HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Open Space IZ Committee - 08/21/2019South Burlington Open Space Interim Zoning Committee August 21, 2019
The Open Space IZ Committee held a regular meeting on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, at 7:00 pm, in
the first-floor conference room, Police Station, 19 Gregory Drive.
Members present: Vince Bolduc, Meaghan Emery, Duncan Murdoch, Allan Strong, and Sam Swanson.
Also present: Michael Mittag and Leo Nadeau. Absent members: Alyson Chalnick, Bernie Gagnon,
Amanda Holland, Sophie Mazowita, Betty Milizia, and Tami Zylka.
1. Directions on emergency evacuation procedures from conference room:
Allan called the meeting to order and provided instructions on emergency evacuation of the
building.
2. Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items:
No changes were made.
3. Comments from the public not related to the agenda:
No comments were made.
4. Summary of joint City Council/Planning Commission/Interim Zoning:
Allan shared that the Council voted to extend interim zoning for three months. He explained the
Planning Commission’s review of PUD guidelines, and Michael Mittag shared some details from the
IZ TDR Committee’s discussion, including the question of whether a market for TDRs exists outside
the SEQ.
5. Review of committee ranking data:
Allan shared the overall results of the Committee’s ranking data for 179 parcels and explained some
complications on a limited number of parcels but noted that the work is close to being complete.
Mr. Mittag asked Allan to explain what the different numbers signified, and members discussed the
overall results, indicating that the identification of 20 to 30 “high scoring” parcels would allow the
Committee to refine its final prioritization criteria and list of parcels. Allan reported that he had
indicated on the template which parcels have already been conserved (so that they could be
removed from the list) as well as the means through which they were conserved. Members
discussed how best to identify the different parcels, and questioned whether something other than
parcel numbers could be used. Currently, the online maps do not have a search tool based on parcel
numbers, which makes the mapping of overall results challenging. Committee member Amanda
Holland’s expertise will be helpful in this regard.
6. Discussion of attribute weights:
Allan then went on to describe different weightings that give different results. He directed members
to the list of criteria that he had asked members to weight, and members shared their results, which
varied. Sam and other members expressed the desire to see how these parcels appeared on the
map in order to identify key corridors. Sam suggested that (Tier 1) connectivity criteria override the
Tier 2 natural resources criteria in favor of conserving important corridors. Other methods were
considered, and Allan walked through various combinations of criteria. The use of BioFinder had
garnered support from the majority of the members, both in attendance and not. Members debated
the benefits of the Tier 2 categories and consensus was not to weight them since they were all
important. In the end, members found merit with the following combination: Biofinder Highest
Priority and Priority, plus four to five criteria in Tier 2, minus the conserved parcels, which gives a
number of 29 parcels for the Committee to study.
7. Next steps for the committee:
Allan recommended that we have Amanda put this and perhaps different scenarios into different
maps for the Committee to consider at the next meeting. Due to Allan’s work schedule, the next two
regular meetings were set for Wednesday, September 4 and Wednesday, September 25, at 7:00pm.
8. Adjourn:
The meeting adjourned shortly before 9:00pm. The next meeting is on Wednesday, September 4 at
7pm, in City Hall.