Planning Commission

CITY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS, VIRGINIA MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION Thursday, January 3, 2019 7:00 P.M. Minutes I. Call to Order Mr. Hartson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. II. Roll Call Present: Mrs. Hamilton Mr. Hartson Mrs. Schiff Mr. Wade Mr. Kollman Mr. Kohan Mr. Green Absent: None Also Present: Joe Boisseau, Deputy Fire Marshal Mr. Smith, City Manager Ms. Hall, Director of Planning & Community Development Mr. Flippen, Assistant Director of Public Works Mr. Fisher, City Attorney Ms. Payne, Assistant Director of Planning & Community Development III. Determination of Quorum A quorum was determined. Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 1 IV. Approval of Agenda Mrs. Schiff made a motion to approve the agenda with minor corrections to the schedule of meetings. All Commissioners were in favor. V. Annual Organization Meeting  Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman Mr. Green nominated Mr. Hartson as Chairman; Mr. Kohan seconded the motion. Mr. Hartson was elected with all Commissioners in favor. Mr. Hartson opened nominations for Vice-Chairman. Mr. Kohn nominated Mrs. Schiff as Vice-Chairman; Mr. Wade seconded the motion. Mrs. Schiff was elected with all Commissioners in favor. In addition, Mr. Green recommended Mr. Kohan to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals. Mrs. Schiff seconded the recommendation. Mr. Kohan was recommended with all Commissioners in favor.  Appointment of Secretary Ms. Hall will continue to serve as Secretary of the Planning Commission.  Adoption of Rules Mr. Green moved that the Adoption of Rules be accepted as written; Mrs. Schiff seconded the motion. The Adoption of Rules was accepted with all Commissioners in favor.  2018 Annual Report Ms. Hall provided a brief overview of the 2018 Planning Commission events. Mrs. Schiff made a motion to approve the 2018 Annual Report. Mr. Kohan seconded the motion to accept the minutes. All commissioners were in favor of the motion.  Adoption of Planning Commission Schedule Mr. Hartson made note that the meeting for November will be on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday due to the general election. Ms. Hall noted that the meeting for December will be on the fourth of the month. Ms. Schiff asked if her appointment to the Parks and Recreation Board would interfere with her duties to the Planning Commission. Mr. Fisher, the City Attorney, answered and said not at this moment, but the term for Parks and Recreation ends on August 31 and will need to be addressed then by the Planning staff. Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 2  Mr. Kohan made a motion to approve the schedule for 2019. Mrs. Schiff seconded the motion to accept the schedule. All commissioners were in favor of the motion. VI. Approval of Minutes from November 7, 2018 meeting Ms. Hall had minor grammatical corrections. Mrs. Schiff made a motion to approve the minutes with the correction. Mr. Kohan seconded the motion to accept the minutes. All commissioners were in favor of the motion. VII. Hearing of Citizens Generally None VIII. Public Hearings A. Planning Commission Resolution 19-1 To recommend to City Council to grant a special use permit to Roslyn Farm Corporation, C/O Robert C Walker, to allow a 19 square foot monument sign on a parcel located on East Roslyn Court known by parcel identification number 69011100012. The sign will be advertising an off-site business that also is located on East Roslyn Court. Ms. Hall showed site plans, an aerial overview, a subdivision plan, and a drawing of the proposed sign. Ms. Hall said the proposal meets all of the zoning requirements. The zoning request is due to it being a permanent sign in nature that will be off-site. The zoning code expressly prohibits advertisements off-site in any zoning district. Staff recommends the approval of Resolution 19-1 with one consideration: changing the temporary sign material from foam core to a more permanent material. Mrs. Hamilton said that is a reasonable expectation and supports the Planning Department’s recommendation. Mr. Kohan said he is fine with initially using the foam core material, and if the property does not sell, it should be a more permanent sign. Mr. Nick Walker introduced himself as the owner of the proposed site for the sign and gave an overview of ownership between the two properties along with previous conversations about the temporary sign. Mr. Walker said he is fine with the property being used for the sign. Mr. Walker introduced a representative, Chief Administrative Officer Jared Hanlon for Southside Regional Medical Center, to answer additional questions. Mr. Green