TOWN OF
PLANNING
COMMISSION
Approved
Commission Members Present: Tom Ayer, Tim
Clancy, Carrie Fenn, Fred Haulenbeek, Joe Iadanza, Jean Isham, Ashley Orgain, Johanna
White.
Commission Members Absent:
Will Patten
Also Present: Alex
Weinhagen (Director of Planning and Zoning), Karen Cornish (Recording
Secretary).
Review of
Alex explained that a review of the Town Plan is required
every five years in order for a town to be eligible for certain municipal
grants. Our plan needs to be re-adopted
by June 2010; he suggested the Planning Commission submit any additions or
revisions to the Select Board no later than the end of January 2010. Members discussed these items as
accomplishments or advancements of goals that are stated in the current plan:
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Route 116 scoping,
including the addition of sidewalks and curbing through the village core (from
the Mobil station to Good Times Cafe), plans for the sidewalk on the west side
(from
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Plans for a sidewalk
along
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Crosswalks and
pedestrian signals have gone a long way towards the goal of increased
walkability in the village
Alex said the Village Master Plan (proposed within the
Plan) was discussed by the Village Steering Committee, who has then passed
along recommendations to the Planning Commission. He thinks the VSC may have gone as far with
that document as they could; he asked the Commission if they thought the Master
Plan document was still necessary considering the adoption of the Official
Map.
Housing and traffic control measures were discussed. Fred asked if provisions for elderly housing
had been made in the Village Growth proposal.
Alex said a housing section was created that made provisions for affordable
housing and also for congregate housing, both of which at least indirectly
address elderly housing. He added that
the Affordable Housing Committee and Peter Erb have been reviewing mobile home
parks in Hinesburg with the goal of making improvements in conditions. Traffic slowing measures were also discussed.
Fred spoke about the general purpose of the Town Plan; he
thought it should function as a gateway of ideas, not as a regulatory
document. He said topics raised in the
Town Plan should be discussed at public hearings, forums, etc. to determine
what should take the form of regulations.
Jean said some of the current language in the Plan may have been made
stronger by the SB (after being submitted by the PC). Alex said some issues do belong in the Town Plan,
such as goals for town densities. He
said other towns use this document as a place to define broad goals for
development areas. It is also deferred
to in some
The group discussed new projects or topics that should be added
to the Plan: Hinesburg Task Forces, the inter-task
force sustainability initiative, work on transportation issues such as public
transit options and recognition of the Hinesburg Rides program, and energy
goals and initiatives.
Carrie suggested adding stormwater as an important topic. The group discussed the natural resources
section. Alex gave an update on the work
being done by the Conservation Committee on the Open Space plan. Ashley proposed updates to the surface water
section, and also suggested researching the capacity of the existing town wells
to understand whether they could support additional population growth. The group discussed the MTBE contamination
issue, town-owned lands with the potential for wells, recharge areas, aquifer
mapping and whether the Saputo factory closing is adversely impacting town
wells. Ashley proposed an update to the
Greenway network section, particularly in how preserving greenspace relates to
the protection of drinking water. FEMA
flood hazard maps and radiation readings in wells around town were discussed.
The Top Ten priority goals list
The Planning Commission discussed items on this list in
order:
1. The Village Steering Committee has been
established. The group agreed that a Village
Master Plan was no longer needed (as the Village Growth proposal was
essentially this).
2. Initiatives to minimize speeding town-wide – Alex said
he would ask Police Department members for an update on this.
3. Scoping study for the Village core – the group discussed
specific intersection improvements and the need for adjustments in traffic
signal timings.
4. Crosswalks and sidewalks – the group agreed to designate
these projects as “ongoing” rather than assign specific deadlines to them.
5. Examine existing zoning districts – this has been done for
the Village.
6. Implement an area-based density zoning plan – this will
be looked at going forward in the discussion re: rural development.
7. Natural resources and overlay districts - Alex suggesting
asking the CC for their opinion on whether overlay districts were needed.
8. Open Space Plan – still under construction/review by the
CC.
9. Town-wide trails – The work done by the Hinesburg Trail Committee
was discussed.
10. Stormwater runoff – Alex noted the low impact development
workshop that had taken place (at NRG); he agreed more could be done with this topic.
The group agreed to work on the main sections before making
changes to the implementation section of the Plan.
Other Business
Alex gave an update on SB discussions of the Village Growth
proposal. He noted specific changes they
had agreed to make within the document:
1. a
resident’s request to include his parcel in the Village NE district
2. to add cultural
facilities as an allowed use in the village districts
The SB agreed to NOT make changes to the southern gateway district. They also discussed energy guidelines proposed
for new buildings. Alex said Commission
members did not intend to measure energy uses within a building (such as
electricity consumption by machinery) but to measure a building’s use of energy
(such as heating or A/C). Fred suggested
a BTU per cubic foot measurement. Alex said
the language as proposed may have ended up as a focus on renewables rather than
looking for building energy efficiencies.
Another issue being discussed by the SB was the exclusion of wetlands
from the calculation of density.
Other Business
Fred MOVED to approve the
The next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for May
13, 2009.
The meeting adjourned at approximately
Respectfully Submitted: