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 October 3, 2017 Board and Commissions Interviews Comprehensive Plan Amendments for the General Land Use Plan and Small Area Plan 3 The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the 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, and Matthew J. Kelly. Council Absent. Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (emergency). Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Building & Development Services Director Charles Johnston, Zoning Administrator Michael Craig, Community Development Planner Susanna Finn and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Board and Commissions Interviews. Stacy Horne – Economic Development Authority – said she was a lifelong resident of Fredericksburg who attended the University of Mary Washington. She said she was invested in the City and she has seen it go from a great place, to almost dead and now she would like to see more people out and about in the City. She said she would like to see people who work in DC be able to work from home and attract higher paying job to the City. She suggested this be done with more technology jobs. Ms. Horne said she would also like to see Fredericksburg as a destination location but the City would need more to draw people here. Berkley Mitchell – Economic Development – said the EDA’s role was to promote Economic Development. Mr. Mitchell said the EDA could get more involved in business attraction. One of the ways he suggested attracting new businesses was to redo the incentives program. He was asked how more money could be generated for the EDA and he said he had not looked into this but one idea would be to follow Stafford’s lead and sell off surplus property. Mr. Mitchell was also asked if he thought the City needed Class A office space and he said there was not much of it in the 1 City but it was a weak market and he felt like the City had what it needed. He said many places were going to leasing buildings. Mr. Mitchell was asked if he thought it would be beneficial for one group to bring Economic Development to the area and Mr. Mitchell said he would hope the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance would be in agreement to do that but he said there needed to be someone with the City’s interest at hand. Mr. Mitchell said he lives in the downtown, he has worked for three localities and he had a desire to serve again. Thomas Worman – Planning Commission – said he was a developer who had been around since 1984. Most of his work was in Spotsylvania, Stafford and King George Counties but he has lived in the City for 13-14 years. He said he has been through the Planning Commission process many times and he was familiar with plans for both commercial and residential. He said he would like to see the City do well and because of his experience he thought he would be easier to deal with and he would be an asset that could explain things to applicants. Mr. Worman said he liked the direction the City was going in. He said the City should look at more mixed used projects because there was not much land in the City. Mr. Worman said he would like to see the City stick with historic buildings in the downtown because they were the charm of the City. He also said the new small area plans would be easier for the developers. Thomas Liles – Economic Development Authority – said he has lived in the City about a year but he had lived in the area much longer. Mr. Liles was asked what he thought the EDA’s role was and he said it seemed like the EDA put particular interest in grants and bringing more cultural activities to the City. He said the top three things he would look for when incentivizing businesses was whether the investment would be reinvested back into the City, if they would be fulfilling a particular need in the City and whether the project was something that should receive help from the City. He said the City should not incentivize something that does not contribute to the fabric of the community. Mr. Liles said his background as an attorney would help the EDA when looking over proposals. He said the City needed to attract businesses that could sustain families so that they would not have to commute. He said if the EDA supported/promoted more cultural events it would make the City more attractive to businesses. Will Mackintosh – Economic Development Authority – said when the City issued its 2036 Vision statement it captured his attention and made him want to get involved. He said he has lived in the City since 2010 and he loved it because it had its own unique since of place. Mr. Mackintosh said he would like to see it remain a small urban place. He said he had seen the economic development first hand because he was married to a business owner downtown. Mr. Mackintosh is also a faculty member at the University of Mary Washington and he said he would like to bridge the 2 gap between the college and the City. He suggested one way the City could attract more businesses other than incentives was through media coverage. His vision for growth in the City would be seeing infill as a good thing in the City, investing energy in parking garages and marketing downtown more of an employment center. He stated that it made sense for the City and the EDA to work together on projects like the bank project on George Street. Mr. Mackintosh was asked about things outside of the downtown and he said he would like to see more apartments in Celebrate Virginia with different price points. Quarterly Priorities Update. Community Planner Finn presented a PowerPoint presentation on the 2015 Comprehensive Plan Amendments. In the PowerPoint she discussed the Transect Zone, Area 3 Challenges, Area 3 – Transect Zones, T-5C (Area Core), T-5W (Area core Workplace), Area 3 – Other Elements and Area 3 – Implementation. Council had a brief discussion on the types of project that should be allowed in Area 3 and they had discussion on the Idlewild school site. Council was not in agreement with the school being proposed for the Idlewild property. Area 6. Director of Planning and Community Services Johnston updated the Council on the Maker District meeting that was held. He said approximately 30 people attended. The City was doing something cutting edge because Maker Districts are usually smaller scale than what the City was looking at. Mr. Johnston said they would like to create a main street type program for the area to help enable the corridor to come together and create more diversity. The private sector would evolve this area not the government. Floodplain Density. Zoning Administrator Craig passed out a map for Council’s review of the flood plain density limitations before it comes to Council for action. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 7:52 p.m. _ _Tonya B. Lacey ____ Tonya B. Lacey, CMC Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 3