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. JASON N. GRAHAM, 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 August 13, 2019 Parks Strategic Plan – Lose Consultants Architectural Review Board Decision on Slave Auction Block Board of Zoning Appeals Interview The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, August 13, 2019, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall, Executive Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr., Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy (6:13), Charlie L. Frye, Jr., Jason N. Graham and Matthew J. Kelly. Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, Assistant City Manager Doug Fawcett, City Attorney Kathleen A. Dooley, Community Planning and Building Services Director Charles Johnston, Director of Parks, Recreation and Special Events Jane Shelhorse and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. John Lavender, Lose Design. Parks Strategic Plan – Lose Consultants. Assistant City Manager Fawcett introduced Mr. Lavender the Project Manager with Lose Design. Mr. Lavender presented a PowerPoint presentation and in his presentation he introduced the company and the team that would be working on the project, what they know, their process, Community engagement and analysis, facility assessments, agency assessment, implementation, what they are hearing and the schedule. See Attachment I for more information. Councilor Devine asked if there were any trends that the City did not have and Mr. Lavender said he was pleased to see the City had pickle ball. He said trails were a high priority and he did not see anything specific that the City did not have except for a recreation center. Councilor Kelly asked what the public partnership would look like and Mr. Lavender explained that he would like to see where the opportunities exist. He said there could be partnerships with the University of Mary Washington and the new baseball field. He said they look 1 at where the opportunities exists and he said they tend to arise as they do the focus groups and the interviews. He said the school system was a great opportunity and the City already works with the schools. He said they will also identify grant opportunities. Mayor Greenlaw asked whether it was typical to charge people that live outside the City more for participation in City events because 50 percent of the participants were from other localities. Mr. Lavender said it was common to charge them more for participating. Vice-Mayor Withers asked if the City should charge people who use the City parks that are not citizens and Mr. Lavender said it would be hard to do unless there was a park attendant. Councilor Kelly asked Mr. Lavender if they looked at the stress that would be put on parks at buildout for the City. Mr. Lavender said the population would eventually put stress on the system but he said that’s when the City may want to look at specializing in specific things such as events. Mr. Kelly said he would like to know if the City should charge to help with maintenance of the parks or leave things as they are. Assistant City Manager Fawcett explained that one of the challenges with Old Mill Park was the parking. He said when the parking fills up it spills over into the neighborhood and they want to prevent that. Councilor Graham asked if the Parking Committee could look into that and Mr. Fawcett said they could. Councilor Frye stated that the City does need a recreation center because it was hard when you have to borrow facilities. He suggested financing it with AAU basketball and soccer. He said a lot of money was generated with AAU tournaments. Ms. Shelhorse said they usually get overflow from Spotsylvania for the AAU tournaments but the challenge they have is that the parks do not have lights. Architectural Review Board (ARB) Decision on Slave Auction Block. City Attorney Dooley explained that the ARB held a public hearing, heard public comment on the Slave Auction Block and the chair read a statement and said he did not think the ARB had the authority to vote on the relocation because Council had already made the decision to remove the block. Therefore the ARB did not take any action but the relocation of the block requires a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) from the ARB. Ms. Dooley explained that the ARB has a role to play in the decision and it is important to preserve that role. Staff suggest bringing the item back to the ARB and making a revised recommendation to them. She said they could bring the ARB a formal action that they can adopt. Staff had included four recommendations for them to consider: involving Department of Historic Resources as a consulting body, having a second public hearing for the permanent installations that takes place of the block, Ms. Schwartz also recommended they 2 designate a liaison to the Memorials Advisory Commission as it works on the assignment given by Council. Ms. Dooley said she would like to get it back before the ARB to give them another opportunity to engage in the process and to get a formal action from them, recognizing this application has extraordinary aspects to it. Councilor Kelly said the ARB was hesitant on appointing someone to the Memorials Advisory Commission and they said they would not vote on the other three options presented by staff because the Council had already acted. He said the Council put the ARB in an untenable position because in other projects there was a plan for the ARB to look at, with the slave auction block there was no plan for them to review. Mayor Greenlaw refuted that there was no plan. Vice-Mayor Withers asked what would happen if the ARB did not act within the 90 days. Ms. Dooley said it would come to the City Council and the Council will act without the advice of the ARB. Staff suggest sending it back and asking the ARB to preserve their role and make a recommendation to the Council. Councilor Graham said he saw this as two decisions on whether to keep it or remove the block from its current location and secondly how to display it. He asked if the decision could be framed around the display or the permanent solution of the block. Ms. Dooley explained that the staff noted that the ARB could include a condition saying preserve the context, so that people would understand. Mr. Baroody said staff was working on a plan with recommendation, this was done in collaboration with Fredericksburg Area Museum (FAM). He said it was a draft plan. Councilor Frye said it was not fair to say there was no plan, the plan was to send it to FAM. He said we want ARB input. Councilor Devine said she does not want to wait the 90 days unless the ARB say that they do not want to participate. Mayor said she would like to send it back to them and ask them to give their input and put some conditions on it. Councilor Kelly asked why the Council wouldn’t come up with the plan first then send it to the ARB for action because their charge was to maintain and protect the historic character of the downtown and to remove the block was to take it out of its context and removing it from the public’s view. Ms. Dooley said she does not see that the ARB has the authority to grant or deny a certificate of appropriateness for FAM’s exhibit. She said this was something the City was going to have to work with FAM on. 3  Councilor Kelly had a lengthy but contentious discussion on the process and why the project was moving forward before the plan is finalized. Mayor Greenlaw asked the staff if this could be brought back at the next meeting for discussion. Councilor Devine said that was fine but she wanted someone to reach out to the ARB and tell them the Council needs them to participate in this process. Board of Zoning Appeals Interview. Stephen Eubanks – when asked what his thought process would be on a case with a relatively small lot that doesn’t meet requirements Mr. Eubanks said he would look at the context whether it was a special exception or a variance. Assuming it was a variance he would look at what they wanted to deviate from and whether it was something that was in place when the ordinance was adopted or did the applicant bring it on themselves. He explained that he would look at several factors. Mr. Eubanks was asked when there is a variance was it more important to keep the project in line with what was currently in place or what would be the best possible use at that time and Mr. Eubanks said if it’s not going to be in line what is the best possible use so that is not disruptive to what is around it. He said these were things that must be balanced when making a decision. Mr. Eubanks said he was an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney but for 21 years prior he was in general practice and he did criminal defense, real estate, domestic relations and his firm served as the interim County Attorney for Amherst County. Mr. Eubanks said he was looking for ways to get involved so he applied to serve on the BZA. He said he intended to be in the City for a long time. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 7:00 p.m. _Tonya B. Lacey _______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 4