HINESBURG DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES OF JANUARY 20, 2004
Approved 2/03/04
Present: Tom McGlenn, George Munson, Robert Gauthier, Ted Bloomhardt, Howdy Russell, and Clint Emmons. Also Peter Erb, Zoning Administrator.
Member Absent: Greg Waples.
Members of the Audience: Alan Nyhan, Jerrilyn Miller, Scott Stirewalt, Chris & Tracy Applin, and Leslie Morrissey.
1. MINUTES Howdy Russell made the motion to approve as corrected the minutes of January 6, 2004. This motion was seconded by Robert Gauthier and passed unanimously.
2. GRABOWSKI – PRELIMINARY PLAT At its meeting on 1/06/04, the Board had
continued the preliminary plat review of the Grabowski/Lyman subdivision. Brett was present and the members did not feel that there was a need for more information from him at this point. It was also agreed that the site plan review and conditional use permit review for the flood hazard area could be done at the time of final plat.
Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to close the discussion on the preliminary plat review of the Grabowski/Lyman subdivision and the board take up the conditions of approval in deliberative session. This motion was seconded by Howdy Russell and passed unanimously.
3. ROBERT – SKETCH PLAN Artie Robert was present and his engineer Nick Nowlan,
from McCain Consulting Inc., in the audience, to present a revised plan for his property on the north side of the Swamp Road. Due to a correction in the location of the boundary with the Town of Richmond, there will now be 3 lots in his property in that town.
Howdy and Robert had gone on the site visit to this property and reported the following observations back to the other Board members (after explaining that as areas were not flagged it was difficult to see some of the aspects of the plan):
Jerrilyn Miller, a neighbor from Richmond, had gone on the site visit also and was concerned about the cutting of trees and the impact of this road.
Artie then explained a new plan with 3 options for the configuration of his two lots in
Hinesburg. He has an existing house on Lot #1 and has shown that as being 4 acres in size and his newly proposed lot # 2 is shown as 3.6 acres in size. The difficulty with these lots is to ensure that they meet the requirements of Hinesburg’s Zoning Regulations. This entails the correct amount of frontage on a road or private right-of-way, the correct amount of acreage (3 acres in this RRII Zone) excluding the road rights-of-way, and the correct width and depth. After some discussion, it was felt that these issues would have to be addressed and resolved between Artie and the zoning staff. It was felt by the Board members, that this new lot should be created in the least convoluted shape as possible.
It was explained that if he were not able to create a new lot in Hinesburg, then he would have to receive approval for development on a private right-of-way to access the Richmond lots.
Ted Bloomhardt expressed regret that this Board would only be reviewing the lots in
Hinesburg, as these 5 lots will have a cumulative affect on this area. He stated that due to the large wetland on this property, there will actually be 5 houses on 5 acres of buildable land (Richmond has 1-acre zoning).
The following were some of the other issues that were discussed:
a. There are designed septic systems for these lots.
b. Nick Nowlan had submitted a letter indicating that there is sufficient water with the existing well to supply 4 houses. However, this well will now only serve lots 1& 2 with new wells on the 3 lots in Richmond.
c. There is concern about erosion and the effect of this road and the steep banks it will create and the amount of tree cutting involved to construct it.
d. Chris & Tracy Applin, the neighbors to the west, has some major concerns about this road and also the effect this project will have on this neighborhood. They submitted a letter addressing these concerns.
e. Jerrilyn Miller also felt that the existing house is beautiful but quite large for this area of Hinesburg and 4 equally large homes certainly will not fit the character of the neighborhood.
f. Another neighbor also felt that there should be coordination with the Town of Richmond.
g. The effect these houses, roads, and septic systems will have on the extensive swamp, wetland, and wildlife in this area of Hinesburg.
Ted Bloomhardt made the motion to continue the Robert sketch plan review to the February 17, 2004 DRB meeting. This motion was seconded by Robert Gauthier and passed unanimously.
