Mr. Paulsen wanted a report on the light sequence at Dorset Street and Williston Road and said that some of the new lights in the intersection seem to be moved out of position by the wind, so that they do not face the right way. Mr. Szymanski said he would look into it. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.