HINESBURG PLANNING COMMISSION
Minutes of January 3, 2001
APPROVED
Present:
Ted Bloomhardt, Roger Kohn, Jean Isham, George Bedard, Carrie Fenn, Fred
Haulenbeek, and George Munson. Also
Faith Ingulsrud, Town Planner
Members
Absent:
John Mace and Will Patten
Members of the
Audience: David
Carse, Gary Svetlick, Dawn and Ed Leuschner, Mr. Miller and
Peter
Bamberger
1.
David Carse - Simple Parcel. With Chair, Ted Bloomhardt, not yet in
attendance, Jean Isham, V ice Chair, opened the first item on the agenda by
asking David Carse to describe his proposal. Mr. Carse explained that in 1978 he
built a house on one of his father’s (Henry Carse) farm lots. There was an existing farm house on the
lot already. Mr. David Carse now
proposes to create a 13.21 acre parcel around his house to separate it from
Henry Carse’s larger lot. The
larger lot owned by Henry Carse includes the existing farm house located next
the Charlotte town line. David
Carse said a septic engineer reviewed both the septic system for his house and
the rented farm house. His septic
system was fine, but the septic system for the farm house had failed. Mr. Carse had a new system rebuilt for
the farm house. The new system is
located in Charlotte and was approved under the Charlotte Health
Regulations.
Roger Kohn made
a motion which is attached to these minutes.
.
The motion was
seconded. Jean noted that there is
no replacement septic system for the pre-existing farm house. Roger added Condition #4 to address this
issue. George Bedard seconded the
motion, and it was unanimously approved by all in attendance (including Ted
Bloomhardt who joined the meeting during discussions of this
item).
2. Gary Svetlick - Site Plan Review. Mr. Svetlick
seeks site plan approval for a woodworking shop in an existing garage on his 1.1
acre property off of Sunset Lane East.
Mr. Svetlick explained that he built the garage in 1992 for his
woodworking business. He has one
employee, which meets the requirement set by the Zoning Board of a maximum of
two employees. At most, there will
be only two cars parked there.
Copies of a picture of Mr. Svetlick’s house and garage were distributed
to Planning Commission members. Mr.
Svetlick said his nearest neighbors were 200 feet away. He added that all his adjacent neighbors
have written letters saying his woodworking business was not a concern. Ted asked about the number of customers
Mr. Svetlick expects. He has 15 to
20 customers per year, and maybe a customer will come to his workshop once or
twice a month. Roger had some
concerns about the levels of noise generated by the equipment used in a
woodworking shop. Mr. Svetlick said
that the planer probably makes the most noise. He explained that he is sensitive to his
neighbors and closes the doors of the garage when he operates it. Mr. Svetlick said he has also upgraded
his equipment in the last year or two, so there is less noise now. Roger was concerned about noisier
equipment being used in the future and requested that wording addressing this
issue be added to the approval. Ted
asked about exterior lighting. Mr.
Svetlick said there was a motion sensor light by the main entry door and a
regular light by the double door of the garage which shines on the
driveway. He does not have a
dumpster.
With no further
discussion, Ted Bloomhardt made the following motion:
The Hinesburg
Planning Commission hereby grants site plan approval to the applicant to operate
a woodworking shop as a “larger home occupation” in an existing accessory
building, totaling 1,400 sq. ft. in size (with an 816 sq. ft. footprint) with no
more than two employees. The site
plan shall be as existing and as proposed by the applicant except as set forth
herein. This approval is subject to
the following conditions:
1.
If experience
indicates inadequate parking or unsafe traffic flow, the applicant shall
immediately present proposed modifications of the site plan to the Hinesburg
Planning Commission, and obtain approval of it.
2.
All exterior
lighting shall be installed or shielded in such a manner as to conceal light
sources and reflector/refractor areas from view from points beyond the
lot.
3.
Exterior refuse
storage shall not exceed that which would be normal for a residence.
4.
If equipment
that is substantially noisier than that presently in use is installed the
applicant shall return for further site plan review and obtain Planning
Commission approval.
5.
All findings
and conditions of the 11/14/00 Zoning Board approval are hereby
incorporated.
Roger Kohn
seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.
3. Dawn & Ed Leuschner - Development on
a Private Right-of-Way Renewal.
Dawn and Ed
Leuschner came before the Planning Commission seeking a renewal for development
on a private right-of-way. They
explained that they have bought the Norris lot on the west side of Baldwin Road
and hope to start construction of a house this Spring. They discovered the approval for
development on a private ROW had expired in June 1998. The deed has approved ROW language
included in it and there are no new issues since the original approval granted
June 4, 1997.
Ted Bloomhardt
made the following motion:
Due to
expiration of the original approval, the Hinesburg Planning Commission hereby
grants to Dawn and Ed Leuschner, re-approval of the Development on a Private
Right-of-Way Approval originally granted to Richard and Norma Norris on June 4,
1997, for a private right-of-way serving one single family residential lot (Lot
#2) located off of Baldwin Road, as shown on a plat by Ronald LaRose and dated
May 2, 1997. All conditions of the
June 4, 1997 approval are hereby incorporated. The right-of-way language required
in Condition #3 has been submitted and was approved by the Planning Commission
on August 4, 1999.
George Bedard
seconded, and it was unanimously approved, with the exception of Roger Kohn, who
abstained from the vote.
4. Robert Mellion - Site Plan Review. Faith explained
that this item has been postponed to the February 7th meeting. Mr. Mellion and his attorney, Joe Fallon
chose not to be present tonight because when they provided Faith with the
current site plan earlier in the week, it showed 15 parking spaces for a 50 seat
restaurant. Faith advised Mr.
Mellion and Mr. Fallon to think about how to expand the parking before they make
a presentation to the Planning Commission.
However, the
prospective buyers, Mr. Miller and Mr. Bamberger, were present at tonight’s
meeting and hoped to get some feedback from the Planning Commission about the
parking space issue and the other unmet conditions for the Travias Restaurant
site plan. Mr. Miller explained
that he has put three months into negotiating a sale and now, in the eleventh
hour, has learned of these past issues that were not taken care of. Mr. Miller said he wants to run a
successful business and will need about 40 parking spaces to do so. He thought he could operate Travia’s in
its current condition (15 parking spaces) until the Spring, and then someone
could increase the number of parking spaces. Mr. Miller said he couldn’t buy it and
be responsible to do all the work Travia’s should have done for the past 20
years.
Roger said the
Planning Commission wants to make sure there are no parking problems. Could the Planning Commission have
assurance the business would be limited until the parking lot is expanded in the
Spring? Roger suggested figuring
how much it would cost and putting the parking lot responsibilities in an escrow
agreement. Mr. Miller expressed
apprehension about not knowing what the Town would do if they ran into problems
paving the parking lot. George
Bedard noted that on the map, Dr. Metz’s property sticks into the middle of
Travia’s driveway. This is an issue
of encroachment of Metz’s land.
George suggested meeting the parking need by getting a legal agreement
for Metz’s or the Library’s parking spaces. Dr. Metz could lease 10 spaces a
year, for example. Another issue
George mentioned was drainage on the west side; it may be wetlands. Fred Haulenbeek suggested replanting the
spruce trees to gain parking space.
Faith noted that someone needs to put good thought into creating parking,
drainage and pedestrian access.
It was commented
that if Mr. Mellion comes the February 7th meeting with a proposal to
resolve the issues, the Planning Commission will not approve it unless there are
40 parking spaces. Faith noted that
Mr. Mellion had been warned to deal with the parking issues before he tried to
sell Travia’s. What’s bringing it
to a head is that Mr. Miller wants to buy it and operate it at full
capacity. Ted noted that Mr. Miller
could operate the business as is, until the issues are resolved in the spring,
but that this schedule should be formalized with the Planning Commission. Mr. Miller wouldn’t have a clean sale
with all these conditions outstanding.
