HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Open Space IZ Committee - 05/07/2019South Burlington Open Space Interim Zoning Commi ee May 7, 2019
The Open Space IZ Commi ee held a regular mee ng on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, at 7:00 pm, in the upstairs ConferenceRoom, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street .
Members present: Vince Bolduc, Alyson Chalnick, Meaghan Emery, Bernie Gagnon, Amanda Holland, Sophie Mazowita,Duncan Murdoch, Allan Strong, Sam Swanson, and Tami Zylka. Also present: Daniel Seff, Debbie Herberg, and FrankVonturkovich. Absent members: Be y Milizia.
1. Direc ons on emergency evacua on procedures from conference room:
Allan called the mee ng to order and provided instruc ons on emergency evacua on of the building.
2. Addi ons, dele ons or changes in order of agenda items:
Meaghan asked that a new agenda item be added, the review of a parcel in the Southeast Quadrant that is currentlyunder IZ review in the Council. It became a new item 6 on the agenda.
3. Comments from the public not related to the agenda:
No comments were made.
4. Assessing consistency of rankings (5 parcels):
Commi ee member report out of results from assigned parcel rankings (Tier 1, and 2):
Allan suggested that members review the parcels item by item, first under Tier 2 criteria. Members shared theirresults. First for water, there was some disagreement about parcels 3 and 4, and discussion ensued regardingwetlands evalua on criteria, on whether or not poten al class 2 wetlands should be counted. Vince recommendedwe include in the final report a footnote regarding the scoring of wetlands. Amanda and Bernie expressed the desireto know the source of qualifying parcels for poten al class 2 wetlands. Allan suggested that we include the poten alcriterium and seek to understand the source. Surface water source protec on area was another criterium that themembers considered. All in all, members felt that the evalua on of water criteria was reliable with a couple of areasrequiring follow-up. Regarding the wildlife category, members were generally in agreement, though debated theviability of grasslands as a separate line. Duncan’s Open Space map could be seen as poten al habitat areas thatcould be created as opposed to conserved. Regarding forests, members agreed. Regarding aesthe cs, the memberswere divided. Regarding agriculture, Daniel Seff encouraged members to value primary ag soil and not just prime agsoil as well as parcels that are currently being ac vely farmed. Members agreed on the agriculture category, and Allannoted that the data layers are easily interpretable. In the end, although there was some variability, members reachedconsensus on the top parcels overall.
Regarding landscape scale comparison highest priority on BioFinder, Allan suggested pu ng it under Tier 1.
Most of the discussion turned around the fine delinea ons, including future poten al for landscapes (grasslands,forests) and natural communi es, percentage of lot with sensi ve natural resources, what measures might be used todetermine “large blocks” for habitat or forests, etc.
Tier 3 discussion: To be con nued.
5. Process for moving forward:
Finalizing parcel assessment: To be con nued.
Outline of final report: Members briefly considered preparing headings for the different landscape components:forests, grasslands, wetlands, etc. This discussion is to be con nued.
Engaging SB residents in open space conserva on: This will be the agenda for the next mee ng, May 15, when Allanwill be away.
6. Review of a parcel whose owner wishes to subdivide the property, currently under considera on in the Council:
Meaghan asked the Commi ee to review a parcel, which could poten ally be subdivided and which the Council iscurrently reviewing according to the IZ bylaws. Meaghan indicated that, given her dual role as a Councilor, she wouldnot par cipate in the discussion and the commi ee’s evalua on of the parcel but rather relay their evalua on to theCouncil, on which she is already a vo ng member.
A er reviewing the parcel, using established criteria, members agreed that it makes sense to build on the parcel inques on. The parcel did not sa sfy Tier 1 criteria, and for Tier 2, they noted no water, wildlife, or forest features.Regarding aesthe cs, this parcel appears consistent with increased density levels. Finally, for the last category ofagriculture, it was noted that there is a ny sliver of prime ag in the southwest corner. Sophie suggested that areas
that are not top priori es for natural resources should be used for development as opposed to areas where naturalresources are more cri cal. Allan acknowledged consensus among the members that the parcel does not score in Tier1 or in Tier 2, but raised the ques on of whether it sets precedent for the Council during IZ. Duncan noted that thetrees deserve a en on as well.
7. Review and approval Meeting Minutes: April 17, 2019:
Vince moved to approve the minutes, Tami seconded. They were approved 8-0-2 (Alyson and Amanda abstained).
8. Adjourn:
The mee ng adjourned shortly a er 9:15pm. The next mee ng is on Wednesday, May 15 at 7pm, in City Hall.