HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Planning Commission - 02/03/2020South Burlington Planning Commission
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 846-4106
www.sburl.com
Special Meeting
Monday, February 3, 2020
7:00 pm
South Burlington Municipal Offices, 575 Dorset Street
AGENDA:
1. Directions on emergency evacuation procedures from conference room (7:00 pm)
2. Agenda: additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items (7:02 pm)
3. Open to the public for items not related to the agenda (7:03 pm)
4. Planning Commissioner announcements and staff report (7:05 pm)
5. Continued Discussion of Transfer of Development Rights Interim Zoning Committee Report
recommendations (7:10 pm)
6. Affirm Planning Commission Policy Intentions Related to Interim Zoning Committee and PUD Project
Work (7:45 pm)
7. Preparation for February 11th Joint Meeting with City Council (8:00 PM)
8. Adjourn (8:45 pm)
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Conner, AICP,
Director of Planning & Zoning
South Burlington Planning Commission Meeting Participation Guidelines
1. The Planning Commission Chair presents these guidelines for the public attending Planning Commission meetings to
ensure that everyone has a chance to speak and that meetings proceed smoothly.
2. Initial discussion on an agenda item will generally be conducted by the Commission. As this is our opportunity to
engage with the subject, we would like to hear from all commissioners first. After the Commission has discussed an
item, the Chair will ask for public comment. Please raise your hand to be recognized to speak and the Chair will try to
call on each participant in sequence.
3. Once recognized by the Chair, please identify yourself to the Commission.
4. If the Commission suggests time limits, please respect them. Time limits will be used when they can aid in making
sure everyone is heard and sufficient time is available for Commission to conduct business items.
5. Side conversations between audience members should be kept to an absolute minimum. The hallway outside the
Community Room is available should people wish to chat more fully.
6. Please address the Chair. Please do not address other audience members or staff or presenters and please do not
interrupt others when they are speaking.
7. Make every effort not to repeat the points made by others.
8. The Chair will make reasonable efforts to allow everyone who is interested in participating to speak once before
speakers address the Commission for a second time.
9. The Planning Commission desires to be as open and informal as possible within the construct that the Planning
Commission meeting is an opportunity for commissioners to discuss, debate and decide upon policy matters.
Regular Planning Commission meetings are not “town meetings”. A warned public hearing is a fuller opportunity to
explore an issue, provide input and sway public opinion on the matter.
10. Comments may be submitted before, during or after the meeting to the Planning and Zoning Department. All
written comments will be circulation to the Planning Commission and kept as part of the City Planner's official
records of meetings. Comments must include your first and last name and a contact (e-mail, phone, address) to be
included in the record.
575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 tel 802.846.4106 fax 802.846.4101 www.sburl.com
TO: South Burlington Planning Commission
FROM: Paul Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning
Cathyann LaRose, City Planner
SUBJECT: PC Staff Memo
DATE: February 3, 2020 Special Planning Commission meeting
1. Directions on emergency evacuation procedures from conference room (7:00 pm)
2. Agenda: additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items (7:02 pm)
3. Open to the public for items not related to the agenda (7:03 pm)
4. Planning Commissioner announcements and staff report (7:05 pm)
Joint Planning Commission/Council meeting 2/11. As noted last week, the Commission’s
regular meeting night next week will serve as joint PC/CC meeting. At that meeting, the
Planning Commission will present and discuss the status of all of your work. In addition, the
Council will be holding a public hearing to consider whether to extend Interim Zoning, and
take commensurate action. The Council’s meeting will begin at 6:30; we’ll let you know asap
whether the PC portion will start at the same time or at 7 pm.
Arrowwood Report on Habitat Blocks now online. Visit the City’s repository of completed
reports here to review the Arrowwood Report (as well as many historic reports completed
by the City).
Inclusionary & Affordable Housing Amendments transmitted to Council. The City Council will
receive LDR-19-13A and LDR-19-13B at their meeting on Monday night, 2/3. Commissioner
Ostby will join staff to introduce the item and recommend to Council that they warn a public
hearing (proposed date March 16th).