4. MEAD – FINAL PLAT Tom McGlenn opened the public hearing at 8:55 for the final plat review of the Peter and Christina Mead subdivision, which is located on the north side of the Richmond Road. Peter explained the following aspects of their proposal:
a. The utility easement will be better identified on the plat and he will supply the Board will a plan/letter from Green Mountain Power.
b. He had calculated the acreage of lot B3 and it is sufficient to meet the one-acre requirement exclusive of the right-of-way.
c. There was a question of whether lot B3 meets the frontage requirements and Peter will work with staff on this issue.
d. The plan does address storm runoff and the road design has the standard hay bales and silt dams to control this. Peter explained that on the upper portion of the road (by lot #B2) the stormwater would sheet across the open land on the western portion of this lot.
e. Only a 50’ portion of the existing drive will be shared by the Mead house and these two new lots and Peter will relinquish their right to use any more of this right-of-way. Alex, in his memo, had suggested that he continue to use his existing drive and only the two new lots share a new road. Scott Stirewalt said that he is not willing to have this happen. He is concerned about the additional traffic and would like to have his ten acres remain open and undisturbed. He said that he and Peter had come to an agreement that this is how it should be. Ted commented that as Peter is using this roadway at this time, there would not be an increase in traffic.
f. The Stirewalts will not be members of the new homeowners association that will maintain etc. this new road, but will be responsible for 25% of that small portion that they do use.
g. Peter has not yet received approval from the Select Board to go under the Richmond Road with the water line although they do have an allocation for these two new houses.
h. The septic designs have been revised to reflex the suggestions of Rocky Martin the Public Works Director.
i. There was then a discussion concerning the proximity of these lots to Iroquois Manufacturing and noise and other issues due to that manufacturing facility. Peter Mead felt that including the Zoning Regulation section on Performance Standards in the deeds to these lots would be sufficient notification to any new owners. The Board members, that had experience with neighborhood complaints concerning this business, felt that this was not sufficient and more specific language should be used.
j. The Board felt that the proposed driveway locations should be included on the final plat and in the location shown on the engineering plans. There were concerns about the grade of the driveway on lot B2 and the shown location would be the most viable.
Tom McGlenn made the motion to continue the public hearing final plat review of the Mead subdivision to the Board’s February 17, 2004 meeting and instruct staff to draft conditions of approval. This motion was seconded by Ted Bloomhardt and passed unanimously.
5. GREEN DOLPHIN LLC – SKETCH PLAN Jim Cameron, representing Green Dolphin LLC, with his engineer, Peter DeGraff, were next on the agenda for a 5-lot subdivision on property on the west side of Route 116 north of Ballard’s Corner. Jim explained the following items associated with their proposal:
a. This project had originally been for 9 lots and after a denial by the DRB they have reduced the number of lots to 5.
b. There is sufficient septic with replacement areas for 4 new homes and a replacement area for the existing house on lot #1. They have obtained an easement area on the property now owned by the Dana & Kim Dattilio for a small portion of the community system. This area will serve 4 houses and there will be a separate mound system on lot #5 for one house.
c. It is planned that the larger lot #2 will be marketed as a horse farm with barns and pasture land.
d. Alex, the Town Planner, had supplied a map of this property, which indicated the prime agricultural soils. Jim explained that although they wish to keep as much of these areas open, if the houses on lots 3 & 4 are moved off the areas on the western side of the property, they will then become very visible from Route 116. It was his suggestion to decrease the size of the building envelopes on these two lots and move them further west toward the hedgerow. He would also be willing to move the building envelope for lot #5 to the east and out of the ag soils. The envelope on lot #2 could be made smaller and moved to a more south/east location.
e. It is their intention to not have a house close to the wooded Dattilio property where this family camps some.
f. Jim did not feel that they would be able to have sufficient acreage to have a lot with 25 acres, which would then qualify for enrollment in the State Land Use Program.
g. It was suggested that the road be reconfigured, perhaps to the original route, to leave more open space and to eliminate the cul-de-sac.
h. The existing pole barn on lot #1 will be removed which would eliminate any setback problems.
i. Renovations would be made to the existing house on lot #1 to comply with State Standards due to the close proximity of this home to the community septic system.
j. The existing house is on Town water and the 4 new houses would have individual wells.
k. They would be willing to restrict any further develop of lot #2 in the future.
Tom McGlenn made the motion to continue the sketch plan review of the Green Dolphin LLC subdivision to the March 2, 2004 DRB meeting and direct the applicant to work with staff on what will be needed for preliminary plat review. This motion was seconded by George Munson and passed unanimously.
6. ACTION ITEMS The Board then acted on the following items:
The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly Russell
Recording Secretary