HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Natural Resources Committee - 11/06/2013South Burlington Natural Resources Committee
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013
6:15pm
South Burlington Municipal Offices, 575 Dorset Street
MEETING MINUTES for Regular Bi‐Monthly Meeting
Present: Laurel Williams (Interim NRC/OSC Chair), Jeff Dickson (NRC/OSC Member), Jim Duncan
(NRC/OSC Member), Larry Michaels (NRC/OSC Member), Betty Milizia (NRC/OSC Member),
Cathyann LaRose (NRC/OSC Staff Liaison ‐ SB City Planner), Barbara Benton (OSC Member ‐
Planning Commission), Jennifer Kochman (OSC Member ‐ Rec and Leisure Arts Cmte), Sharon
Murray (OSC Consultant ‐ Front Porch Community Planning & Design)
OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE
Meeting called to order at 6:26pm.
10/26 /2013 Minutes: Milizia moved, Dickson seconded. Passed unanimously
Joint letter for Underwood Property: Milizia moved to approve, Duncan seconded. Approved
unanimously.
Memo to Planning Commission on City Center: Changes are being made to memo by Murray
based on feedback from October 26 meeting. The intent was to get memo to planning
commission on Tuesday, November 12.
Draft Comp Plan Recommendations: Revisions to the Draft Comprehensive Plan Objectives and
Strategies based on previous committee work were circulated. Substantive combinations and
rearrangements occurred, resulting in new as well as eliminated objectives and strategies.
Committee Comments on Reviews Objectives:
o Discussed how city center development should relate to existing neighborhood
and public amenities, and how to ensure harmonious/integrated design. The
committee discussed whether this term was too vague, and differences between
a city center that provides a “gradual transition into“ existing neighborhoods vs a
“complement” to them.
o Walkability was seen as separate from and complementary to interconnectivity
as a concept.
o There was concern about not including mention of people with disabilities in
new Objective 43, and a broader discussion of how to identify appropriate
groups of people and modes of use without excluding people or uses or
promoting biking on all paths; Biking was moved to objective 39, and mention of
walkability was removed to avoid the distinction.
Committee Comments on Revised Strategies:
o Members argued for explicit inclusion of requirement for public participation
into design process of city center
o The size of the central green/park was discussed, and whether to set a size range
(2 to 5 acres) or a minimum of 2 to 4 acres. Members discussed the alternative
of describing the intended functions of the space, (e.g. as natural experience in
the city or recreational and large civic gatherings) as a way to inform the size
needed to accommodate those functions;
o Public buildings should specifically front on central green, as opposed to just
bordering on it;
o Committee members discussed whether Dumont park should be described in
Strategies as part of city center or not, and what it would mean for trail density,
thinning, isolation, and safety. Dumont Park is already mentioned in the TIF
district, and as the choice of committee wouldn’t change that, the decision was
to remove mention of the location of Dumont as in or out all together
o Support was voiced for possibility of including a boardwalk along Tributary 3;
o Strategy relating to updating of official city map seemed to lack clear direction to
acquire lands for functions declared elsewhere (greenway, paths, etc). The
committee felt the whole paragraph was difficult to digest and will be rewritten
to clarify what’s being mapped and what should be acquired.
o Strategy 186 should include mention of stormwater infrastructure;
o Strategy 189 repeated major design goals that were better and more clearly
stated in other strategies and objectives. The committee decided to keep the
mention of using design review/form‐based codes to support the use of codes,
while removing specifics of the ‘what’ to implement and leaving those up to
other sections
o The committee identified a missing explicit requirement for a network of green
spaces/other open spaces spread throughout city – recommended modifying
Objective 40 from “in Central District” to “throughout Central District”;
Staff Report: Planning Commission wants Form‐Based Code Committee and Open Space
Committee to hand off work to them on Tuesday, November 12. Agreed that members would
focus on definition of open space, communicating memo recommendations to Commission,
and notifying them that the comprehensive plan edits are on the way. Williams will prepare
presentation, solicits suggestions. The following day, Planning Commission will launch
substantial public outreach effort, primarily on form‐based codes. It is unclear who will be
responsible for drafting open‐space standards in new code.
Next Meeting: Due to upcoming holidays, the meeting schedule was adjusted. The previously
scheduled November 20 and December 18 meetings were cancelled, and committee members
will attempt to attend one of three ‘open‐house’ type Planning Commission meetings in lieu of
an OSC/NRC meeting during that time. The next meeting of the Natural Resources Committee
will be December 4th at 6:15pm, and the following meeting will be held on January 8th at
6:15pm.
Meeting adjourned at 8:16pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Duncan