Planning Commission

MINUTES TOWN OF FORT MILL PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING February 21, 2023 112 Confederate Street 6:00 PM Present: James Traynor, Dan Stout, Mark Kerr, Sarah Curtis, Jason Therrell, Planner II Zach Driggers, Planning Director Penelope Karagounis, Sean Coldren (CES Group Engineers), Don Ferry (HELT Design), Janice Rosas (The Learning Experience), Natalie Honeycutt (The Learning Experience), and Juan Ramirez (Maui Acai) Absent: Hynek Lettang and Matt Lucarelli Chairman James Traynor called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR FOR 2023 Chairman Traynor requested nominations for the position of Chair. Mr. Stout nominated Mr. Traynor for Chairman. Mrs. Curtis seconded the motion. There being no further nominations, the question of electing Mr. Traynor was put to vote. The vote passed 4-0. Mr. Traynor abstained from voting. Chairman Traynor requested nominations for the position of Vice Chair. Mark Kerr nominated himself for Vice Chair. Mr. Stout seconded the motion. There being no further nominations, the question of electing Mr. Kerr as Vice Chair was put to a vote. The vote passed 5-0. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman Traynor gave an opportunity to the Planning Commission to review and comment on the November 15, 2022 Planning Commission meeting minutes. Vice Chairman Kerr made a motion to approve and Commissioner Stout seconded the motion. The vote passed 5-0. NEW BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Commercial Appearance Review: The Learning Experience Request from Elias Garcia to grant commercial appearance review approval for a propose childcare center at 1688 Banks Road. 1 The applicant has provided a site plan showing the proposed layout of the project. The building will be a 13,000 square foot single story building with 63 parking spaces and playground. There is a proposed 6’ high PVC fence around the playground area and a 4’ high PVC fence around the majority of the building. Additionally, there are three segmental block retaining walls with 4’ fence along the top of each wall. Based on the approved Transportation Mitigation Agreement, there will be two entrances provided. One entrance will be assessed from Banks Road (access 1) and the other will be accessed from Wolfpack Trail (access 2). There will be an incorporation of an eight-foot minimum multi-use path along Banks Road between Wolfpack Trail and the edge of the development property frontage. There will also be an eight-foot minimum multi-use path along Wolfpack Trail between Banks Road and Access 2. There will be an installation of a crosswalk and pedestrian ramps/truncated dome mats across access 1. The building elevations include masonry stone, EIFS, aluminum canopy and metal copping. Don Ferry (architect) provided only the stone sample and provided descriptions of the material of building. He referenced the renderings of the packet that was supplied to the Planning Commission. There would be blue fabric material awnings on the outside of the building to help provide cover for the playground. The awnings on the windows of the building will be a metal type of black awning. Commissioner Curtis suggested the applicant to look at more brick material for the building. She also had concerns about the stone material being supported by blocks with the entrance. She did not like the idea of walking under brick opening with a heavy material supported by blocks. She also suggested to look at variation of fence material for the entrance and the surrounding area for the playground. Chairman Traynor mentioned there is too much EIFS on the building and he would like to see more brick. We do not want large expansion of EIFS/stucco and he would like to see a brick or other material for a variation of blank areas of the building. We would like some breaks in the roof line too. Chairman Traynor suggested to the applicant to look at variation of brick and stone for the building all the way to the roofline on four sides. Vice Chairman Kerr asked about the material for the playground and the applicant mentioned that they would be using a synthetic turf for the playground. Don Ferry stated we can look at a different type of fencing around the building. However, around the playground we would need a higher 6-foot fence for safety protection for children. Mr. Ferry stated that he would take the suggestions from the Planning Commission members to revise the elevation and materials. There was discussion from the Commissioners to continue this case until the applicant 2  could provide us samples for the building materials. The applicant agreed to defer this item until they revise their elevation drawings and bring back sample materials to the board. Commissioner Curtis made a motion to defer the commercial appearance review for the Learning Experience and Commissioner Stout seconded the motion. The case was deferred by a vote of 5-0. 2. Mobile Food Vendor Application – 111 Spring Street A request from Michael Chase for approval of a Mobile Food Vendor Operations Permit at 111 Springs Street was presented by Zach Driggers to the Planning Commission. The site is currently zone LC. The location of the proposed food truck is to be in the outermost corner of the parking lot of 111 Springs Street. Per the Town’s Zoning Ordinance property owners must request approval from the Town’s Planning Department or Planning Commission (as it sometimes applicable) to host food trucks on their property. The applicant does meet the operational requirements of the ordinance. Fire and Police has reviewed this application and have no issues with the site location for Maui Acai to operate at the location of 111 Spring Street. Vice Chairman Kerr made a motion to approve approval of a Food Mobile Vendor Operations Permit at 111 Springs Street and Commissioner Stout seconded the motion. The Mobile Food Vendor Operations Permit was approved by a vote of 5-0 at 111 Springs Street. Information and Discussion Planning Director presented the 2023 meeting schedule to the Planning Commission. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:58 pm. 3