asked Mr. Walker if he would consider a more permanent material. Mr. Walker and Mr. Hanlon replied yes. Mr. Hanlon explained the need for the sign in addition to the electronic sign that is posted Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 3  off Interstate 95. There is a need for directional signage once a person has exited the Interstate. Currently, he is working with the state of Virginia and the City to have a blue “H” hospital sign installed. Mr. Green asked for clarity on the purpose of the sign such as an expansion to the medical center. He also asked if there was a sunset to the sign. Mr. Walker replied that he does not want the special use of a permit to allow permanent use of the sign to block future development (example: a restaurant). If a developer comes to that property and wants to share a directional sign, he would be open for discussions at that time. Mr. Fisher said the Commission may want to limit the application of the special use permit to Roslyn Farm Corporation only and may want to add language to PC Resolution 19-1 saying that the sign is non-transferable (for Nick Walker only). Mr. Green asked if the current code allows for two steps because the resolution only speaks to the sign being off-site, there is no mention of length of time for the temporary sign. Mr. Hartson recommended that they vote on the resolution with an amendment to add detail. Mr. Kohan asked if the sign will have lights; and Mr. Hanlon replied no. Mr. Hartson asked the public if there were any comments about the resolution and amendments and there were none. Mrs. Schiff moved to amend Planning Commission Resolution 19-1 and make the sign non-transferable and of a permanent nature rather than the less durable material the applicant proposed. Mr. Kollman seconded the motion. All Commissioners were in favor. IX. Plans of Development A. PD 19-1 TownePlace Suites The proposed plan is for the development of a 74,610 square foot five-story hotel with 113 units on a 2.00 acre site, located on Lot 6 of Section 2 in the East Roslyn Farm subdivision. The lot will be accessed off South Avenue with an easement through 931 South Avenue. Ms. Hall showed site plans and an aerial overview of how the property will be accessed. She also pointed out landmarks such as Wal-Mart and Comfort Suites to provide context to the proposal. Access to the site would be through the Comfort Suites parking lot. There will be a boundary line adjustment to acquire fifteen feet to provide space for landscape buffering. The building will be 52’ in height which is Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 4  under the maximum of 60’. Parking spaces require one per room and one per employee for a total of 131 spaces (minimum is 125). She also pointed out the floodplain, cross easements, and landscape modifications. Ms. Hall recommended approval based on the changes. Mr. Hartson asked for confirmation that the only access to the property will be accessed by another hotel’s parking lot. Ms. Hall replied yes, the other hotel is owned by the same owner of the proposal. Mr. Green was fine with the access of the property through another lot as long as it meets all of the fire code regulations. He asked this question to Joe Boisseau, the Deputy Fire Marshal. Mr. Boisseau replied no, it does not break fire code regulations. His recommendation was to reposition some of the fire hydrants so the property can be accessed from all sides. Mr. Wade asked if there was any discussion between the developer and the owner of Wal-Mart to purchase part of the easement. Mr. Green replied that might be a conversation the owners should have in the future. Mr. Wade moved to approve Planning Commission Resolution 19-1 TownePlace Suites Mrs. Green seconded the motion. All Commissioners were in favor. X. Old Business Mr. Kohan asked for a status update on the railroad station. Mr. Smith said that is a discussion for the MPO and federal level. He said they did not receive the main funding to build a train station. Mrs. Schiff said it was unnerving that Chesterfield County would go to the state level to deny a train station to Colonial Heights. Mr. Hartson asked the opinion of the state and Mr. Smith replied that the state favors the current location. Mr. Fisher said the U.S. Representative for Colonial Heights and Virginia’s two U.S. Senators all favor the current location in Ettrick. The main advantage for the City of Colonial Heights is the environmental review completed by the federal government favors a City location. Mr. Hartson asked Mr. Smith if the Railway Administration favors a Colonial Heights city location. Mr. Smith replied that the Railway Administration would not make a statement at this time, but in the initial report by Crater Planning it favored Colonial Heights. Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 5 XI. New Business/Reports Reports 1. Chairman – None 2. Director of Planning and Community Development – Ms. Hall thanked the members for either joining or staying on the Planning Commission. There will be no Planning Commission meeting in February, but there will be one in March regardless of an application being submitted for review. Mrs. Schiff asked if there will be a joint meeting with the Council and Ms. Hall replied there was none proposed. 3. City Engineer or Designee – Assistant Director of Public Works – Mr. Flippen Mr. Flippen said Colonial Heights was “screened out” for the Smart Scale and CSX Bridge over Boulevard because the City was unable to send a letter of support from the MPO. The bridge was more of a disagreement over details, VDOT was expecting the project to be $80-90 million dollars similar to the cost of a station in Fairfax County. Mr. Flippen said the overall budget for the City is $100 million dollars and they would not want to spend $80-90 million of it on a train station. Mr. Hartson asked if the work on the bridge is urgent. Mr. Flippen said the bridge is rated “not structurally deficient.” The complaints are due to pedestrian access, especially for people with disabilities. Mr. Flippen also said the federal shutdown does have an impact on local governments. The federal aid projects are waiting on federal approval, in particular Dupuy Ave. Mrs. Schiff confirmed that Colonial Heights was denied the train station and the overpass. Mr. Smith said the objective of the project is to provide for high speed rail. Mr. Flippen said if the southeast corridor develops for high speed rail, it will create a need for a new bridge and overpass. He mentioned that it’s a long range plan and agreed that the bridge and overpass are priorities for the city. Mr. Flippen also said Hanover County is against the Town of Ashland developing high speed rail. This is the same rail that would be coming to Colonial Heights, Raleigh and Washington D.C. Mr. Wade asked if there is anything else the Commission can do to support the project but Mr. Flippen suggested writing letters of support. Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 6  An application will be submitted to pave a mile section of the Boulevard between Westover and New Castle Avenue, which would complete the paving of Boulevard from the last four to five years. Mr. Kollman asked for an update on Lakeview Ave. Mr. Flippen said the work is done through a franchise agreement with the utility companies. Colonial Heights is not paying any invoices but the utilities are doing it at their cost. Due to gas explosions in Massachusetts, Colombia Gas cannot get in to fix Lakeview Avenue. The city has no discretion for a timeline when it comes to private utilities (Colombia Gas). They are looking to schedule a coordination meeting to make sure the City is still a priority with Colombia Gas. Mr. Fisher said he wrote a new franchise agreement with Colombia Gas for the next twenty years. This new agreement included language to relocate lines much more quickly or the City can do it itself and charge Colombia for reimbursement costs. Mr. Kollman asked when the current agreement expires and Mr. Fisher said February of 2019. Mr. Kollman asked if the agreement goes to Dominion and Mr. Fisher replied no, only to Colombia. Mr. Flippen gave an overview of the relationships with the utility companies and how lines are laid-out across the city. 4. Others, as necessary or appropriate a. City Manager – Mr. Smith The student government day has been rescheduled for January 7th due to inclement weather. b. City Attorney – Mr. Fisher At the December City Council meeting, a consensus was agreed upon that each newly appointed Commissioner for the Planning Commission take the Planning Commissioner course offered by Virginia Commonwealth University, within one year of appointment. A similar course also will be required for Board of Zoning Appeals members. c. Proclamation for Mr. Townes Mr. Kollman asked for a proclamation for Mr. Townes’ service to Colonial Heights. Mr. Townes was recognized at City Council; Planning Commission would like to do something in addition to his recognition with the City Council. Mrs. Schiff made a motion to issue a proclamation and purchase a plaque for Mr. Townes. Mr. Kollman seconded the motion. All Commissioners were in favor. Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 7 XII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:01 PM. __________________________ _____________________________ Kelly Hall Hartson Secretary Chairman Planning Commission Minutes | January 3, 2019 8