City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD FOUR CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. JASON N. GRAHAM, WARD ONE HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., WARD TWO Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session January 12, 2021 Temporary Sign Regulation Amendments Downtown Commercial District Density Amendments VFW/Woodford Street Rezoning Gordon Shelton Corridor Residential Proposals The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, beginning at 5:30 p.m. using electronic communication through GoToMeeting pursuant to and in compliance with the City Council Ordinance 20-05, an ordinance to address Continuity of City Government during the pendency of a pandemic disaster. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor Charlie L. Frye, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Jason N. Graham, Matthew J. Kelly and William C. Withers, Jr. Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Assistant City Attorney Dori Martin, Community Planning and Building Services Director Charles Johnston, Development Administrator Marne Sherman and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Temporary Sign Regulation Amendments. Assistant City Attorney Martin noted these amendments were for a small portion of the sign ordinance but it was one that would make a big impact. The City’s sign ordinance was rewritten 3-4 years ago after a Supreme Court lawsuit prohibiting governments from regulating sign content. A couple of takeaways from the lawsuit was that courts are deferential to a person’s ability to voice his/her opinion in their home and a sign was an effective way to do this. Secondly, they were seeing if there was more than one way to regulate based on content. The current sign ordinance was restrictive with temporary signs. They propose to eliminate the narrow exceptions and prohibit a reasonable 1 amount of signage per property. The ordinance will also create a definition of a temporary sign along with related terms and it would also include other housecleaning related changes. Development Administrator Sherman presented a PowerPoint presentation that showed the changes and the practical impacts the changes would have on the City. The PowerPoint presentation showed examples of signs, Residential Signage Proposed, Residential Signage Examples, Non-Residential Signage – Proposed, Non-Residential Signage – Cowan Crossings on Route 1, Non-Residential signage – Downtown, Corner of William Street and Princess Anne Street and Draft Schedule. See Attachments I and II for more information. Councilor Withers asked about the signs and how they conform with the historic district. He asked if someone could put out a homemade sign and staff noted they could but the City would regulate the size, the number, the placement and they must be maintained in good condition. Councilor Kelly said the key point in temporary was that a sign would only be up for a period of time and he said that was not defined. He said it makes him nervous when the City starts to tell people what they can have in their yard unless it interferes with sight lines. He would like to have more conversation on defining temporary signs. He also asked about enforcement and Ms. Sherman said they would send a notice of violation and given two weeks to correct the violation and if it was not corrected they would go to court. He said with political signs he would take issue with telling someone how many signs they could have in their yard. Ms. Martin stated the intent was to allow more flexibility for avenues of speech. Councilor Devine was confused about temporary signs when they are allowed year around. She wanted to know what makes it temporary and she wanted to know how hate speech would be handled. Ms. Martin said these were complexed issues and fact specific. City Attorney Dooley said hate speech would be protected under the first amendment and it does not allow the assessment of the quality of the message but it could be assessed on the aesthetics and safety. She explained the challenges of having staff regulate how long a sign has been up and when it has to come down. Councilor Duffy said he was concerned with the craft application of the downtown historic district and he hoped the commercial industry would be mindful of the interest of the City not to look bad. He was also mindful of free speech but he felt there could be reasonable limits on the signs. 2  Councilor Graham asked for an example of a permanently attached sign and Ms. Sherman explained that it was something that was not easily removed (set in concrete or has some sort of foundation). He said he would like to see an expansion in the residential section and specific rules in the downtown. Councilor Kelly said defining levels of speech was hard to define and he did not want to go down that path. Councilor Withers said he was more concerned about the Historic District but not as worried with residential. Mayor Greenlaw agreed. Downtown Commercial District Density Amendments. Mr. Johnston presented a PowerPoint presentation and he discussed Area 7 Downtown Small Area Plan’s three key issues with the Commercial Downtown Zoning District, Solutions Discussed in the Creative Maker District and Area 7 Downtown Plan Public Hearings Align with City Vision, Commercial Downtown and Old and Historic Fredericksburg Overlay District, Disconnect Between Density Rules and Historic Development Patterns, Calibrate By-Right