TOWN OF HINESBURG

PLANNING COMMISSION

December 12, 2007

Approved January 9, 2008

Commission Members Present: Jean Isham, Kay Ballard, George Bedard, Carrie Fenn, Fred Haulenbeek, Joe Iadanza, Nancy Norris, Johanna White.

Commission Members Absent: none.

NOTE: there is 1 vacancy on the Commission due to Joe Donegan’s resignation.

Also Present: Alex Weinhagen (Director of Planning and Zoning), Karen Cornish (Recording Secretary), Rob Frost.

The meeting began at approximately 7:35 p.m. Alex said the town of Hinesburg received recognition for its energy planning initiatives, as well as several awards from the Vermont Planners Association at their biannual conference last Friday (11/30).  The 2007 Outstanding Citizen Board award went to the citizen boards of Hinesburg, “in recognition of the volunteer boards, commissions, and task forces working together to plan a bright future for the Town of Hinesburg.” Alex was also honored with awards for the Outstanding Professional Planner Award for Vermont (from the Vermont Planners Association) and for Northern New England (from the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planners Association – Maine, NH, VT).

Rob Frost, owner of VT Well and Pump, spoke to the board about a rezoning proposal. He wishes to permanently relocate his business (VTWP), currently located in the industrial zone off Rte. 116 (Gardner’s Circle). He owns the Hinesburg General Store across the street and is under contract to purchase a house directly south of HGS. He is requesting to re-zone both properties (each about 2.5 acres) from agricultural to industrial. Alex said the store is a commercial retail use not allowed in the ag zone anyway. Rob said he has tried to buy other parcels in the industrial zone, but nothing is for sale. He also owns a lot in Commerce Park but does not think it is well suited for his type of business.

Alex said Grace Casey owned the area adjacent to the store/house properties. He pointed out Hollow Brook on a map to the south of the store/house properties. Rob noted where the Casey office was, off Rte. 116 below the Casey barns. Alex said the Casey land to the south of the store/house is mowed; the larger parcel is tilled and is prime ag soil. The group talked about septic possibilities and electrical power in the area (it’s single phase). Rob said the road frontage off Rte. 116 is of value to his business as his trucks are heavy and aren’t permitted on side roads in winter. Alex said the Gardner Circle industrial district has no specific uses designated for it, as others in town did. He noted the other industrial areas in town and said they were full.

Jean asked whether drawing an industrial line at the property boundaries OR at a new location through ag and industrial was best. Alex said he spoke to Tim Casey who would like a mixed-use commercial/industrial zone. Jean thought more industrial space was needed in town and cautioned not to allow commercial uses to fill up the district; Carrie suggested a ratio restriction to prevent that. George suggested broadening the definition of industrial allowed uses for the district. Nancy suggested restricting commercial operations to those related to a partner industrial business (incidental accessory sales). Alex said the group should clarify commercial as retail or office space. George described the current use and land/business ownerships in the area, noting good septic soils primarily on the undeveloped east side of Rte. 116. The group discussed all the parcels in the area. Rob said they did perk tests at the HGS and found gravel.

Alex said the Industrial I area is already very large but mostly undeveloped. He suggested talking with the Casey family about long-term plans. Alex said to keep in mind that the overall vision in the town is to concentrate development in the village area. Jean thought an industrial zone located south was more compatible than north, north being more residential. Alex said the heavier industries were purposely located away from residential areas. The group discussed the issue of compatible uses in neighboring towns near a border, noting Starksboro does not have an industrial zone in that area. Jean noted expansion opportunities as mentioned in the town plan. George thought it was the simplest place to have industrial expansion with a functional road (Rte. 116) and not too much residential development.

Carrie suggested bringing land already zoned industrial out of that district in order to rezone other land, so as to not increase the overall industrial acreage in Hinesburg. Alex noted buffer hedges that surround the field to the south of the store/house properties. The group talked about the size of potential industries and how much acreage they would require. Jean suggested not adding land to Industrial I but creating a new industrial district, and to use the northern boundary of the store as the zoning boundary line. It was decided that Carrie and George would work on the project. Alex said the village northeast has industrial planned for it, but the group agreed the types of businesses were not the same.

Village Growth Rezoning Proposal

Alex said the group’s original plan was to send the proposal to the Select Board as a package, with the recommendation to adopt only the core village district changes first and delay changes for the new expansion districts until the wastewater upgrade came online. A new plan would recommend the adoption of all the changes at once, but use wastewater permits (allocated by the Select Board) to control phasing. Jean thought this plan made more sense; Joe agreed, stating he thought it would allow people to see whether they wanted the sewer expansion or not. George said developers may make a proposal based on the adopted plan, and that such a concrete proposal may aid the SB in their effort to expand sewer.

Alex proposed these changes to the current proposal draft: 1) additional provisions for the Ballards Corner area and northern gateway into the center, mainly the separation distances between gas stations and 2) outline the phase-in-by-sewer-permit recommendation.

Review of Town Buildout Analysis (of 2002 and 2005)

Alex said any discussion about residential development density in the rural parts of Hinesburg does have an implication for the overall buildout. He said figures from two documents show a substantial buildout under the current zoning. He said both analyses take into account prime ag soils, wetlands, deer yards, flood hazard areas, slopes, etc. and that each subtracts potential development from those areas. They do not, however, take into account how many landowners are likely to actually develop.

He thought the numbers were very high, with 1200-1500 units in the ag district and 600-1000 units in Residential II. George thought the numbers were not realistic due to lack of sewer potential. Alex said the numbers took into account a soil suitability analysis, and in spite of that and other limiting factors, the maps still showed a large amount of units. Nancy asked about conserved land, as the Bissonette project has happened since this; Alex said the maps did not take that project into account. Fred asked about 10 acre lots being allowed to subdivide; Alex said that potential is still considered in this. He reviewed the Baldwin property as an example, noting development potential on that parcel is not a large part of the analysis, due to prime ag soils and other natural constraints. George said the Bissonette conserved land needed to be reviewed, that its units could be as high as 25% of this study. Alex said he would review a few parcels as examples. Area based zoning was discussed.

Other Business

George MOVED to approve the November 28, 2007 minutes as written. Johanna SECONDED the motion The motion PASSED 6-0, with Kay and Nancy abstaining.

The next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for January 9, 2007.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted:

Alex Weinhagen