5. Continued Discussion of Transfer of Development Rights Interim Zoning Committee Report
recommendations (7:10 pm)
Last month the Commission began a discussion on the TDR IZ Committee Report’s
recommendations, with the objective of refining a set of recommendations that could be
transmitted to the City Council to establish the Commission’s planned direction on the
subject. Staff has prepared an updated set of recommendations based on this discussion
(and rooted in the original report) and with assistance from Commissioners Louisos and
Mittag.
Commissioner Mittag may not be able to attend this special meeting. His direction to staff
was that he was comfortable with Recommendations 1-4, and felt that the Commission
could (and should) approve these and save the remainder for discussion at a future time.
Commissioner Louisos asked staff to provide the full list to the Commission, at least for
context.
See the attached set of updated recommendations. A link to the TDR IZ Committee’s original
recommendations can be found in the Commission’s January 14, 2020 packet.
6. Affirm Planning Commission Policy Intentions Related to Interim Zoning Committee and
PUD Project Work (7:45 pm)
Last week the Planning Commission had a productive (and expansive!) discussion on many
elements of the work you’ve been doing over the past couple of years. The slides shown in
the draft presentation were based on a number of policy decisions, or broad agreements
from the Commission. In preparation for next week’s joint meeting, staff and Commissioner
Louisos felt it would be a productive use of everyone’s time to affirm the Commission’s
recommendations on a host of related elements as discussed last week. This will position the
Commission to be able to present, as a body, the proposed direction to Council on February
11th.
These are, of course, positions and not actual LDR language. There remains a fair amount of
work to be done as well as input to be received. The purpose of these positions are to set a
clear direction from the Commission. Elements within the various items are subject to
modifications over the course of the next couple of months as the Commission receives all of
the language on all of the parts together, reviews how they interact, and gathers feedback
on the new regulations as a whole.
At Monday’s meeting, the objective will be to obtain Commission concurrence on as many of
these items as possible (as presented or as modified) in order to present as much clear
proposed direction to the Council and community as possible next week. If the Commission
is not comfortable as a body with one or more of the items, they can be pulled for future
discussion.
7. Preparation for February 11th Joint Meeting with City Council (8:00 PM)
Staff is working with the City Manager and Council chair to best arrange the joint meeting for
February 11th. Based on the dry run last week, we believe at this point that the various topics
will need to covered over the course of two or even possibly three meetings. We can discuss
this on Monday. At this point we are thinking that the focus on Feb 11th will be on the
regulations (natural resources, PUDs, subdivisions, etc.) themselves, and POSSIBLY the TDRs
and the relationship of this work to the recommendations of the Open Space Committee
Report. Likely, discussion of the Open Space Report itself (or at least those areas not
recommended for natural resource regulation), and the presentation by Arrowwood
Environmental on their report would be saved for a future Council or PC/Council meeting.
We’ve posted last week’s presentation to the City’s website as a working draft.
Commissioners are encouraged to look through it and any additional recommendations on
how to tighten it up, or what should eb added, removed, or changed in order, are welcome.
Given the need stated above to hold several meetings with Council and take the pieces in
bits, we’ll likely be bringing you on Monday a reorganized and slimmed down version of the
presentation for the February 11th meeting.
Finally, the Commission should discuss who the presenters will be.
8. Adjourn (8:45 pm)
TDR Possible Recommendations
Based on TDR IZ Committee Recommendations and
Planning Commission Discussion January 13, 2020
For Planning Commission Consideration
February 3, 2020
TDR Report Updated Possible Recommendations
1. Expand the applicable geography of the Transfer of Development Rights Program outside the
Southeast Quadrant
2. Expand the TDR Marketplace to establish Receiving Areas outside the SEQ in areas targeted for
greater intensity development.
a. Determine areas where TDRs can positively affect the marketplace in receiving areas
b. Consider how TDR density bonuses could be set for where appropriate or possible - number of
bonus dwelling units per acres and/or amount of coverage residential zones, and/or additional
coverage and/or building bulk in commercial/industrial zones.
c. Consider bonuses for dwelling unit or non-residential building size, height, etc.
3. Consider establishing additional optional Sending Area and/or Parcels from throughout the City,
including:
a. Parcels identified by the Open Space IZ committee as priority for conservation. At this point
doing this would not conserve those parcels and/or areas but would give the owners a choice to
conserve by selling TDRs, an option they do not have at present. This would not change the
zoning for these parcels/areas.
b. Areas designated as Level 1 Resources (Habitat Blocks & Steep Slopes 15-20%)
4. Consider basing the number of TDRs on a particular parcel (the area used to calculate the number of
TDRs) on acreage that excludes natural resources designated as hazard areas.