Levels for Mixed- Use in the OHFD/CD, Calibration of Active Uses and Retail Priority Area and Next Steps/Recommendation. See Attachment III for more information. Councilor Kelly expressed his concern with keeping oversight in the downtown area he said a lot comes into play beyond the density issue. He would like to spend more time walking through this. Councilor Graham said he did not feel this went far enough for businesses. He said there must be more housing for people so they could be in the downtown to go shopping. Councilor Graham said these were baby steps and it was not going to get the vibrancy and the tax revenues the City was looking for. He would like to build on this and take advantage of the opportunity. Councilor Withers was concerned with the mixed use and he liked the encouragement of the development of the upper floors of the businesses. Councilor Duffy said he liked the approach he said getting through the transition was going to be the hard part. 3  Councilor Kelly said one common comment was that the downtown was unique and charming and he hoped in 20 years it would still be unique and charming. He said the City needed to take the time and review it. Mayor Greenlaw said she appreciate the fact that it was respecting the unique character of the downtown and it would help to preserve or improve upon it. VFW/Woodford Street Rezoning. Mr. Johnston presented a PowerPoint presentation and he discussed the Current Land Use, Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Proposed Rezoning. Councilor Withers reminded everyone that it was important to rezone the houses back to R-4 because there was a shortage on houses. Gordon Shelton Corridor Residential Proposals. Mr. Johnston noted there had been discussions about additional residential in the Gordon Shelton Corridor. Mr. Johnston presented a PowerPoint presentation showing the two proposed developments on the Silver Cos. property they were proposing a work center/clubhouse facility. It would be a membership entity. The other 15-acres would be a 372 multi-family units. The Lapis property would include a senior housing project with 300 units. These properties were currently zoned Planned Development Commercial (PDC) and this zoning only allows 10 percent of acreage devoted to residential and that acreage had already been taken up with other properties. Mr. Johnston discussed options with the developers if they did not want to wait for the Area 1 plan to be approved. See Attachment V for more information. Mr. Johnston stated that these developers really wanted to move forward. Vice-Mayor Frye expressed his concern with having so many rental units. He would Iike to see more homeownership and he said this was discouraging. Councilor Graham agreed and said he was concerned with the senior housing and the clear cutting that would occur. He said this was an opportunity to build this into a neighborhood instead of a collection of apartment buildings. He would like to see more of a mixed use so there could be a sense of place. Councilor Kelly said he had concerns with this proposal and he said he would like to see a project that fit the City’s goals and not based on what the current market dictates. These two housing units were contrary to what the City was looking for. 4  Councilor Devine said she was concern with the housing development that was not planned for that area. The Council’s job was to look long-term and she had strong concerns. She was also concerned with the natural area being torn down. Councilor Duffy said this part of the city needed to be developed as a place for communities. Councilor Withers agreed this goes against everything the City had planned for. The Comprehensive Plan talks about preserving trees and the 10 percent housing had been fulfilled. Councilor Duffy said the City had spent a lot of time laying out what it wanted and the developers should know. General Assembly Legislation. City Attorney Dooley gave an update and she noted that the City’s top priority was the Water Quality Improvement Funding (WQIF) to be put towards the consolidation of the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant with Spotsylvania County. This project would need the WQIF funding. The City Manager and team developed a proposal that may help the City obtain more WQIF funds. She explained the City would be experiencing sewer rate increases over the next few years to pay for water quality improvement that would be required by state law. She said they would ask the General Assembly to recognize the rate increases in their formula for distributing the WQIF funds and if adopted it could result in addition of $4 M additional funds for the City. Ms. Dooley explained that the hiring of Eldon James as a lobbyist for the City came in handy because they developed the proposal language and they spoke with Delegate Joshua Cole who presented the legislation with the support of Spotsylvania County. Mr. James was working on the Senate side to try and get the same support. Ms. Dooley explained that the $4M would help to pay the City’s share of the consolidation and rate increases could be stepped out increasing over years. Mr. Baroody explained that there was no finality on the cost of the Consolidation and this award would reduce charges overtime but he did not know to what degree. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 7:03 p.m. 5 ______________________ Tonya B. Lacey, MMC Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 6