TOWN OF HINESBURG

PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES

 

November 16, 2005

Approved January 18, 2006

 

Commission Members Present:  Jean Isham (chairperson), Joe Iadanza, Carrie Fenn, Nancy Norris (left at 8pm), Kay Ballard, Joe Donegan.

 

Commission Members Absent:  Fred Haulenbeek, Johanna White, George Bedard.

 

*NOTE – This is Joe Donegan’s first meeting as a Commissioner.  The Selectboard appointed him to the Commission on November 7.

 

Also Present:  Alex Weinhagen (Director of Planning/Zoning), George & Karla Munson, Howard Russell, Nancy Goddard, Phil Marthers, Andrew Burton.

 

The meeting began at approximately 7:40pm.

 

Center Road Feasibility Project Input from Lyman Park Condominium Residents:

Phil, Nancy, and Andrew asked to be recognized by the Commission so they could air their concerns about the Center Road project that the Town is investigating.  Phil said he and the other residents of the association (9 units) were opposed to the concept in any form for the following reasons: 1) the road would be nothing more than a shortcut for drivers on Route 116; 2) the project would destroy their privacy and standard of living.  Phil said that their association owns the Lyman Park parking area and Lyman Park Road, and that they would fight this project regardless of what anyone says.  Phil felt the real problem along Route 116 through the village was at Silver Street, and more attention should be paid to this issue rather than creating a new road.

 

Jean said that the Commission will take Phil’s concerns into consideration and pass them along to the appropriate committees and staff.  She said that the feasibility study is not yet complete, and that we’ll all have more information on which to formulate opinions once that report is finalized.  Andrew clarified that he would really just like more information about the concept.  He said there are a lot of rumors flying around about it.  Alex told Andrew that he would be willing to meeting with the Lyman Park association to explain the concept, answer questions, and get more feedback.  Andrew said he would appreciate this, and that he would discuss such a meeting with the other residents.

 

Nancy left the meeting (approx. 8pm).

 

Village Growth Design Charette Review:

Alex said the design charette on November 4th was very successful.  Both participants and our consultant were happy with how it all went.  There were approximately 30 participants – mostly planning professionals (architects, water quality experts, developers, planners, etc.) – some local, some not – but also with representation from our new village steering committee and a few landowners of large, undeveloped village area properties.  Lots of positive energy, partly due to an abundance of “brain food” from some of our local establishments.  Sketches and lists of ideas and issue areas were produced.

 

Alex distributed a draft summary of the charette prepared by the consultant (Bob White).  He said that Bob will attend the Commission’s December 7 meeting to discuss the charette results and get feedback from the Commission on some of the ideas proposed.  Alex said that the follow up community forum is scheduled for the evening of January 4th.

 

Alex reviewed the charette in some detail, and spent time discussing the ideas each of the 5 teams came up with.  Two teams focused on the area north of the village toward Ballard’s Corner (West Side teams), 2 teams focused on the existing village core area, and 1 team focused on the Mechanicsville Road corridor.  Carrie said she liked the green space concept proposed by the team working on the “greater hamlet” concept for the Ballard’s Corner & West side area.  The Commission also discussed various park & ride options.  Alex told the Commission that the Town is working with the CCMPO (Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization) to assess possible park and ride areas with special attention to lot 1 in the Creekside development (behind police and fire stations), which the Town now owns.  The Commission made it clear that they felt park and rides outside of the village area should also be investigated to help intercept commuters before they drive through the village.  Commissioners also felt that a mixed model including a variety of smaller park and rides is worth considering.

 

Karla noted that all 5 teams wanted to see interconnected pedestrian ways and trails throughout the greater village area.  Howdy said that the Trails Committee is working with Rob Bast and Mac Rood on trail connections through there proposed Green Street development to and along the LaPlatte River, possibly with a future connection to the trails and sidewalks in the Creekside development.

 

Jean felt that we need to consider the kind of people that will be living here in the future, and that demographics show an aging population.  Karla said an assisted living facility might be a worthwhile goal.  She noted that 1 of the village core teams included such a facility adjacent to Kelly’s Field on the Russell property.

 

Minutes of the November 2, 2005 Meeting:

Since there was not a quorum, approval of the previous meeting’s minutes was tabled until the December 7 meeting.

 

Other Business:

Village Steering Committee & Sidewalk Projects:

Alex and Karla discussed the village steering committee’s recent discussions about substantially improving the village sidewalk network, and taking advantage of the Safe Routes to School funding source that should be on-line soon.  The steering committee created a priority project list, and Alex will be working with other Town staff to develop cost estimates, in the hopes of including these in the Town’s 5-year capital budget.

 

Agenda Items for December 7 Meeting:

The main agenda item will be a work session with the village growth project consultant – both on the charette results and planning for the January community forum.  Alex will also bring a draft FY2006-2007 budget for the Commission to review.  He’ll be meeting with the Selectboard on December 19 to present the Planning/Zoning budget.

 

December 21 Meeting – Possible Cancellation:

Jean said the Commission has frequently cancelled the 2nd meeting in December.  She wondered if there was business that needed attention this year or not.  Alex said that he’ll be preparing for the community forum at that point, and doesn’t really have any big ticket items for the Commission to discuss at this point.  The Commission will make a decision at the 12/7 meeting.  Commissioners felt the meeting could go ahead if there was substantive business to take up, otherwise the meeting could be cancelled.

 

Joe Iadanza wondered if a follow up on future municipal sewer capacity made sense.  He felt that we should go into the community forum with some idea of how much more development will be possible after a wastewater treatment facility upgrade.  Current capacity is 250,000 gallons per day, and the likely upgrade would add another 150,000 gallons per day.  Alex noted that residential units require 210 gallons per day according to the State formula; therefore, the maximum number of new residential units would be around 700 units.  The actual maximum of residential units would be quite a bit less than this given necessary commercial, industrial, and institutional wastewater needs.  With the current allocation breakdown between residential, commercial/industrial, and institutional uses as a guide (45%, 32%, 23% respectively), the residential build out would be approximately 320 new units.

 

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30pm.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Alex Weinhagen, Director of Planning & Zoning