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5. In making determinations, strive to establish a balance between capacity for TDR usage and the
supply in order to create a fair and well-functioning TDR market.
a. Estimate projected supply of sending areas land and TDRs available
b. Estimate the potential market demand of proposed receiving areas
c. Consider modifications to the TDR formula in receiving and/or sending zones
6. Collaborate with City Committees including the Affordable Housing Committee to find ways to service
housing & conservation goals through tools available.
7. Connect Buyers and Sellers
• Recommend that staff establish a system to connect buyers and sellers of TDRs to create a fair TDR
marketplace.
8. Retire TDRs
• The City Council may wish to consider the purchase and retirement TDRs from select parcels that
have the highest conservation value as indicated by the Interim Zoning Open Space Committee
where development potential remains.
Affirming Planning Commission Decisions:
The following represent positions of the Commission at this advanced stage of our work. We believe we
have provided a thoughtful consideration of comprehensive plan goals and have positions which reflect
a balance of these goals. We share these at this stage in order to provide clarity in our positions and
overall direction so that stakeholders can have a preview of what to expect. Undoubtedly, minor
modifications may still arise in advance of a first full draft of text.
1. Regulated Natural Resources:
a. Tiered levels to include hazards, level 1, and level 2, per the resource considerations
document reviewed October 29, 2019, with updates per Arrowwood 2020 report and
continued work on steep slopes and agriculture. These will apply citywide as part of
Chapter 12 update.
b. Accept findings of 2019 Arrowwood Report
i. Habitat blocks shall be defined per identified areas of report; Commission to
evaluate whether to include all blocks and/or regulate at the same levels. No
additional lands to be regulated as Level 1 habitat blocks.
c. Some exemptions or reduction in regulation (example, City Center area) are intended to
be reviewed shortly.
d. No additional natural resources regulated as hazards or level 1 beyond those identified
and accepted above. Those portions of parcels identified in the 2019 IZ Open Space
report, that are not a regulated hazard, level 1 or level 2 natural resource shall not be
regulated as a hazard, level 1 or level 2 natural resource.
2. Density Calculations:
a. Max Residential Density calculated: multiply total land area less hazards by average
weighted density
i. Maximum density would remove hazard lands in all cases. For development
without PUD, would also remove lands classified as Level 1 resource areas.
ii. Some exceptions for conservation PUDs.
b. Minimum residential densities would apply in PUDs
i. Calculate by multiplying land area exclusive of hazards and level 1 times
residential allocation x underlying density maximum.
ii. For SEQ, minimum density (of 4 units/acre for NRT/NR and 8u/acre for VC and
VR) would be calculated as an effective density based on impacted land. This
would not mandate use of TDRs to meet minimums.
c. Minimum and maximum commercial densities are intended; work is ongoing and details
tbd.
3. Changes to PUD requirements
a. Confirm PUD types (conservation, TND, NCD, Campus)
b. Remove required PUDs based on underlying zoning (airport, SEQ as example)
c. Require PUDS for 4+ acres (PC determination on 3/12/2019); special circumstances to
be discussed
d. PUDs to include mix of land allocations per PUD type
e. Open space, road, and building types will be specified from typology standards
4. Master Plan- required for phased projects; details forthcoming.
5. Affirm that some desired elements of work will take place after adoption of
PUD/Subdivision/Master Plan work. These phase 2 components include:
a. Score card for PUDs
b. Remainder of underlying zoning updates
c. Infill/small lot subdivision
d. How to fit building and open space types City-wide
e. Additional update to site plan standards
f. Reserved sections of article 12 and scenic views
6. TDR Report Recommendations
a. Per PC decisions 02/03/2020 (see separate memo)
7. Affirm intention for community outreach. General game plan to include testing and small group
meetings/listening sessions with diverse groups of stakeholders.
8. Open Space Report: for any portions of identified parcels not already restricted in PC work
related to natural resources (hazards, levels 1 and level 2), Commission recommends City
Council review in balance with Earth Economics report and other metrics and consider any
potential conservation using tools outside of the Land Development Regulations.