City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD TWO CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session February 24, 2015 Review of Proposed Planning Department Items The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, February 24, 2015, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Bradford C. Ellis, Charlie L. Frye, Jr. and Matthew J. Kelly. Council Absent. Councilor Timothy P. Duffy (sick). Also Present. City Manager Beverly Cameron, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Director of Community Planning and Building Development Charles Johnston, Community Development Planner Hunter Snellings, Zoning Administrator Michael Craig, Deputy Director for Building Services Steve Smallwood and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Unified Development Ordinance Amendment – Social Services Use. Mr. Snellings stated that Micah Ecumenical Ministries was looking to relocate to 2300 Charles Street from 1013 Princess Anne Street. He said during this process it had been asked what that organization was classified as and it is currently defined as an office, but the services they render go beyond office use. They will need shower facilities, food distribution, clothing distribution and these are all being offered at the current site. When looking at the UDO staff tried to determine how they would define this going forward and they looked around the State at Social Service Delivery Uses. The proposed amendments were to allow planning staff through the current Certificate of Zoning Use to regulate for the more intensive uses through the administrative process. Councilor Ellis asked if the showers were the driver for this ordinance or was it the food distribution because he said many modern offices were adding showers for their 1 employees. Mr. Snellings said the idea was for the more intensive uses that would draw the people versus the typical office. He said employees in a typical office are there to perform the duties of the office. Vice-Mayor Withers said he was concerned with putting this type of use in the Commercial- Transitional (CT) zone because it is typically for low intensity uses and this use would be a high intensity use. Mr. Snellings explained that they included all the commercial districts because that was the best practice from around the State. Each of the districts was up for conversation. Vice-Mayor Withers said if this went forward he would hope that it would never be a by-right use. He would like to have it as a special use permit (SUP) so that it would go through the public hearing process. Councilor Kelly agreed and said he could not understand how staff would think they would be able to handle this administratively when the same issues were occurring at the present location. Mr. Snellings noted that as an office use there have never been any standards associated with behavioral standards or secondary impacts standards associated with their current location. Staff stated that from a zoning or administrative position they have had nothing to use for regulating. Mr. Snellings noted that any SUPs that are approved will only apply to the properties immediately adjacent to Micah, FAHASS, disAbility Resource Center or any in the like. Any issues beyond those perimeters will fall on the Police Department just as any loitering or legal issues do. Councilor Kelly asked if the City could have issues with ACLU in regards to catering a law such as loitering to address one specific group in the community. City Attorney Dooley said she and Mr. Snellings had discussed SUP versus by-right and that was something staff wanted Council to consider. They did not want to oversell the efficacy of a SUP as though it would be the answer to a lot of questions. She said she and staff were trying not to put the Council in a position of responsibility that they would not be able to fulfill the expectations of the public. Councilor Withers asked if there were other agencies in this areas providing this type of service and Mr. Snellings noted that FAHASS was in the area and disability Resource Services but they were geared more to the counseling, case management, and training. He said they also included threshold so that other agencies would not have to go through the rigors. He explained what distinguished Micah from other organizations was their offering of showers, clothing and food distribution. Those services automatically put an organization in the social services use 2 category because it’s a more intensive use. Mr. Snelling said he reached out to Department of Social Services and Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB) to see how many clients they served in a day and RACSB serves upwards of 250 clients per day and social services serves about 150. He also added that the proposed use would only apply to non-profit organizations. Councilor Withers was very concerned with putting this use on the proposed site. He said there were so many less intense uses that are not allowed and he cannot see putting this use on the site. Mayor Greenlaw said when they were discussing locations for Micah and similar organizations, Mr. Hunter noted that most localities have a use definition that covers these kinds of uses. They thought it would be advisable for the City to have that use classification in the ordinance then decide where the use was acceptable. This use definition was drafted by the Planning Department based on other localities and reviewed and revised by the City Attorney. Councilor Devine was concerned that the City was trying to make this use fit for a single organization. Councilor Ellis said he could understand that, but also said sometimes the City is not proactive and when something is brought forward it should be looked at. Mayor Greenlaw said this was as a result of Micah’s request but they have asked in every meeting where they could move. Councilor Kelly stated that by-right should not be an option because wherever they are located there will be complaints. Vice-Mayor agreed. Councilor Kelly also warned that if Council decide on a special use permit and they violate it, the City would have to be prepared to revoke the permit. Vice-Mayor Withers asked why they needed to double the size of their building and Mr. Snellings explained that there maybe three or four other organizations collocating in this site, such as Central Virginia Housing Coalition and United Way was also talking about joining. Mayor noted that majority of Council was comfortable with moving forward with the use definition, but it would have to be accepted by a special use permit only. Mr. Snelling said during the process he spoke with the City of Richmond and the City of Fairfax. The City of Fairfax stated that whether by SUP or by-right the ordinance should be enforceable so it could be revoked if that was needed. When speaking with the Fairfax Zoning Administrator she thought the determining factor of social service zoning use would be the 3 personal hygiene such as the showers, the distribution of clothing. Otherwise it would be an office use. Mr. Johnston reiterated what he thought Council was agreeing on and that was that the use would have to be approved by a SUP and he said there was a possible willingness for the use to be in all four commercial districts and both industrial. Councilor Frye asked how