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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 10/19/1987CITY COUNCIL 19 OCTOBER 1987 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 19 October 1987, at 7:30 pm, in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, Molly Lambert, George Mona Also Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Wendy Schroeder, Business Manager; Jane Lafleur, City Planner; Margaret Picard, City Clerk/Treasurer; John Race, Police Chief; James Goddette, Fire Chief; Ruth Poger, The Other Paper Comments & Questions from the Audience (not related to items on the Agenda) Mr. Farrar noted that with regard to the quarry question, the Act 250 meeting is still not scheduled. The City Attorney has been consulted, and the item will be on the agenda at the appropriate time. Mr. Mona moved to continue discussion on the quarry question until put on the agenda at the appropriate time. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Reconvene 10/5/87 public hearing on amendments to the City Zoning Regulations on traffic impact standards Mrs. Lafleur reviewed Craig Leiner's comments on Mr. Farrar's suggested traffic procedures. Briefly summarized, his concerns are as follows: a) Unsignalized intersections can't be mixed with signalized because unsignalized intersection method is expressed in reserve capacity and not seconds of delay; b) the signalized procedure is only for isolated intersections which takes into account such things as signal timing, heavy vehicles, etc; c) the level of service calculation shows critical movements as well as where problems are, but the proposed method could allow the developer to pick the cheapest improvement to bring a better average. The City must be able to specify improvements; d) the developer will find it in his interest to include good intersections or to distribute traffic differently (on paper) to have less impact on bad intersections; e) each study will include different intersections which changes averages; f) averaging is subject to rounding errors; g) averaging hides extreme delays; h) there is an "urban and suburban arterial analysis procedure" that looks at intersections as a group; i) administration and review of the averaging method will be difficult. After a brief discussion, Mr. Flaherty moved to continue the discussion until the next meeting. Mr. Mona seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Work session with City Planner regarding proposed Central District Zoning Ordinance Mrs. Lafleur said she hoped the traffic study would be available by the first of the year. She then outlined the proposals for the different Central District zones. She noted that CD-3 is basically a buffer zone and that an existing home can be converted to an office building as long as the size of the building is not increased. The Planning Commission has recommended that the back of the Deslauriers property go from C-2 to R-7. The owners has already come in with a major office complex which meets requirements for both uses. They do, however, object to the CD-3 in front and to the R-7 zoning. It was noted that Peter Judge would like his land included in the CD-1 district. Mrs. Lafleur had no problem with that. Mr. Flaherty felt this would only get more intense development. Mr. Farrar said it all hinges on traffic, and the only benefit he could see was using transfer of development rights to get 500 acres of open land someplace. Council members asked the Police Chief his feelings about parking behind buildings. Chief Race said the problem is visibility. He felt lighting would be very important and that there would be an advantage to mix housing in with the uses. Mrs. Lafleur then highlighted some elements of the plan. Permitted uses have been cut down, and the Ordinance is very specific about what is prohibited, closing the door to use variances. Chief Goddette felt the taller buildings will be a problem, especially with high traffic generators such as doctor and dentist offices. Both fire and police protection would be an issue. Members will continue discussion when the bonus plan, traffic study, and all other information is available. Discuss the possibility of City Representatives introducing legislation regarding an amendment to Act 250 in reference to prime ag soils in urban areas Mr. Farrar said he thought such legislation would be impossible this year. He asked the City Planner her feelings about a plan whereby the Planning Commission would also serve as the Act 250 Board for those developments in which no other community is involved. Mrs. Lafleur said she could not foresee the state yielding power such as that to the local governments. She did feel the transfer of development rights program was a better solution. Review Police Chief's activity report and recommendations for a capital budget program Regarding his personnel recommendations, Chief Race said that detectives are now carrying about double what is recommended and there are things they can't get to because of the time problem. Patrol officers also don't have patrol time as they are constantly going from call to call. He did not foresee a dropoff in crime. He also noted the overwhelming response to the juvenile/crime prevention officer and felt that his time was also at its maximum. Chief race then invited Council members to ride with the cruisers to see first hand what the situation is. Review Recreation Director's recommendations for a capital budget program Mr. O'Neill strongly recommended a Parks Department that would make manpower available at a time more convenient to the use of recreation facilities. He noted there are very few areas in the City that meet a park concept and he would like to see the parks better maintained so people can get more enjoyment from them. Park maintenance, he noted, is not now a priority and felt that such sites as JC Park are in danger of becoming unusable. Mr. Farrar asked if there is any plan for lands owned by the City. Mr. O'Neill said that people in those areas just wanted to maintain them as open spaces. He felt there is more of a concern for new neighborhoods which has young children and want neighborhood parks. Consider amendment to City Personnel Rules and Regulations regarding method of determining starting salaries Ms. Schroeder said the proposal will cost about $400 more per new employee. She noted the current method pays a new employee at last year's lowest grade for 6 months. She felt this was not an incentive that would get good people to work for the City and recommended starting at the current year's lowest rate. Mr. Mona moved that the Council adopt the change as proposed by the Business Manager and that it be effective to anyone who is currently within the 6-month period. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Review Planning and Zoning Agendas No issues were raised. Minutes of 5 October 1987 Mr. Flaherty moved to approve the Minutes of 5 October 1987 as written. Mr. Mona seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Sign Disbursement Orders Disbursement Orders were signed. Liquor Control Board Mr. Flaherty moved that the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Ms. Lambert seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Szymanski presented a request for a liquor license for Pantry Pride on Shelburne Rd. This is a change of ownership and no problems exist. Mr. Mona moved to grant the request for Pantry Pride. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 10:15 pm. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.