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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/02/2004CITY COUNCIL 2 FEBRUARY 2004 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 2 February 2004, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: J. Condos, Chair; C. Smith, T. Sheahan, S. Magowan, D. O'Rourke Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; S. Dooley, J. Jewitt, A. Blair, B. Chamberlin, N. Aroris, B. Precourt, B. Cairns; G. Chamberland 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda Items: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements and City Manager's Report: Mr. O'Rourke: Police Facilities Study Committee meeting, 12 February, 8:30 Mr. Condos: VLCT Local Government Day in Montpelier, 11 February Mr. Hafter: Budget review sessions are scheduled for 19 and 23 February at 7:00 p.m. Spear St. Corridor Study meeting, 10 February, 2 p.m. The Planning Commission will hear the first report of this study that evening at 7:30 p.m. Meeting with Vermont Community Development Board, Wednesday, 10 a.m. On noon that day, a meeting with Lake Champlain Housing. Former Assistant City Manager Peg Strait is the interim Director of Lake Champlain Housing. 3. Report on Regional Technical Academy Development: Mr. Smith said the goal is to consolidate the 2 existing schools into one state-of-the-art technical school that would be a diploma-granting high school. This would give kids more time on task instead of having so much travel time between schools. On 2 March, there will be a vote on governance of the academy. The goal is to have a broad based board with both elected and appointed members. The Academy would be housed in Essex behind The Racket's Edge. There would be another vote in November 2004 to approve the entire project. Construction would begin in January 2005 with the doors opening that fall. The estimated enrollment is just under 1,000 students. Students would be from grades 11 and 12 in the beginning. There would be evening, weekend and summer classes in addition to regular school hour classes. This would allow adults to participate. It is estimated that the operating costs would be a little less than costs of the two existing schools. Towns would pay a tuition assessment as they do now. There is also the potential for some federal support. The impact on the South Burlington budget would be about .43%. The impact on smaller schools such as Winooski and Fairfax would be bigger and could be harmful to those schools. The main concern is the educational opportunity for students in this region. It is estimated that 20-40% of students who apply to the tech centers now are turned away. Mr. Condos said he was concerned that South Burlington does not have a regular election in March and it may be difficult to get people out to vote for just this one item. Mr. Sheahan asked if there would be an expanded curriculum offering. Mr. Smith said there would. Mr. O'Rourke asked who pays for the education of adults. Mr. Smith said he believed the school districts would pay the GED piece. Ms. Dooley asked how the district got configured. Mr. Smith said it is the same region that is served by the two existing centers. Mr. Blair asked about the age cut-off. Mr. Hafter said he believed it is about 23, the same as the existing limit. 4. Public hearing on amendments to the South Burlington Zoning Map and Land Development Regulations: 1) rezone properties east of Kennedy Drive, south side of Williston Rd. from C-1-R-12 to Mixed I-C; 2) create C-1-Airport district; 3) create C-1 drive-through district on Williston Road; 4) amend Table C-2, Table of Uses; 4) amend Table C-2, Dimensional Standards; 5) clarify that field changes and as-builts apply to PUDs and other approvals as well as to site plans; 6) clarify expiration of approvals; 7) amend standards for roadways, parking and circulation to clarify relationship to traffic overlay district; and 8) amend to require a survey for preliminary and final plat for major subdivisions and PUDs; second reading of same: Mr. O'Rourke stepped down during the discussion due to a potential conflict of interest. There was no public comment on items #1 and #2. Mr. Smith moved to close the public hearing, waive the second reading, and adopt sections #1 and #2 as presented. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Magowan stepped down during the discussion of Section #3 due to a potential conflict of interest. Mr. Condos showed the boundaries of the proposed "drive-thru" district on Williston Road. Mr. Hafter noted this does not include the school property or Al's French Fries properties. Mr. Condos noted that the Council received three e-mails which he read into the record. The first was from Helen Riehle opposing the drive-thru district because of traffic and because it would encourage obesity by encouraging sedentariness. Tim Barritt opposed the district because of fumes from idling cars drifting into the adjacent schoolyard. Michael Lipson opposed the drive-thru district because traffic is already intolerable and because having people stay in their cars encourages "isolation." Mr. Cairns of Champlain Oil spoke in favor of the district as it would consolidate properties and provide internal access. Ms. Dooley strongly opposed the drive-thru district. She said she understood the intent but felt there would be more trip ends generated that would negate any potential benefit of access management. She was also concerned with idling cars adjacent to the school. Mr. Aroris said the proposal does not help any small businesses and seems only to help big restaurants. Mr. Condos noted that the Planning Commission would like to review their proposal before the Council makes its decision. Mr. Precourt said he owns the property with Chicken Charlies, etc. He has been to a number of Planning Commission meetings and has heard a lot about traffic problems. He noted that the last improvement was the installation of the traffic light a Best Western, paid for by Best Western. He added that since this concept has been presented, he has had a lot of interest in his property. He also noted that presently the plan cuts his property into two parts. He said that is why the Planning Commission wants to review the proposal before the Council votes on it. Mr. Chamberlin said he represents Bill Bissonnette. He showed an air shot of the area with accident locations indicated on Williston Road. Most of these accidents have involved turning movements and rear-end collisions. He asked that in the interest of safety the Council not vote in favor off the proposal. Mr. Chamberlin also noted that ITE data says that drive-thru facilities increase turning movements by 25%. He then gave members a written summary of concerns. The owner of the Williston Rd. Burger King said their trip ends have been reduced in past years because they have no drive-thru facility. He said they are willing to work with the city on traffic mitigation in order to become more economically viable. Ms. Dooley suggested looking for other incentives for economic development. She did not want the "cure" to be worse than the current "disease." She also cited backups on Route 15 in Essex caused by people waiting to go into drive-thrus. Mr. Sheahan then moved to close the public hearing on item #3 and refer item #3 related to drive-thru facilities back to the Planning Commission. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Messrs. Magowan and O'Rourke rejoined the Council. Mr. Hafter then reviewed the changes in items #4-8, indicating that most are to take care of inadvertent exclusions or inclusions or are small technical changes. No public comment was offered on these items. Mr. Smith moved to close the public hearing on items #4-8, waive the second reading, and approve items #4-8 as presented. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Public hearing on ordinance to amend traffic regulations; no parking on a section of Eastwood Drive; second reading: Mr. Hafter said this will be a tow-away zone as parking has been creating a dangerous situation. He noted that the parking problem on Airport Drive has been eliminated since a similar action was taken at the last Council meeting. Mr. Magowan moved to close the public hearing, waive the reading, and approve the Ordinance to Amend Traffic Regulations as presented. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Consideration of approval of necessity documents for land condemnation, Lime Kiln Road, for Lime Kiln Bridge replacement project: Mr. O'Rourke stepped down during this discussion due to a potential conflict of interest. Mr. Hafter noted there had been a question of the ownership of some of the land. Fairwater has signed off on this, but there is still a mortgage holder that hasn't. Mr. Hafter explained the procedure that will be followed. Mr. Sheahan moved that the Council Chair be authorized to sign the notice of decision. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. O'Rourke rejoined the Council. 7. Review Development Review Board agenda for 3 February 2004: No issues were raised. 8. Review minutes of 15 January joint public hearing, 19 January, 22 January and 27 January: Mr. Smith moved to approve the minutes of the joint public hearing of 15 January as written. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Magowan moved to approve the minutes of 19 January as written. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed 3-0 with Messrs. Sheahan and O'Rourke abstaining. Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the minutes of 22 January and 27 January as written. Mr. Magowan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement orders were signed. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.