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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 07/02/1979CITY COUNCIL JULY 2, 1979 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, July 2, 1979 at 8:00 p.m. in the Conference Room, City Hall, 1175 Williston Road Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, Martin Paulsen, William Burgess, Kenneth Jarvis Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Stephen Page, Planner; Terry Marshall, D. Heindel Sandra and Charles Smith, Norm and Mary Chappell, Sally Jacobs, Kay Neubert, Peter Val Preda, Carl Lisman, Arline and Seth Barovick, Peter Kyriacou, Arnold Cohen, Peter Coffrin, Frank Mazur, Ralph Cramer, Lowell Krassner, Sidney Poger Minutes of June 18, 1979 Mr. Burgess moved to approve the June 18, 1979 minutes. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and all were in favor. Disbursement orders The Council signed disbursement orders. Continue public hearing on Interim Zoning application of Roland and Evangeline DesLauriers for office buildings at 345 Dorset Street Mr. Szymanski said the Council had asked for copies of the Zoning Board minutes and approval of the Barbara Shepard building and these were given to them. Mr. Paulsen moved to close the public hearing on the Interim Zoning application of Roland and Evangeline DesLauriers for office buildings at 345 Dorset Street. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and all voted aye. Public hearings on Interim Zoning Applications Terry Jackson Marshall for antique business in conjunction with a residential complex at 1475 Shelburne Road Ms. Marshall said that last year the Council gave her permission to operate her antique business in the garage at the back of the building at 1475 Shelburne Road. Plants Plus occupied the front but they have gone out of business and she wants to move into the space they occupied. She will keep the garage in the back for storage and furniture repair. She did not anticipate any additional traffic as a result of the change. She said she was not expanding, just relocating and she noted that Plants Plus was a retail operation, so she will probably have less traffic than they did. She will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday. Her business hours are not changing from what they are now. She will use the space Plants Plus used plus the garage. There are also three apartments in the building, which will remain. Mr. Jarvis moved to close the public hearing and Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Norman and Marietta Chappell to convert an existing dwelling to Real Estate office at 1437 Williston Road Mr. Lisman represented the Chappells, the Smiths, and the Barovicks. He said the building in question was owned by the Chappells and that the Smiths and Barovicks wanted to use it to run a real estate office. It most recently was used for a commercial use, he said - a janitorial supply use. Mr. Lisman said that as many as 8 people would be working in the building, but that based on the past experience it was not likely that there would be more than 2-4 people in the office at a time. He said most real estate work is done in vehicles on the road looking at homes, or at the client's home. Mr. Lisman also noted that at one time a chiropractor had used the house and that that use generated more traffic than this one would (this use was discontinued in the 1960's). Mr. Lisman stated that the home had been on the market as a single family dwelling and had not attracted much interest. He felt the real estate use would improve the looks of the building and reiterated that he did not think the traffic impact would be great. The Council was given two plans of the home, with the alternate plan showing a different traffic flow. The garage in back of the house in question will be removed no matter which plan is finally decided on. The home at 1437 is now rented to a family. Mr. Lisman estimated that on an average 2-4 cars would go into the lot in the morning and out at night. Asked whether he felt it was reasonable to use data on traffic submitted by Sterling Emerson when he applied for a similar, though smaller use on Shelburne Road, Mr. Lisman said he was not familiar enough with that appeal to feel comfortable doing that. He also noted that this office would be handling residential business mainly, not commercial business. Mr. Chappell said he had allowed a real estate use into an office in his building at one time and no one but the agent himself had ever come to the office, except for perhaps one customer per day. Mr. Lisman agreed that customers coming to this office would probably be close to only one per day. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Barovick are combining two real estate businesses into one in the building. Ms. Kay Neubert noted that the area was zoned residential and said she believed that people living in residential areas off Williston Road were interested in preventing commercial encroachment on that strip as long as possible. She noted that variances given for home occupations in the area had created problems. She also stated a concern for traffic in that area. Making right hand turns into Chappell's driveway is almost impossible if one does not swerve into the left lane to turn in, she said (and that drive is wider than the one proposed here), and she felt that in order to see whether it was safe to leave the lot, a car had to be sticking out into traffic, which is dangerous. She also pointed out that cars on Williston Road at that point are travelling pretty fast. Mr. Lisman said that 6 students had been living in the home before this proposal. He also noted that they would like to propose the first plan submitted, not the one marked "alternate". Chappell's drive is 25' wide, it was determined, and the proposed one is 12-15' Mr. Lowell Krassner felt that the zoning in the city should remain as it was until the city Plan changed it formally. He felt too much zoning was done in the city by variance and he did not like to spread a commercial zone by variance. He also felt that Interim Zoning should not be used to change the base zoning in the city. Ms. Neubert noted that to turn right into Chappell's one had to almost come to a complete stop and she felt that parking for the use would soon spill over outside the lot because she felt this lot was not large enough for such a use. It was determined that if the use were approved, it would be the only use on the lot. Mr. Flaherty moved to close the public hearing and Mr. Burgess seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Brick Oven Restaurant In., Arnold Cohen Agent, to convert existing pizza parlor into restaurant and lounge at 1653 Williston Road Mr. Cohen said the building had been used as a restaurant for 11 years as Shakey's Pizza, but that business had dropped off and the owners did not want to run the business anymore. He bought the property January 29 and wants to put in a family style restaurant. There will be no structural changes and there is ample parking on the lot. The hours will be about the same as Shakey's. Mr. Cohen said that he had made a traffic count in comparison with Lums and the Ground Round (Council members were given copies of information on the proposal). Mr. Cohen stated that the traffic he expected would be more than Shakey's is presently generating, but he did not think it would be more than 40-50 cars per lunch or dinner hour. He said they had 30 more parking spaces than were required. Seating capacity of the lounge would be 40-50 and of the restaurant would be 115-118. One more ladies room will be added. There will be no entertainment. Mr. Cohen said that Shakey's traffic now was about 1/2 what he expected from the new restaurant and that one year ago it would have been about 2/3 to 3/4 of what he expected. It was noted that there is a paved access between the Ground Round and this property for deliveries, fire or police equipment. Mr. Kyriacou said that at the time the Ground Round was operating as the Roostertail, traffic from Shakey's was heavy. Seating in the new restaurant will be less because of a difference in style. Shakey's could seat 200. Mr. Farrar asked to see the actual difference in capacity. He was told that the information was given to the Zoning Administrator. He wanted to be sure it was part of the record. Mr. Kyriacou felt traffic from this proposal would be about the same as Shakey's had in its good days. In response to questions. Mr. Cohen said that hours of operation would be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. or perhaps 12 p.m. They might stop serving at 11 but allow people an hour to eat. The hours they will be open will no later than the present hours of Shakey's and they might close earlier than Shakey's, he said. He felt the lounge would cater to people from Digital, IBM, etc, for happy hour. Mr. Krassner said his concern was late night noise but Mr. Cohen did not feel that would be a problem. Mr. Paulsen asked how many seats Lums had and how many the Ground Round did. Lums had 115 at the most and the Ground Round had about 240, he was told. Mr. Flaherty moved to close the public hearing and Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion. All were in favor. Review additional data and formulate action and stipulations on closed public hearings Tin Lizzy Leasing Inc. for a multiple use at 1880 Shelburne Road Mr. Farrar stated that he would abstain from the decisions in these cases since he had not been present at the last meeting to hear the presentations. Mr. Szymanski said he had been asked to check on the right of way for the property owner behind the building and that he had found there was one in the records. The person running the business was also asked at the last hearing to restrict his business to having no more than 10 cars on the lot at one time. Mr. Burgess moved to ask the staff to prepare a motion of approval with the conditions that there be no more than 10 vehicles on display at any one time and that there be a suitable right of way for the house in the rear maintained. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed with Mr. Farrar abstaining. Champlain Water District for expansion of water treatment plant on Queen City Park Road Mr. Szymanski said he had checked with the City Attorney on whether a new warning was required because the size building proposed at the hearing was larger than the warning indicated. The Attorney responded that it would be all right if the adjacent property owners were notified of the change, which was done. There was no response to the notification, Mr. Szymanski said. Mr. Paulsen asked how the letter was worded and Mr. Szymanski said he would get a copy of the letter. Mr. Paulsen felt the adjacent owners should have been told to appear at this meeting if they had comments. Mr. Burgess moved to have the staff prepare an appropriate motion of approval of this building with the condition that the size of the building be as presented at the hearing, i.e. 58' x 96'. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion. Mr. Burgess noted that 58' x 96' seemed to be the largest building which would be needed. Mr. Paulsen wanted to be sure the State Highway Department knew of the proposal, and Mr. Szymanski told him they had been sent a plan. They responded that there was no problem. Mr. Paulsen said he would like to see the letter to the adjacent property owners before the final vote on the application. The motion passed with Mr. Farrar abstaining. Peter ValPreda to operate a car rental business at 1048 Shelburne Road Mr. Flaherty wondered if the School Department should be asked to comment on the proposal. Mr. Farrar said that could be done without formally reopening the hearing at this time. Mr. Szymanski said he would check to see if they had been informed of the proposal as an adjacent property owner. Mr. Paulsen moved to ask the staff to prepare an approval motion for the use of this property as requested. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and it passed with Mr. Farrar abstaining. South Burlington Realty for multiple use of building at 364 Dorset Street The Council was told that 2500 sq. ft. would be used for a paint store, 1300 sq. ft. would be used for printing space, and 1100 sq. ft. would be used for storage according to information submitted. Mr. Flaherty wanted to be sure they realized that having the storage space did not insure they would be granted a third use at a later date. Mr. Burgess was concerned about the traffic figures submitted by the applicants for the paint store. He wondered if it would be a good idea to have the city's traffic consultant look at the proposal. Mr. Farrar said Mr. Houghton could be asked to comment on it. Mr. Burgess moved to ask for a staff position on the entire proposal. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion. It was noted that along with advice from staff, they would also like to have some reasons for the advice. The motion passed with Mr. Farrar abstaining. Formal action on staff prepared motions for Interim Zoning applications Ethan Allen Motor Lodge Inc. for a gift shop at 1220 Shelburne Road Mr. Jarvis moved that the South Burlington City Council approve the conditions use application of the Ethan Allen Motel, David Merrill, 1220 Shelburne Road, allowing for the construction of a gift shop containing 2,848 square feet on a lot containing 1.56 acres, according to the proposal of record, based on the following 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 Trudell Consulting Engineers regarding traffic. Stipulation 1. Approval is subject to site plan approval by the Planning Commission, with consideration of a joint curb opening. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Howard Bank for addition to existing bank building at University Mall complex on Dorset Street The City Attorney determined that this appeal did not have to be rewarned because the size of the addition had been reduced from the first hearing on the application. Mr. Flaherty moved that the South Burlington City Council approve the conditional use application of the Howard Bank. John Quinn, University Hall, Dorset Street, allowing for the construction of an addition (6' x 8" x 24' x 8") according to the proposal of record, based on the following 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 regarding traffic submitted by the applicant. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Review Planning Commission draft on Housing and Natural Resource Base chapter of the Master Plan Mr. Farrar explained that the Council had not received the draft until today and that the members were not prepared to discuss it. Mr. Jarvis felt they had had the draft for weeks but today had only received another copy of it. Mr. Poger, Chairman of the Commission, regretted a two week postponement. Mr. Farrar felt the Council would have to meet next week anyway in regard to the tax surplus and suggested that the draft be discussed then. Report from CCTA representative Frank Mazur Mr. Mazur gave the Council a report on where the CCTA stood at this time with regard to subsidies and the budget. He noted that the gas crisis had not yet increased ridership on the bus. He also said there would be some route analysis done, but probably not until 1980 would the CCTA know the result. The busses have fixed mileage and fixed hours that they run. Mr. Mazur expected the new pulse system to go into effect October 1 and he said that would help the on-time performance of the busses. He also said they will only put 32,000 miles on the new busses before they are retired to the off-peak hours. He said there was no debt service built into this fiscal year's budget and noted that he was not sure there would be as much federal money next year as one might hope. Mr. Mazur broke out the CCTA expenses and almost everything had gone up. Salaries increased 65% this year. Fuel costs are also way up. The bill the city received for