HINESBURG DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD MINUTES

MARCH 1, 2005

Approved 3/29/05

Members present: Tom McGlenn, George Munson, Robert Gauthier, Howdy Russell and Ted Bloomhardt.

Staff member: Peter Erb

Members of the Audience: Linda & Michael Fortin, Jeff & Jean Davis, Stacey & Skip Hoechner, Alex & Phyllis Rose, Alan & Alice Funk, Michael Simoneau, Jamie Carroll, Steve Sinoux , Michael Sorce, Dave Kelly, and Stephen Vock (from Civil Engineering)

1. MINUTES

George made the motion to approve the February 15^th minutes and this motion was seconded by Howdy. This motion was approved with Ted abstaining from the vote.

2. PRATT/STOLPER - Appeal of permit for boathouse.

Tom made the motion to continue the public hearing to the Board’s April 5, 2005 meeting.

Robert seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

3. JEFF DAVIS - Continued appeal for a variance for a garage on Shadow Lane. This is a zoning denial of a building permit continued from the Nov. 16, 2004 DRB meeting.

The site plan for the garage on Shadow Lane included elevations for this meeting. The original footprint was 36' x 28'and this has been reduced to 32' wide x 28' long. They are not requesting water or sewer.

A recommendation was made to have the minimum size for the lot. The lot coverage is as issue to meet the 10% for an existing small lot. This 6000 sq.ft. lot is 80' x 75'. The coverage would be 640 sq.ft. . Including the access drive which is 15' x 22' the lot coverage would be 31%.

The garage is 896 sq.ft. The driveway will be partly paved 20' in front of the garage doors.

Topography – This lot slopes toward the lake as Shadow Lane is a step road down to Lake Iroquois.

The garage will have a slab on grade, and will not be heated. The plan is to have storage on second floor with an access door to get to the storage area with stairs.

This is a 3 car garage and is a camp garage. The bays are to be used for a car, boat, snowmobile and lawn equipment.

There were several area of concern with this proposal:

a) Would a smaller structure be a better fit for this lot?

This plan seems to fit with the other structures of the neighborhood, however, #5 of the critiera for a variance is that the minimum size be applied for this lot. A vehicle depth is 20' in this situation, with a 28' depth of the boat.

b) Could the garage be pulled forward? 32' would meet the setbacks. A suggestion was made to not have the extra parking outside the garage. If the garage was brought forward this will creat less coverage, and having no pavement in front of boat area of garage will make a difference in the lot coverage as well. It was discussed whether to planting grass or having gravel for this area. This is a problem for the boat especially in the spring or wet times of the year. A suggestion was made to have paving stones with a grass topping for in front of the garage where the boat will be stored.

c) The size of the building should be reconsidered. Width could be played with as well as the width of the drive and movement of the building forward. Davis proposes 28' x 28' building, have 10' of green space, 30' off the road, creating 1494' which is 25% of the lot.

It was argued that the size could be smaller, as a 1-car garage to comply with the proper lot use. Because the Davis boat is 28' long this would not be a proper use condition. The surrounding lots are the same size and the camp is currently at 18% lot coverage.

d) Conditions for drainage, the positioning of the building has been modified. A reasonable use of lot will be established by this structure. The lot coverage for this garage will be compatible with other lots in this neighborhood. There was a concern expressed as setting precedence for other lots.

Ted made the motion to have staff draft conditions of approval and this motion was seconded by George and passed unanimously.

4. FORTIN - Conditional use permit for a doggy daycare facility.

The Fortin's have a sugarhouse structure that they will modify to accommodate this venture. All structures will stay the same. The west side of the sugarhouse will be designated for an exterior dog pen. The space is 649' on the interior. The shed in the back to be used for storage. There is 12 acres of land. The house is situated back 500 ft. and centered on the lot.

24' x 30' outside dimensions. 20' x 10' for the shed.

Doggy daycare hours and staff.

10 dogs per day with accommodations for 5 overnight stays. Max 15 dogs. Staff will be the Fortins. Hours will be 6:30am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday. Sunday will be a pick up day only.

The traffic for pick up and drop off was discussed

Dog waste - dropped at the landfill or treatment center.

Dog kennels inside are stand-alone kennels, fiberglass. A chain link fence for partition so dogs cannot see each other.

Driveway exit and enter has good sight either way for pulling out or in to facility.

Roundtrip is determined as one drop off one pick up.

Supervision during the day outside by Mrs. Fortin. 30' x 60' play pen. There will be a wood panel fence on the north, south and west sides of this pen and a chain link fence on the east with gates for each section.

Condition - If there is a problem with noise, waste, or other neighborhood issues, the Fortin's need to come back to the DRB with a solution to the problem.

