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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/04/1979CITY COUNCIL JUNE 4, 1979 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, June 4, 1979 at 8:00 pm in the Conference Room, City Hall, 1175 Williston Road Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty (late), William Burgess, Kenneth Jarvis, Martin Paulsen Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; John Donnelly, Tom Schroeder, David Merrill, Ralph Des Lauriers, Tim O'Connell, Martin Tierney, Dana Bergeron, John Quinn, Lowell Krassner, George Mona, Sidney Poger, James Ewing, Lloyd Foster, Maurice Paquette, Vincent Bolduc, James McGee, Mrs. Eleanor May, Bruce Righi, Peter Coffrin, Michael Ram, Sandy Kleppinger, Karin Larsen Addition to agenda An item regarding bank notes to be signed was added to the agenda. Minutes of May 21, 1979 On page 3, under the Timberlane appeal, it should be noted that Mr. Cass was a representative of the construction company, not a doctor. Mr. Paulsen moved to approve the May 21, 1979 minutes as corrected. The motion was seconded by Mr. Jarvis and passed unanimously. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Public hearing on ordinance regulating conduct in City Parks Mr. Farrar asked if anyone present wanted the ordinance read in its entirety and no one responded. Mr. Burgess moved to dispense with the formal reading of the entire ordinance. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Mr. Farrar summerized the contents of the ordinance for the audience. Mr. Jarvis moved to approve the second reading of the ordinance. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all were in favor. Continue public hearing on Interim Zoning application of Roland and Evangeline DesLauriers for office buildings at 345 Dorset Street Mr. Ralph DesLauriers represented his parents, who own the land. He said there were three issues to be resolved regarding his request for a conditional use permit for the office buildings - traffic, sewage flow, and character of the neighborhood. He said the office buildings would be two stories tall and one would be 32' x 76' while the other would be 32' x 52' in size. Ms. Barbara Shepard recently built an office building on the lot. Mr. DesLauriers felt the property was unique because there was residential land behind it and a commercial use across the street from it. He said they had thought for a long time about the best use for the land and felt it was office buildings. He submitted an estimate of the traffic flow for the buildings (see attached copy). He also gave the Council an estimate of sewage flow from the buildings (see attached copy). Mr. Flaherty arrived at this point. Mr. Farrar asked the City Engineer if he agreed with Mr. DesLauriers' sewage figures and Mr. Szymanski replied he would check it out. Mr. Farrar asked how the number of workers and client trips was arrived at and was told that they had looked at an average of the type of building and client they would like to have and determined that many professional people have two visits per hour per office. These numbers were checked by looking at the city regulations for required parking spaces. Mr. DesLauriers said that they had submitted a list of uses which were acceptable to them for the building, and these uses all fit the category of two visits per hour. Mr. Farrar asked him if he was restricting himself to the uses outlined in his submission and Mr. DesLauriers replied that he was. He went on to say that he understood that if he wanted a variation in the uses permitted him by his submission, he would have to come before the city again for permission for that. Mr. Farrar asked why two buildings were planned and was told that if all the space was put in one building, it would be quite large and might not look as good in the area. The intention is to have the buildings resemble the residences behind them for esthetic reasons and this means they should be rather small. Having two buildings will require another curb cut, but Mr. DesLauriers felt that two curb cuts on this long property was not too many. He said the two buildings would be built at the same time and noted that the required setback was 75' where they propose 65'. He said they could push the buildings back but he felt it would be better to have the extra room between the buildings and the homes than between them and the road. Mr. Flaherty moved to close the public hearing on the application of Roland and Evangeline DesLauriers. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed 5--0. Public hearing on Interim Zoning applications Ethan Allen Motor Lodge, Inc. – Gift shop at 1220 Shelburne Road - Mr. David Merrill located the lot for the Council. He said it had 189' of frontage and was 363' deep. It meets all the conditions in the regulations except that it comes under the Interim Zoning district. Municipal water and sewer are on the lot and will be hooked up to the building. There will be a shared drive for this lot and for Charlotte Marsh's behind it. Mr. Farrar asked about how much traffic the business would generate and Mr. Merrill gave him some information on that from Trudell Consulting Engineers. He was asked to have Trudell resubmit that information under their letterhead. Mr. Merrill also had some traffic counts of his own (see attached copy). He was asked to add to that information the specific hours during which the counts were gathered. He told the Council these were afternoon counts and that, in the case of the shopping mall numbers, anyone who went into any store in a mall and then came to the store he was counting was counted as a traffic unit. Mr. Merrill was asked to submit a list of the items he intended to sell in the shop. Mr. Szymanski raised the possibility of sharing a drive with Mr. Merrill's neighbor to the north or south. Mr. Paulsen moved to close the public hearing subject to the receipt of the items requested. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and it passed 5--0. South Burlington Realty Corporation – multiple use of existing building at 364 Dorset Street – Mr. Michael Ram represented South Burlington Realty and said that they would like a multiple use permit for the building, which was formerly occupied by the Offset House. The building contains 5,000 sq. ft. and the lease was terminated 15 months ago. Since then they have been unable to find a qualified tenant to occupy the entire space, although firms have been interested in parts of the building. Mr. Ram said there had been interest from a printing business, a paint store (to do mostly wholesale but also some retail business), an auto parts store, and a beverage warehouse which wanted the entire area. Mr. Farrar said the Council would have to know specifically what was proposed before they could give approval. Mr. Ram then asked that they consider approval for a paint store and a printing service, only. Mr. Ram said the building could be split into two parts - 3300 sq. ft. in the back and the rest of the 5,000 sq. ft. in the front. There are 31 parking spaces and the Offset House did not use nearly that many. The new printing shop will be about 1/2 the size of the former business. Mr. Farrar asked the percentage of the store which would be devoted to each use and after some discussion, Mr. Ram said he would like the Council to consider that 50% would be used by the paint store and 50% by the printing business. Mr. Farrar suggested that the hearing be continued to the next meeting to allow Mr. Ram to work out specifics on the proposal and Mr. Ram agreed to this. Mr. Flaherty moved to continue the public hearing until the next regularly scheduled meeting. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Howard Bank - addition to existing bank building at University Mall complex on Dorset Street - Mr. John Quinn spoke for the bank and presented the Council with a statement on the appeal (see attached copy). He also said that the bank had done some customer counts during typical days and found that they had a total of 1631 customers during a week's time and that of that number, about 63% of the transactions could have been handled by the automatic teller. He also noted that the bank peak hours and peak days were staggered, so it was hard to get a consistent peak time. Regarding parking, Mr. Quinn said that the bank had only 10 exclusive parking spaces, which was not as much as required by the ordinance, but he said there were other parking spaces nearby that people tended to use. Mr. Farrar asked that Mr. Quinn find out the total number of parking spaces in the mall lot and the total square footage of the mall itself. The ratio of square footage of retail area to parking spaces may show there will not be a parking problem, but if there is, more area could be paved, or striped, or the bank could provide more space. Mr. Farrar asked if the addition would provide room for the automatic teller only, or for more employees and was told that there would be room for one more teller station, which would make a total of three in the building. Mr. Quinn did not, however, forsee any more business because of the extra teller – he felt it would just make banking faster in that location. Mr. Farrar asked Mr. Szymanski to check with Traffic Engineer Bruce Houghton on how the traffic control was working at Dorset St. and said the Council would need more traffic density information from the bank. Mr. Flaherty moved to close the public hearing on the application of the Howard Bank addition in University Mall. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed 5–0. Review additional data and formulate action and stipulations on the following closed hearing Interim Zoning applications Fernand La Jeunesse – catering service at 21 McIntosh Avenue - Mr. Szymanski said that the line between residential and commercial zoning in that area fell on Mr. LaJeunesse's property line, so his property was zoned commercial in its entirety. Mr. Flaherty moved to request the staff to prepare a motion to deny the application of Fernand La Jeunesse for a catering service on the grounds that it does not meet the spirit of the Interim Zoning ordinance and on the grounds that it is a multiple use, which is not allowed (a dwelling and a business). Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Timberlane Medical Center - addition to existing building - Mr. Szymanski showed the Council some traffic information on the area and said that neither of the two nearest intersections to the building was overloaded with traffic. Mr. Szymanski was asked if he felt the addition would significantly alter the present traffic at those intersections and he replied that he did not think it would. He told the Council the police had reported 9 accidents at that intersection in 2 years. Mr. Burgess noted that the extra doctor would be added with or without the addition. Mr. Paulsen moved to instruct the staff to prepare an approval motion on the Timberlane Medical Center addition on the grounds that it meets the spirit and conditions of Interim Zoning and that the traffic data and professional opinion of the City Engineer say that it would not cause traffic on major streets in the area to exceed safe levels. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and it passed 5–0. Review Planning Commission draft of revised goals for Master Plan The Council decided to review one chapter of the Plan which the Commission has already worked on per meeting until they have caught up. No one had any philosophical differences of opinion with the goals as set forth by the Commission in the draft. Several of the specific goals were discussed by the Council and Commission. Mr. Paulsen moved to approve in principle of the goals as set forth in the draft. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Consider amendments to City Traffic Regulation Ordinance to eliminate bicycle registration fee Mr. Flaherty moved that the City Manager prepare for first reading an ordinance to revise the South Burlington Traffic regulations to remove the bicycle registration fee and any other associated corrections. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and all were in favor. Review applications for appointments and reappointments to Boards and Commissions and consider making appointments Mr. Paulsen moved to reappoint Ernest Levesque for a 3 year term and Kirk Woolery for a 4 year term on the Planning Commission. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and all were in favor. Mr. Paulsen moved to reappoint J. Everett Reed to a 4 year term on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted aye. Mr. Flaherty moved to reappoint James Brown for a 3 year term and Frank Plumley for a 3 year term on the Sign Review Board. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Mr. Szymanski was asked to set up an interview for Roberta Strauss, who is interested in the Chittended County Transportation Authority. Mr. Paulsen moved to reappoint Ethel Schuele for a 3 year term and Jeanne Menard for a 3 year term on the Fine Arts Committee. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and it passed with all voting yes. Mr. Burgess moved to reappoint William Schuele for a 3 year term and Sylvia Smith for a 3 year term on the Natural Resources Committee. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and it passed with all voting aye. Mr. Flaherty moved to reappoint Ethel Schuele to a 3 year term and Jeanne Menard to a 3 year term on the Community Library Board of Trustees. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted yes. Mr. Paulsen then moved to reappoint Albert Audette as Civil Defense Director; James Goddette as Civil Defense Director assistant; Dr. Samuel Wiggans as Tree Warden; Harold Nolting, John Dinklage, Robert Irish, Wayne Jameson, and Dale Kleppinger to the City Charter Committee, and to appoint Fred Maher also to the Charter Committee; to reappoint Charlotte Marsh, Chairman, and Frances Myers to the Cemetery Committee; to reappoint Richard Carter, Police Chief, Paul Dye, Alex Guyette, Catherine Neubert and Louis Vallee to the Correction Center Liason Committee; to reappoint Col. George C. Crooks, Vernon Wamsganz, Robert LaBerge, Charles LaPlant to the Fire Department Advisory Board; Dr. Frank Armstrong, Dr. Samuel Wiggans and Harry Yawney to the Tree Planting Committee; Peter Yankowski, Barbara Bull, Dr. Charles Houston and Ethel Schuele to the Red Rocks Committee; Vincent D'Acuti to the Burlington Airport Commission; and to appoint Diane Geerkin as Energy Coordinator. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and all voted aye. All the above terms are 1 year. The first and second constables were appointed at the Council Organizational meeting in May. It was suggested that perhaps a second person should also be appointed to the Burlington Airport Commission. Sign petition for the installation of telephone ducts along north side of Williston Road Mr. Szymanski said the telephone company wanted to install 16 duct conduit under the sidewalk on Williston Road from East Avenue to White Street. This will be within the area to be widened in the future. He said the city might ask the phone company to replace the concrete with blacktop and pay the city the difference in cost, since that will be torn up in a few years anyway. They are not planning to put the existing lines underground and the power company does not plan to put its lines underground either. The Council was concerned about traffic flow on a major artery like that while construction was in progress and wanted to be sure it was not impeded too much. They also wanted to see the overhead lines go underground, or at least have that capacity put in. Mr. Szymanski was asked for a figure on how much the city would be paid if blacktop was put back. The conduit will be 36" below the sidewalk and 30" below the widened road pavement. Mr. Szymanski was also asked to get a schedule on the work from the company. The item was tabled to the next meeting by common consent. Additional budget appropriation for fiscal 78--79 Mr. Szymanski gave the Council a memo on these appropriations (see attached copy). Mr. Flaherty moved to approve the additional budget appropriations for fiscal 78--79 as recommended by City Manager William Szymanski in the amount of $29,600 as outlined in his June 4 memo. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Review Planning and Zoning agendas There were no comments. Old business Mr. Paulsen asked the status of pedestrian walk lights and Mr. Szymanski said he would check on that. Sign Notes Mr. Szymanski had some renewal notes to be signed by Council. Mr. Farrar read the notes. Mr. Flaherty moved to sign the renewal notes as presented by the City Manager. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and all were in favor. Meet as Liquor Control Board to act on application for liquor licenses for Spillanes on Shelburne and Williston Roads. Mr. Flaherty moved to adjourn as the City Council and reconvene as the Liquor Control Board to act on applications for liquor licenses for Spillanes on Williston and Shelburne Roads. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all were in favor. Mr. Szymanski told the Board that the State had not approved these licenses because of a late filing, so Spillane reapplied. The Fire Chief inspected the stations. Mr. Flaherty moved to sign the liquor license for Spillanes. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted aye. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 pm. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.