bus service was $37,000 and Mr. Szymanski said that was more than the city budgeted for it this year. Mr. Mazur hoped the figure would be brought down. Mr. Ralph Cramer felt CCTA would break even this year and Mr. Mazur hoped for a slight profit. It was noted that in the future busses would have to be equipped with wheelchair lifts, so they would begin to buy them next year. Mr. Jarvis asked if there was any way to tell how many South Burlington people rode the bus and was told the new fare boxes could tell that and they would be installed as soon as funds for that were received, which will be after October 1. He said there would be a Regional Planning Commission study done on rider-ship. This will only be a 6-day study, though. Mr. Paulsen thought the fare boxes were to tell who got on and who got off the busses, but he was told they would only record who got on. He felt he would research the minutes for that information. Discuss with Mr. Mazur the driveway problem at Bartlett Bay Mr. Szymanski explained the problem to the Council. The city deeded a strip of land to Mr. Mazur a few years ago for a road, which he maintains. By doing so, they inadvertantly cut another landowner, Mr. Austin, off from access to his land except via the Mazur strip. Mr. Szymanski said the City Attorney recommended that the deed be modified to give Mr. Austin a right of way through the Mazur property. The strip of road also goes onto another piece of Mazur land, and it should be moved off that. Although Mr. Austin has frontage on and a drive from Bartlett Bay Road, it has not been used since the 1930's and has trees on it now. Mr. Mazur felt that if the summer cottage were ever turned into a permanent residence, the old drive should be used. Mr. Farrar felt the city should think about. the situation for a while. Review data on adjusting the 1979-80 tax rate Mr. Szymanski gave the Council some information on the tax rate adjustment, which shows a reduction of .280 from the tax rate previously decided on. Mr. Farrar said it looked like the only way to legally give the money back would be through a Charter change. Mr. Flaherty felt that if they had to wait to do that, which would take several months, the taxpayers would not know for a long time whether they would get their money back. He felt there must be a common sense way to give it back faster than that. Mr. Paulsen wanted to know what effect the change would have on the tax rate for next year. It was decided that the Steering Committee would meet next Monday (July 9) at 7:30 to discuss how to get the money back, and that the Council would meet that Monday at 8:00 p.m. Review list of unlicensed dogs The Council looked at the list of unlicensed dogs. All owners have been notified that they must register their dogs. Mr. Burgess moved to direct the Police Department to destroy the dogs on the list of unregistered dogs as submitted to the Council at this meeting and to enter a complaint against the owners or keepers thereof. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and it passed with Mr. Paulsen voting no. Consider request for installation of sanitary sewer on Dawn Court Mr. Szymanski said that the approximate cost for the installation would be $4,700 and that the funds would come out of the sewer surplus. There are 4 residences on the street and they have been paying the area sewer charge. Mr. Burgess moved to authorize the City Manager to proceed on the installation. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion. Mr. Paulsen said he did not like the idea of putting municipal services in private streets. He did not want to set a precedent. Mr. Szymanski said a right of way would be obtained and that there were other such cases in the city. It was also noted that in condominium developments municipal services were put in private streets. Mr. Szymanski said that these homes were here before the sewer was put in. The motion was passed with Mr. Paulsen abstaining. Make appointments to Boards and Commissions Mr. Jarvis moved to appoint Paul Graves to a 4 year term on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion. Mr. Paulsen then moved that nominations be closed. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and all were in favor. All were in favor of the motion to appoint Mr. Graves. Mr. Jarvis moved to reappoint William Wessel to a 3 year term on the Chittenden County Transportation Authority, Mary Anne Gucciardi to a 3 year term on the Recreation Committee and Russell Lindblad to a 3 year term on the Recreation Committee. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed 5-0. Mr. Szymanski said the Recreation Committee had trouble getting a quorum but he was told they could just decide to cut down the number necessary for a quorum. Review Zoning Board agenda There were no comments. Old Business Mr. Szymanski presented the Council with information on the Kennedy Drive lot line change relative to city parkland, which was brought up by Mr. Schmucker, representing the Treetop condominium owners at the Gagne-Milot review for approval of their two office buildings. Mr. Burgess noted that with the change made, the city parkland had been moved further north and west than originally thought. The Council did not appear to find the change substantial. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.