TOWN OF HINESBURG
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
Approved September 3, 2003
Commission Members Present: Jean Isham (Chair), George Bedard, Nancy Norris, Joe Iadanza, John Buckingham, Carrie Fenn, Deb Howard, John Mace.
Commission Members Absent: Fred Haulenbeek.
Also Present: David Spitz (Planning Consultant), Karla and George Munson, Steve Conlon, Bill Marks.
Minutes of the August 6, 2003 Meeting:
George MOVED to approve the minutes of the August 6, 2003 meeting. Carrie SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED 8-0.
Announcements and Citizens
to be Heard:
There were no announcements or citizens to be heard. Those citizens at the meeting were there to discuss the Town Plan.
Town Plan Revision – Rural Areas Landuse ~ Draft 2 Recommendations:
Joe presented a second draft of the outline for the Rural and Agricultural Regions of Hinesburg. David Spitz complemented the format which Joe used and encouraged everyone to use it. The salient features of the format are the introductory paragraph, the itemization of goals and the recommendations to accomplish each goal, and an “action matrix” enumerating the responsible party and the priority for each recommendation.
A few minor modifications were suggested for the introductory paragraph, and Joe agreed to work them in. Joe also agreed to tone down the first recommendation on the first goal to “investigate” rather than “incorporate” new policies and practices. Difficulties in implementing transfers of development rights were discussed and contributed to the last modification. The distinction between the first two recommendations was discussed, and while the second was seen as a refinement of the first, the consensus was to leave both in.
The utility of updating the Town’s soil maps was discussed, although it was agreed that, if this could be done at all at the town level, the Conservation Commission would be a better body to handle it than the Selectboard.
There was consensus around the idea of creating an open space buffer around the village. Bill Marks shared a discussion held by the Conservation Commission on the meaning of “open space.” He recommended that the Planning Commission focus its efforts on preserving specific natural resources rather than land which is simply open or undeveloped.
As the development potential of regions proximate to the Village was discussed, a question arose as to the whereabouts and contents of a wetlands study conducted in town in the mid-nineties. This study, perhaps conducted by UMass students, might shed some light on the how and where the Village might be expanded.
The incorporation of indicators into the Town Plan was discussed with one suggestion being that a column be added to the action matrix listing various indicators which could measure achievement of the goal. Generally, the reaction was cool, fueled by a concern that the plan’s adoption process might get bogged down in a discussion of appropriate measures. It was left that members could suggest indicators for sets of goals, rather than for each recommendation, if they cared to. There did seem to be consensus that there should be one or two meetings a year at which the Planning Commission, perhaps together with the DRB, reviews development to date in town that year and assesses how well various goals are being achieved.
Town Plan Revision – Economic Development ~ Goals & Objectives:
John Buckingham presented a first draft of the economic development chapter. He began by reviewing the existing economic goals and presenting the results of a mail survey he’d recently conducted. The main result of the survey was that 78% of workers in the Village commute to Hinesburg to work. The external validity of these results was questioned when John reported that the result is based on the responses of 11 businesses out of the 23 Village businesses surveyed. While the results were agreed to be informative, the consensus was that the results not be included in the Town Plan.
Expansion of the Village and Commercial districts was discussed. There was some disagreement as to whether the forums resulted in a consensus among attendees that this expansion be concentrated on the west side of Route 116 north of the village. It was agreed that the forthcoming “West side road” feasibility study, due in the next month or two, would shed light on this issue. The lack of three phase power in the South Hinesburg Industrial district was also discussed as an impediment to development there.
There was consensus around the idea that we want to encourage home-based businesses. There was concern that however relatively favorable the home-based business environment in Hinesburg, decisions by prospective home buyers would unlikely be influenced by it.
Jean agreed to work on the second draft of the Economic Development section.
Other Business:
Deb noted that she has several things due all at the same time in October, and she requested that her responsibilities be a little better distributed over time. David suggested adding “Land Use in the Village” to the October 1 schedule to complement George’s presentation on housing. “Natural Resources – Ag & Forest lands” would be moved from October 1 to October 15 and would be coupled by a second draft discussion of “Natural Resources – Water, Wetland, Wildlife.” The two “Misc” discussions scheduled for October 15 would be moved to November 5.
The meeting adjourned at 9:45pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
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John Mace Date