HINESBURG DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES OF DECEMBER 2, 2003
Approved 12/16/03
Present: Ted Bloomhardt, George Munson, Clint Emmons, Robert Gauthier, Howdy Russell, and Greg Waples. Also Peter Erb, Zoning Administrator.
Members Absent: Tom McGlenn and Wayne Burgess.
Members of the Public: Al Barber (Fire Chief), John Mace, Nancy Plunkett, Melissa Levy, Barbara Forest, David & John Lyman, Ted White, Bob Wood (Saputo Cheese Co.), Chris Applin, Bill Marks, Jerrilyn Miller, and Alan Nyhen.
1. MINUTES - Greg Waples made the motion to accept, as corrected to reflect the Fortier discussion, the minutes of November 18, 2003. This motion was seconded by Howdy Russell and passed with George Munson abstaining from the vote.
2. GRABOWSKI/LYMAN – PRELIMINARY PLAT Bret Grabowski then made a
presentation for preliminary plat review of a proposed subdivision of land currently owned by David Lyman. This project is a Planned Unit Development (PUD) consisting of a commercial lot with a storage barn, 25 single family homes, 4 duplexes, two parcel of common land , two parcels to be donated to the Town and the remaining acres.
Brett addressed the following items from the staff memo on this project:
a) The recreational 4.8- acre lot to be donated to the Town has been moved from next to the Route 116 to the western portion of the property next to the LaPlatte River.
b) The condominium units are now located on the south side of the property next to the cheese factory’s facility.
c) The Lymans will also donate a lot in back of the fire and police department’s properties. Brett has offered to donate $15,000 toward the recreational fields and this figure was determined after consultation with the Town’s Recreation Board. He will level and seed this lot but not construct the playing fields. There will have to be an easement for access to this field. It was explained that the Lyman Meadow condo project had provided parking for the park that was donated to the Town for that project.
d) Jody Carriere from Lamoureux & Dickinson then presented data on the impact of traffic from these 33 new homes. They are working with Peter Daye from VTrans on the necessary information to obtain a new road cut onto Route 116. They estimate that there will be only 16 peak hour trips per day. The engineers are not suggesting any improvements to Route 116, however, the developer will construct a new turning lane on the north side of Commerce Street which is a Town road. Brett does not anticipate traffic being a problem.
e) The parking plan indicates that one of the parking spaces will be in the attached garage and then the second car will be in the driveway. Brett agreed to move the houses, and therefore the garages, 5 feet back to ensure that the cars are not parked on the right-of-way. He also explained that although there will be no basements with these houses, there is a storage room at the back of each garage. There is room on the street to allow for some parking. However, if the Town should take over this road in the future, there is a ban on parking on Town streets in the winter. There were also questions of where visitors and additional family drivers would park. Brett does not anticipate there being a third driver in these families.
f) These new homeowners will not be allowed to have boats or campers and therefore it is not necessary to provide a space to store them. These could be parked at the Lyman Storage facility in the future. Brett does not anticipate this being a problem as the Homeowners Association will be governing this.
g) Lot #17 on the plan is the only lot, which fronts on what could be the “West Side Bypass” and there was concern about those homeowners backing onto this possibly very busy road. Brett did not anticipate this being a problem.
h) This project has been proposed as a PUD, which allows for clustering and smaller lot. These lots will be much smaller than those in the actual historical village of Hinesburg. There will be 16’ between each of the building and they will generally be two-story homes which Brett will build and sell.
i) The Homeowners Association will generally govern the maintenance etc. of the roads and the use of the common lands) but generally not other things. Therefore there will be no control of the size and use of accessory buildings in these back yards. Brett offered to decrease the size of the building envelopes to ensure that these structures are not large or non-compatible. Several Board members felt that the Zoning Bylaw should not be the standard to control these buildings. Brett offered to submit homeowner language from other similar developments.
j) There were several members of the Conservation Commission and they had a concern about the buffer zone at the back of the condo units and next to the canal by the cheese factory. They felt it would be better to have this 75 feet be left as a natural area and not turned into mowed lawn. Brett indicated that the plans show quite a few trees to be planted in this area. There will also be a gravel path in this location for people to get down by the river. It was explained that this area is actually 8’ above the man-made canal that is controlled by a gate.
k) Brett explained that he is submitting a revised landscaping and lighting plan.
l) There were questions about the stormwater plan and where and how much runoff will be coming through the eastern portion of the project. Shane Mullen, an engineer with Lleweellyn and Howley, explained that this plan should handle any 25-year storm. There is a drainage ditch at the back of lot #2 where the storage barn is located and if run-off from the home lots uses this ditch, it is necessary to have an easement for this. Part of this runoff will go into the class 3 wetland in back of the barn and the remainder into the stormwater pond at the west of the proposed houses. This pond will also contain the runoff from the house lots and streets in the development. There will be erosion controls in place if the pond should overflow. The Conservation Commission has spent a lot of time stabilizing the LaPlatte banks and has a strong interest in stormwater runoff and erosion controls from this project.
m) The Lymans are proposing as part of this proposal to have the access to their storage barn through this residential subdivision and not off Route 116.