difficult it would be to revoke a SUP if there were other organizations within the same building and he also asked how close the City wanted a facility like this to a school. Councilor Kelly said they will need to find a location that has the least impact on the City. Revised Sidewalk Café Policy. This policy had not been updated in over a decade and staff worked with restaurateurs, Main Street, Economic Development, the Clean and Green Commission as well as the City’s Public Utilities Review Committee (CPURC). There were three goals during this process, the first was to use common sense and allow the restaurateurs to continue doing what was working. The second was to generate standardized design guideline. This was done with the help of the Clean and Green Commission. The third would be to make some administrative updates to put in the policy on how it would be administered. Mr. Craig explained that the current café requirements require the café to be adjacent to a building, it must contain an enclosure, and it must have a clear five foot pedestrian path. The enclosure cannot be a permanent structure and they must be taken in at the end of an operating day. The first major proposed change would be the removal of the required fence if alcohol was not being served at the café. The second major proposed change was the possibility of a remote café (curbside café). The purpose is to accommodate the cafés that are illegal and have a difficult time conforming to the regulations because of the width of the sidewalk. Councilor Ellis said he has seen this work in other places and he thought it was a great example of figuring out how to do something for those businesses. Mr. Craig said it would be an art to make this work but they were going to work with the restaurateurs. Councilor Devine stated that she was concern with the proximity of the cars and pedestrians. She said she could not approve a permanent change for this unless there was a trial first. Councilor Kelly said there was no uniformity because some buildings bump out and he feels there would be ADA issues. He said this needed more discussion before taking a vote on this item. 4  Councilor Ellis said he felt this may only work with diagonal parking and he asked if there was enough width on Caroline Street to allow diagonal parking. Mr. Cameron said it was not and he said you would lose either a travel lane or a parking lane. Councilor Frye expressed concerns with there being enough room for those with disabilities to walk along the sidewalk as well as those in wheelchairs. Encroachments Mr. Craig also explained the newly proposed encroachment policy and he said the current encroachment cover sidewalk café, A-frame signs and newspaper boxes. He wanted to provide licensing opportunities for those businesses (not restaurants) that would like to put a chair, a small table or a bench outside their businesses. This would require them to clean up after themselves, and make sure they were taking the items up at closing. There would not be any fees and there would be a simple form to fill out. Councilor Ellis asked would there be language in the policy about enforcing cleaning of the sidewalks. Mr. Johnston said that could be added. Sidewalk Café Design Guidelines The proposed guidelines are to set a standard. Staff worked with Clean and Green Commission, users group and CPURC. The standard was to lead to a quality downtown experience but they did not want it so rigid that it would kill the innovativeness of the downtown. Councilor Ellis said he would like to see a 30 day window for removing torn and tattered awnings. Councilor Devine agreed, but she said it should go further and add flags, banners or any decorative items. She asked if menu boards needed to be within the café enclosure. Mr. Craig said if they had a permit for an A-frame it could be outside of the café. Councilor Devine thought that was too much. Fees Mr. Craig purposed a change for the fee and one of the reasons for recommending an increase in the fees was for maintenance. The fee would be a flat $100 fee for the café and $25.00 per seat. Ms. Devine asked how the staff regulated the seating keeping them within their occupancy permit and Mr. Craig explained that they would begin coordinating on review of the permits and the outside seating would be accommodated in the occupancy permit. Mr. 5 Johnston stated that in the past they did not have to have building review and that would be added to the review so that the applicant would not exceed their occupancy permit. Mr. Smallwood explained that the seating outside does not add to the occupant load of the building. He said they only look to see if there are enough restrooms to take care of the amount of people being served. Vice-Mayor Withers asked about the concerns of the Clean and Green Commission and the Main Street. Mr. Craig said Clean and Green was focused primarily on the design guidelines. Main Street liked the curbside parking but they were concerned about the fees. Kybecca had a concern with sound and staff tried to work with them to come up with a solution by having them address the position of the speakers. Mr. Craig said that they were not going to address it with a policy until next year, but Councilor Devine stated that she felt it should be addressed this year. Councilor Kelly noted that not many are keeping the five foot pathway with the cages so he asked if someone complained about ADA and the five foot policy how would it be handled. City Attorney Dooley said she would have to look and see on a case by case the types of encroachments there are. Councilor Kelly said he would like to personally get feedback from Clean and Green and Main Street before a decision is made. Councilor Devine said Mr. Craig had been working with the Clean and Green Commission as well as Main Street and he has gotten their feedback. She said that was the job of staff to get their feedback. Mayor Greenlaw agreed and they said that Mr. Craig had put a lot of work into this but they had concerns with the curbside. Council agreed to move forward with the changes with the exception of the curbside. Revised Soils Policy. Mr. Johnston stated that there was a policy dealing with shrink swell soils and it was the acid soils policy. This change would expand the policy. The changes will require testing for shrink-swell soils prior to construction. Mr. Smallwood explained that there was shrink-swell soil in the City and the City was not required to test for it until there was a change last code cycle which allowed any jurisdiction that had issues to adopt the policy. The City has been exempted before. He said this was important to help protect resident’s investments. He said they have also added a statement to protect against bringing in infill that may be shrink-swell soil. Council agreed to have this moved forward at the next meeting. 6  Amended Subdivision Ordinance. City Attorney Dooley explained that the blue sheet on the subdivision ordinance that was adopted at the last meeting and there was one procedural glitch that was in the procedurals manual but was not included in the proposed ordinance. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Mayor Greenlaw declared the work session officially adjourned at 6:54 p.m. ___Tonya B. Lacey _______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 7