Ted made the motion to grant the Fortins a conditional use permit with conditions. This motion was seconded by Howdy and passed unanimous

5. TAILHOOK TOWING - Site Plan and Conditional Use permit.

This proposal consists of a towing service with the sale of towing trucks on a 1.7 acre lot on the north side of Commerce Street with an existing building. This building is currently owned by Alex and Phillis Rose. Parking in the front and rear with landscaping around the facility and parking lot. There is existing lighting on the exterior of the building.

Skip Hoecher is the owner of Tailhook Towing. He and his wife have two other businesses of this nature and are looking for another location for expansion for their large equipment and a service area. Multiple vehicles will not all be at this location but their plan is to have larger vehicles here. Assembling flatbeds, wrecker bodies for sale is part of the use for this facility.

This space is equipped for their disposal needs.

Towing and dropping off will be at this location as well as other locations. They also plan to have vehicles that have broken down for mechanical repairs, etc. here.

The staff report states that a dismantled/disabled vehicle must be stored inside the building. The wording of this Section of the Zoning Bylaw is hard to determine as to the specific meaning to be applied. There is a question of determining whether the vehicle is being worked on in it's dismantled and disabled state or if it is being stored as a "junk" type vehicle.

The parking is screened around the perimeter with trees and shrubbery. The sight of stored vehicles is minimal in the back parking lot with this screening. The longest a vehicle will be in this parking area would be 3-5 days until the proper clearance has been obtained for removal. This is not meant to be a long- term storage area.

Vehicle fluids are a concern. Tailhook would provide the proper clean up equipment and treatments. If a larger clean up were needed, they would call in the appropriate firm.

Other firms specialize in storage or wreckage retrieval. This facility will have vehicles waiting for parts or service for repair. There maybe 40 trips on an average daily basis. (Act 250 allocation).

Sewer cap is for 15 employees.

The appearance of the building facade is a concern. An original condition of the 1988 approval stated that the siding was to stay the same. Conditions for the siding/facade can be changed to allow for a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.

Comments from members of the public:

Dark Star Lighting, Michael Sorce,was concerned about hours of operation is an issue. Stipulations were put upon him when he came in for site plan approval and he wanted to point out his concern. He also does not want this facility to have the appearance of junk yard, as he already faces south towards the other vehicle facility, which does have the appearance of a junk yard.The swalebetwen this lot and the gas station has created flooding problems at the Dark Start lighting location. Phyllis Rose questioned who should fix this swale? It was understood that when the new post office was built it was in their plan to fix this. However, the homeowners association of this commercial park is responsible for this maintenance.

Patrick Brook beyond the back of the parking lot is a concern regarding vehicle fluid waste. It was suggested to pull back the pavement along the back section and replace it with gravel for filtration or a possible sand filter bed to provide additional treatment to protect the brook. The brook comes up quite close to the back end of the parking lot. However, there is a lot of trees and shrub coverage and natural landscaping buffering this area. This area would not be mowed.

Lighting - Building has mounted lights. A 12' spot-light pointed downward this could be shielded.

There will be17 parking spaces with 1 handicap spot. Not all the spaces are needed. It was asked whether there could be some new landscaping done to break up the pavement? There are no real plans yet for the building façade other than the thought of putting up an awning around the front door and windows. The Hoechers are open to suggestions and could perhaps bring in an example of what they anticipate the building to look like eventually when they are completed if requested by the board as part of their site plan.

Again, concern for the language of a disabled/dismantled vehicle must be clear. Not all towed vehicles are totaled. Most vehicles can be as simple as a dead battery or bad brakes. The appearance of the vehicle has not changed but the engine or that nature of repair may be the problem. This needs to be clarified.

Tailhook offers to put fencing for further screening. This is a commercial space not an industrial space so language must be clear.

Michael Sorce stated that even if you have a fast turn around there will still be vehicles there at all times as this would be the rotation of the service area.

An option would be to limit the disabled vehicles that can be in the lot and not allow disabled vehicles in the front of the building. No repairs will be done outside. The statement refers to the disabled/ dismantled vehicle in conjunction with the pit and lift use.

Operating hours are proposed to be: 7-5 Monday through Friday, Saturday 8-2, no Sundays. Occasionally a truck may need to be used in the off hours, but the building itself will be open only in the above hours.

Tailhook should be open to any traffic studies done.

Tom made the motion to continue this public hearing and review to the Board’s meeting on March 15, 2005. George seconded this motion and it passed unanimously.

6. BALLARD – George made the motion to grant Tim and Kay Ballard sketch plan approval to create one new lot at their property on the north side of Route 116. Howdy seconded this motion and it passed with Ted abstaining from the vote.

7. St. Cyr – Tom made the motion to grant Brian and Penny St. Cyr sketch plan approval to revise their approved subdivision on the north side of the Tyler Bridge Road. This motion was seconded by George and passed with Ted abstaining from the vote.

Meeting adjourned 10:45 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Hannah Butler

Recording Secretary