TOWN OF HINESBURG
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
Approved April 2, 2003
Commission Members Present: Jean Isham (Chair), Fred Haulenbeek, John Mace, George Bedard, Carrie Fenn, John Buckingham, Nancy Norris, Joe Iadanza.
Commission Members Absent: Will Patten
Also Present: Alex Weinhagen (Town Planner).
The meeting began at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Minutes of the March 5, 2003 Meeting:
George MOVED to approve the minutes of March 5, 2003, meeting as amended. John Buckingham SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED 8-0.
Announcements and Citizens
to be Heard
Carrie shared literature from the VT Forum on Sprawl and a draft report by the CCRPC on a regional build out analysis. John expressed interest in getting the base data used in that analysis – both GIS data layers and tabular data. Alex said he would look into that once the report was finalized, and that he would send John the Town’s 2002 GIS parcel data.
Carrie informed the Commission that the CCRPC had hired Greg Brown as their new executive director to replace Jim Tolley who took a position in the Douglas administration. Greg Brown previously served as the Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Alex inquired as to the level of communication between the Town’s Planning Commission and the CCRPC. Apparently, communication is infrequent at best. Various commissioners encouraged Alex to extend an invitation to Hinesburg’s CCRPC representative (Penrose Jackson) to attend the Town Plan public forums.
Town Plan Revision Project:
The Commission discussed the success of the 1st public forum on Village issues, which was held on March 10. David Spitz (planning consultant) has already prepared a summary of the forum, which was distributed to the Commission and will be summarized in the April Hinesburg Record. Alex indicated that over 90 people attended the 1st forum. John felt David Spitz did a particularly good job of making sure everyone in the audience had a chance to be heard.
Alex reviewed the speakers for the March 25 forum on rural area issues. There will be 4 “speakers”: Steve Kerr (VT Agricultural Commissioner) on Agricultural Resources; Marty Illick (Lewis Creek Association) on Wildlife Resources; a panel to discuss Water Resources including Andrea Morgante, Mike Kline (ANR), and Cathy Kashansky (ANR); Robert Turner (Forestry & Nat. Resources Consultant) on Forest Resources. The focus of the forum will be more educational with less time for general discussion. Poster displays will include: VT Land Trust; Forest Planning (Robert Turner); Lewis Creek Association; Water Quality (Mike Kline); Survey Results (John Mace); General Town-wide maps. Joe and Nancy volunteered to be greeters again. George and Carrie volunteered to be display minders. John will tend to the community survey display. Alex and/or Joe will record public comments on flipcharts during the question and answer periods after each speaker. George asked Alex to have a larger copy made of the F.W. Beers map of Hinesburg from 1869.
Fred expressed concern that the speakers may not cover the areas that the Commission feels need to addressed to prepare audience members for the rest of the forums and town plan rewrite. Alex indicated that he has talked to each speaker about our goals for this forum, but admitted that he couldn’t be sure what each speaker’s emphasis was going to be. George said he wasn’t worried about this, and that the Commission should simply come with some questions in mind, so that the question and answer periods could touch on issues the Commission finds important. Various commissioners agreed to have questions ready before the forum.
Alex explained the format that he and David have been discussing for the April 8th forum on possible solutions or planning tools to address rural area issues. The initial 20 minutes would be the same as the 1st two forums – desserts, drinks, displays, conversation. The rest of the forum would involve an introduction of various planning/zoning tools by David and/or Brian Shupe of Burnt Rock Associates, followed by small group (3-4 groups) work sessions to discuss some or all of these tools. Everyone would come back together at the end of the forum to share what each group had discussed or concluded. John Mace said the introduction should make clear the connection between the planning/zoning tools being discussed and the Town Plan. The Plan simply provides the reasons or vision to justify such tools, rather than the language to implement them.
Alex discussed possible planning tools to be addressed in the forum. Various commissioners expressed concerns about implying that the Commission had decided that these options were good or bad, or even practical. Nancy suggested eliminating the word “solutions” in favor of the word “options” when describing these planning/zoning tools. She also wants David Spitz to make it clear that the Commission is still researching these ideas and has not settled on any yet. The Commission discussed the list of tools and made some wording changes. The list includes: Area-based zoning concept; Forest conservation strategies; Ridgeline considerations; River & Stream (riparian) buffers; Overlay concepts; Design standards.
Alex said Burnt Rock owes the Commission a couple more hours of time from the 2001-2002 rural areas project/contract. Alex asked if the Commission was comfortable having Brian Shupe, from Burnt Rock, participate in the April 8th forum to settle up for these hours. Jean indicated that this was fine. Alex asked if any other topics should be covered. No other topics were mentioned. Carrie asked Alex to make sure David Spitz had the CCRPC’s new guidelines on town plan reviews.
Subdivision Regulation Changes:
Deleted simple parceling. Remember to remove throughout bylaw, including definitions section.
8.7(a) and (b); Revisions – went over what language clarification from the last meeting.
3.1.2 (1); Submission Requirements – change to require the name, address, and approval (signature) of owners from all parcels involved.
3.2; Review for Transfer of Land to Adjoiner – Alex suggested collapsing boundary line adjustments and this section together, and requiring sketch plan review, a zoning permit, and a survey to be filed showing the change. George explained the history of the less rigorous boundary line adjustment procedure, and why he is opposed to Alex’s proposed changes. After much discussion, there was general consensus to make only minor revisions to this section. These included the following:
3.2 – add, “to the DRB’s satisfaction that:” to the end of the paragraph before the numbered list
3.2 (1) – change “parcel” to “parcels”
3.2 (3) – change to “the deed and any new survey states that no development may occur on the transferred land, as a separate lot, without the subdivision review by the DRB.”
There was also discussion about adding language to require applicant’s to complete the 2nd step of the transfer of land to adjoiner (getting a zoning permit) within some timeframe. After some discussion, there was consensus that no time clock is needed. George and other commissioners suggested that planning/zoning staff should simply proceed with the issuance of the zoning permit once the sketch review is complete.
4.1.5; Action on Sketch Plan – change language so that no approval or denial is given at sketch plan. Make it simply a review and require the DRB to provide feedback (via a letter) to applicants within 30 days. Change sketch plan approval to review throughout document.
4.2.1; Application - change sketch plan approval to review
4.2.3 & 4.3.3; Action of final and preliminary plats – change decision time clock to 45 days to be consistent with other decision timeframes in both the Town regulations and State statutes.
4.3.6; Effect of Preliminary Plat Approval – change so that the applicant is required to submit a complete final application within one year of preliminary plat approval rather than being required to get final approval within one year.
5.1.1 (5) – change to simply read, “Any zoning district boundaries affecting the tract.”
5.1.1 (21) – change “these regulations” to “the subdivision regulations”.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 10:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
______________________________ Date___________
Alex Weinhagen, Town Planner