George Bedard concluded the discussion by saying the biggest concern is
that it is not clear whether the land can even support 40 parking
spaces.
5. Roy Bass - Submission Follow Up. Mr. Bass was not
present at tonight’s meeting. Faith
showed the Planning Commission the survey of the lot showing the primary and
replacement septic areas and the well and house location. It was noted that the drilled well would
have to be replaced if the replacement septic area is
used.
Ted Bloomhardt
made the following motion:
The Hinesburg
Planning Commission hereby approves a revised plat for the Richard A Gadbois,
Trustee Subdivision on Sherman Hollow Road, showing changes in the location of
the septic system, replacement area and well for Lot F. Lot F is now owned by Roy Bass. This approval satisfies the requirements
of the November 1, 2000 Planning Commission approval to change the location of
the septic system for Lot F providing the following conditions are
met:
1.
A mylar of the
revised plat and the motions of this approval and the November 1, 2000 approval,
shall be filed in the Town Records before January 29,
2001.
2.
The applicant
is reminded that the drilled well must be moved at such time that the
replacement field is utilized.
3.
All other
conditions of the November 1, 2000 Planning Commission approval remain the
same.
George Bedard
seconded, and it was unanimously approved.
The Planning
Commission then had a general discussion on the Truax Subdivision. It was suggested that the Zoning
Administrator visit the site of the other lots at the Truax Subdivision before
granting permit approval. The
Zoning Administrator should see that the locations of the leach field and well
are staked out on the land. The
Planning Commission would ask the Zoning Administrator to please be certain,
based on the history of this subdivision, to be pro-active, as appropriate,
during construction of the remaining lots to make sure everything in
compliance.
6. Minutes of November 29 and December
6. In reviewing the December 6 minutes, the
Planning Commission also had an general discussion of camp conversion
problems. It was agreed that zoning
enforcement is an issue. Faith
noted that the proposed budget sets aside enough funds for a 32 hour per week
Zoning Administrator position. This
is twice as many hours as Jerry Wetzel has worked, so it should allow for more
enforcement to take place.
Ted Bloomhardt moved
to approve the minutes of December 6th, as corrected. Jean Isham seconded, and it was
unanimously approved, with the exception of Roger who abstained from the vote.
George Bedard moved
to approve the minutes of November 29th. Carrie Fenn seconded, and it was
unanimously approved.
Before adjourning,
Faith noted there will be an All Board Meeting on January 29th at
7:00pm.
The meeting
adjourned at 9:30 pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
Sally Kimball,
Recording Secretary
HINESBURG PLANNING
COMMISSION
May 20, 2001
The Hinesburg
Planning Commission hereby grants approval to David Carse for simple parceling
of one new 13.21 acre single family residential lot to be divided from the 839
acre Carse Farm located on the north side of Charlotte Road near the Charlotte
town line. Both the 13.21
acre lot and the retained land
contain an existing house. The
simple parceling shall be as shown on a plat by Cowan Surveying titled “David
Carse Residence” and dated December 8, 2000. This approval shall be subject to the
following conditions:
1.
Zoning Permit shall be obtained from the Zoning Administrator to complete
the simple parceling as required in Section 3.1.1 of the Subdivision
Regulations.
2.
The mylar of this subdivision plat and a copy of the conditions of
approval shall be recorded in the Hinesburg Land Records within 90 days of this
approval. The plat shall include
the language regarding the simple parcel approval process as required in Section
3.3.2(3) of the Subdivision Regulations.
3.
o further
subdivision of either parcel shall occur without review and approval of the
Hinesburg Planning Commission.
4.
Because the
house on the remaining part of the Carse farm is on such a large parcel, the
Planning Commission does not require a designation of a replacement leach field
for the farm house west of the Henry Carse property at this time. In the event the Hency Carse parcel is
further subdivided in the area of the existing farm house, a designated
replacement leach field will be required
The above motion was
passed by the Hinesburg Planning Commission on January 3,
2001.
_____________________________
Theodore Bloomhardt,
Chairman
Hinesburg Planning
Commission