TOWN OF HINESBURG
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
November 17, 2004
Approved January 5, 2005
Commission Members
Present: Jean Isham (Chair), Fred
Haulenbeek, Carrie Fenn, John Buckingham, Joe Iadanza, George Bedard, Daniel
Greller, Nancy Norris.
Commission Members Absent: Johanna White.
Also Present: Alex Weinhagen (Town Planner)
The meeting began at approximately 7:35pm.
FY2005-2006 Budget:
The Commission reviewed a draft budget for the FY2005-2006 fiscal year. Alex informed everyone that we did in fact secure a FY2005 Municipal Planning Grant from the Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs. We asked for $15,000 and were awarded $9,590, so Alex said he has to do some cost cutting for the project (Village Area Planning).
The Commission decided to add $2,000 to the “Professional Services” line item, bringing the total to $7,000. This increase is needed to cover what will certainly be a substantial legal review of new zoning and subdivision regulations, which are needed to implement the Town Plan and comply with recent changes to State Statute pursuant to the passage of Act 115 (local permit reform legislation). The base $5,000 in this line item is needed to cover additional consulting services related to the regulation revisions (overlay districts, rural area density allocation formulas, etc.). A portion of the $5,000 will also be used to supplement the ambitious village area planning project, in light of available grant revenue.
The Commission agreed to add $2,550 under the “Special Projects” line item to fund an upgrade of the Town’s Geographic Information System (GIS) software. This amount will cover both the upgrade and on-line training. Jean asked Alex to craft a memo to the Selectboard to help explain the rationale for the budget, especially the major increases mentioned above.
Town Plan Map
Revisions:
The Commission reviewed the draft Town Plan maps. The Future Land Use map (Map #3) was created only recently in lieu of the discussions about the village growth center, which were finalized when the draft Plan language was finalized. This map is based largely on the Current Zoning map (Map #2); however, a larger village growth center area is shown to reflect the draft Plan’s discussion of the “greater village area” as well as the recommendations to allow for more growth in this area, in addition to the existing village core area. Alex noted that the village growth center shown on the Future Land Use map is largely based on the recently adopted wastewater service area, with the exception of the Richmond Road area.
Fred and Jean said the map was consistent with the language in the Plan, and that the map need not differentiate between existing and possible future wastewater service areas since this is laid out in Map #10 (Sewer & Water). There was consensus that the future land use map shows the community’s general intention on planning areas, and that the Plan language contains the specifics on what might happen within each land use area. However, John and Carrie felt there should be some sort of disclaimer on the Future Land Use map that states that future land use designations are for planning purposes only, and do NOT represent zoning districts. Alex felt this was a good idea since the term “village area” is used differently in planning versus zoning terminology. He said that the “village growth center” future land use area includes a number of zoning districts other than the village district.
Alex and Carrie recommended eliminating “prime forest soils” from Map #5. As drafted, this map attempts to show prime agricultural and forest soils. However, after further investigation, Alex and Carrie discovered that the prime forest soil designation is not a reliable way to identify the best areas for growing trees. First of all, the County Forester (Mike Snyder) does not recommend using this data layer. He said designating prime forest areas is more complicated, and involves variables that this soil classification doesn’t incorporate. Secondly, the data layer itself is on a nominal scale from 1-7, and there is no objective way to decide which classes should constitute truly prime forest soils – i.e., class 1, class 1&2, class 1-3, etc. Alex said the previous Plan did not attempt to identify these “prime forest soils”. He said he initially thought of including them because the soils data includes this attribute, and because Westford uses them. However, based on the above information, he now thinks this layer should be dropped from the map. The rest of the Commission agreed this layer should be dropped. Alex will propose these changes to the Selectboard, which is still working on its own revisions to the draft Plan before warning its final public hearing.
Minutes of the
November 3, 2004 Meeting:
Carrie MOVED to approve the November 3, 2004 meeting minutes. John SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED 8-0.
Other Business &
Announcements:
Alex said the Selectboard is still discussing possible revisions to the draft Town Plan before it warns its final public hearing. Because of budget time, these discussions are taking longer than anticipated. At this point, the Board may not be ready to warn their public hearing until January. Andrea Morgante still needs to discuss her revisions with the rest of the Board, and then the Board needs to come to consensus on the various changes suggested by each individual member.
Alex recommended the Commission get started on the village area planning project once Andrea’s suggested revisions are discussed. He said none of the suggestions from other Board members would alter the Plan’s direction with regard to village growth center planning.
George MOVED to cancel the December Commission meetings and reconvene on January 5th. Carrie SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED 8-0. Carrie and Jean said they will be available for the December 20 Selectboard budget meeting to discuss the Planning Commission’s budget request. Fred MOVED to adjourn. Nancy SECONDED the motion. The motion PASSED 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:50pm
Respectfully Submitted,
___________________________________/____________
Alex Weinhagen, Town Planner Date