Due to the length of this presentation, it was decided to continue the review of preliminary plat to a second meeting. The Board had received a letter with concerns from the management of Saputo Cheese that will be addressed at this second meeting.
Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to continue this preliminary plat review of the Grabowski/Lyman subdivision to the December 16th DRB meeting. This motion was seconded by Robert Gauthier and passed.
3. ROBERT – SKETCH PLAN Artie Robert was next on the agenda to present a plan for sketch plan review for a subdivision on his property on the north side of Swamp Road. This proposal is to create one new lot in Hinesburg and two new lots on his property in Richmond. A private road in Hinesburg would access these lots in the neighboring town.
Artie explained the following aspects of his proposal:
· This proposal consists of a new 3.8-acre lot (#2) in Hinesburg and two 1.4-acre lots in the Town of Richmond (lots 3 & 4).
· He has received a preliminary road cut approval from Mike Anthony for this new private road. His existing house has a separate drive, but could with extensive cutting and grading use this new cut.
· There is an extensive class 2 wetland on this property and he is working with the State on this issue. He will use standard erosion control measures to protect this wetland area and will have to submit a specific plan.
· The grade for this new private roadway will be quite steep and a lot of excavation work will need to be done to meet the required 15%. The Board will need to see some engineering plans for this roadway, which will have to meet the standards for a “Lane.”
· These houses will be wooded areas and he will address a no-cut zone around them at the next review.
· Due to the amount of excavation, he will have to contact the State about a stormwater permit.
· It was found that the new lot in Hinesburg does not meet the required amount of frontage that under the Zoning Bylaw for a corner lot. Artie will look into how to meet the requirement by moving the proposed lot line.
· It is his plan to have one well serve his existing house and the proposed three new houses. This well yields 6 gallons a minute and this is an issue that needs further investigation. Any new well will need to have a well-head protection area on this property and which does not extend onto neighboring property. If this well serves a number of houses it may also be considered a community system by the State.
· Power to the existing house is underground and will also be underground at this new private road to the proposed houses.
Jerrilyn Miller and Alen Nyhen, neighbors to this proposal were present and voiced several concerns. Their acreage, primarily located in Richmond, is enrolled in the State Land Use Program and they have a forestry plan to maintain and protect the woods on their property. They have established and maintain paths in these woods and to the pond in the area. They are also concerned about the size and appearance of three large houses may have on the value of their property and the amount of tree cutting that may occur. Chris Applin, the landowner to the west, also had some concerns about this new roadway that will be cut into the bank by his driveway.
Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to continue this Robert sketch plan review to the January 16th DRB meeting and that the Board members conduct a site visit to the property on Saturday, December 13th at 9:00 a.m. This motion was seconded by Howdy Russell and passed unanimously. Ted then listed the issues that need to be further addressed: wetlands, the building envelopes with a no-cut zone, water availability, the roadway, correcting the amount of frontage for lot #2, and stormwater and erosion issues.
3. HULTGREN – REVISIONS Tim and Tracy Hultgren were present with their lawyers,
Jeff and Jim Wick. They requested that the Board reconsider the conditions of their subdivision approval, which was recently approved. This subdivision was to create one new lot from their property with an existing house on the north side of Hayden Hill Road East.
Tim and Jeff were concerned that condition #1 of the final plat approval would create a liability problem for the Homeowners Association that the DRB is requiring them to setup. The Board members that had participated in the review of this subdivision felt that there must be an Association for the Class IV road and did not intend to create a liability problem. Jim Wick stated they are unable to sell their house as they cannot obtain homeowners insurance. Tim was also concerned about the requirement concerning “applicable Stormwater regulations,” and condition #8 which requires a State Wastewater Management permit.
Ted stated that these revisions and changes would have to officially occur at the warned public hearing on December 16th and would include:
· The issue of liability on the Class IV road.
· Condition number 8 would only apply to lot #1 with the existing house in regard to State approval for the septic system prior to any sale.
· Revision of the language in regard to erosion control and stormwater to ensure that a future problem is not created.
Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to direct staff to contact Bud Allen, the Town Agent, to clarify the liability issue and revisions be made to several other conditions of approval. This motion was seconded by Howdy Russell and passed unanimously.
4. ACTION ITEMS
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly Russell
Recording Secretary