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 Joint Council/Planning Commission Work Session June 16, 2015 Comprehensive Plan Update The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Bradford C. Ellis (6:44), Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (7:45) and Matthew J. Kelly. Planning Commission Present. Chairman Richard Friesner, James Beavers, Richard Dynes, Roy Gratz, Roy McAfee, James Pates (via phone). Planning Commission Absent. Vice-Chair JoAnne Kaiman (out of town). Also Present. City Manager Beverly Cameron, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Planning and Services Director Charles Johnston, Deputy Planning Director Erik Nelson and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. Milt Herd, Consultant. Comprehensive Plan Update. Mr. Johnston stated that the 2007 Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) update began January 2014 with a large group session and they had several reviews before coming up with what was presented. The next step to the process would be to look at each of the planning areas. Mr. Nelson presented a PowerPoint which covered the update process, the existing conditions, trends and future requirements, economic opportunities, place making, quality of live policies, local organizations engaged, required content, long range recommendations, transportation plans and maps, pathways, affordable housing, traditional neighborhood designs, land use, community service facilities, schools, additional content of the plan, public 1 participation, Planning Commission action and the next steps. (See attachments for more information). Mr. Milt Herd covered the Ten Planning Areas that had been established and he said the benefit of having planning districts is that you can get into more details about each area. Councilor Kelly asked what were the top three changes to the plan and Mr. Nelson said he did not think there was anything new, there was clarification and the plan emphasized many items. Mr. Johnston said the Area Planning would be new and different and they will help people to identify with the planning process. Commissioner McAfee said there were some substantial changes. He said they managed to flush out substantial issues which make it more robust. Mayor Greenlaw stated that she saw considerable differences, such as sound policies and the planning areas were a big difference. The planning areas will have more specific plans with them. Councilor Kelly also was concerned with the sustainability and whether the City was recognizing the changes that were taking place. Mr. Nelson said they were and gave an example of the Fall Hill project. He said the next large roadway to be completed would be Lafayette Boulevard. He said staff found funding for the trails and the FRED Transit system continues to expand. He said if the federal government expands the transportation funding staff would be ready. Councilor Ellis suggested providing some sort of guidance for proffers and Mr. Johnston agreed that proffer guidance was necessary. Commission Chair Friesner said the proffer policy would use the Comprehensive Plan as guidance for what is needed. Councilor Ellis asked what the time constraints were with the school needs. He said this would give staff something to plan and work with for budgeting purposes. Mr. Nelson explained that he wrestled with the schools section. He said there was capacity up to 2020. He said he would have to use guess work to determine because there would be growth but he does not know when. Councilor Ellis spoke about Hugh Mercer Elementary having no place to expand and Mr. Johnston stated that the Moseley Report addresses that issue and he suggested adding that report to the document. Councilor Duffy suggested specifying when the schools would meet their capacity. Mr. Nelson explained that the schools needed to be looked at as a whole and ultimately the School Board would have to specify. Councilor Devine stated the purpose for having the school information is so that when projects come, Council would have that information to refer to when talking about proffers. 2  Vice-Mayor Withers said the planned use development was good, but he said there needed to be more mixed use. He asked if the Comp Plan addressed the mixed use development. Mr. Nelson explained that it did address mixed use in broad terms and he said the City wanted to be sure to get its fair share of the growth. Vice-Mayor Withers also addressed the livability in the residential section but it did not address the sanctity of living in a quiet manner. This was specific to the Commercial-Transitional (C-T) zones that back up to residents. He said only planning area 4 addressed C-T he said he would like to see that in every planning area. Mr. Nelson said one thing they really hit hard in the Comp Plan were the alleys because of their usefulness. They can be used to help with parking issues. Vice-Mayor Withers said he agreed but he would like to see the plan more specific with parking issues. He also added that the 2007 Comp Plan addressed “protecting old neighborhoods” and he would like to see that in the new Comp Plan. There was some discussion on Commercial-Transitional zones and Councilor Kelly said it can be difficult when trying to take a modern concept and fit it into an 18th century laid out city. Vice-Mayor Withers said he hoped modernization would not cause the City to infringe on the rights of people who live in residential neighborhoods. The Mayor stated that what everyone enjoys about the City is that you can live, play and work. She said the City does not want to lose the very thing people come here for. Mr. Johnston stated that he would like to continue to update the code and iron out those 20th century updates and move to a more form based code. Councilor Kelly also addressed roads and the allowance the City gets for those roads and he noted that the funding was continuously getting smaller and smaller. He said the City has infrastructure work that it would have to fund on its own. He said the City needed to pay more attention to what was going on in the surrounding counties. Councilor Kelly said the City needed to be more realistic. Mr. Nelson added that even though the funding may not be available for the roads he needed to document them in case the funds ever do become available. Commissioner Dynes added that the City must promote the live here, work here brand because it is unique to the City. He questioned how to entice developers to see the City this way. He said based on the projects that have been coming forward they do not reflect this. He 3 said the plan does execute this. He said the City needed to identify the unique interfaces that it has and show that it is not like the counties. Mayor Greenlaw said she appreciated the amount of effort staff had put in the Plan especially the planning areas. She was pleased to see the historic preservation and some of the unique details of them. The City is unique and she said we need to remind ourselves of what those unique qualities are and protect them. She said she was hoping to get the GSA to recognize that the City was a viable location for some of the offices that the commuters are commuting to. Councilor Kelly noted that soon there will be a Strategic Economic Development Plan and it was his hope that the Comp Plan and the UDO fit around the Strategic Economic Development Plan. Vice-Mayor Withers said he would like to see the rental ratios in the planning areas higher. He said he would also like to see the planning areas done sooner even if that takes hiring consultants. Councilor Devine thanked staff and Planning Commission for their work on the Plan. She also addressed the redevelopment aspect. She asked what was right for key development. She said the small employers are employing handful of employees and they are staying. She hoped redevelopment would be a focus when working on the 10 planning areas. Commissioner Pates touched on sustainability and said he hoped Council would look at the goals and initiatives for each of the chapters. He said the goal the Commissioners spent most of their time on was the transportation efficiency. He said this goal recognized there were many different pieces. He said throughout the draft plan there were many pieces that feed into sustainability. He said the thing that he found great about the plan was the emphasis on rail transportation and the rail station as a hub for transportation, economic development and tourism. Councilor Duffy thanked the staff and the Commission for their work. He questioned whether the City had the right kind of balance of service retail jobs and higher paying jobs. His concern was that the large department buildings would not be stable in the long run. He said he would like to see that as focus statement in the Comp Plan. He would like see Celebrate Virginia area focused on early with the area planning. 4  Mr. Johnston recapped what Council would like to see strengthened in the document and those items were: proffers, school projections and activities, protection of neighborhoods, road issues. He urged Council to consider the public hearing. Councilor Frye stated that when the area plans are worked on, he would like to see the city limits emphasized so that people will know where those boundaries are located. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Mayor Greenlaw declared the work session officially adjourned at 8:17 p.m. ____Tonya B. Lacey ______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 5