Planning Commission

Minutes City of Petersburg Planning Commission Meeting July 7, 2021 The City of Petersburg Planning Commission meeting held on Wednesday July 7, 2021, virtually and was called to order by the Chair, Mrs. Tammy Alexander at 7:14 pm. A roll call was completed by Ms. Michelle Murrills. Members Present: Ms. Tammy Alexander, Chair Ms. Marie Vargo Mr. Thomas Hairston Dr. James Norman Ms. Candy Taylor Mr. Michael Edwards Members Absent: Mr. William Irvin Mr. Fenton Bland, Vice Chair A Quorum was established by the Chair at 7:15 pm. Others Present: Mr. Reginald Tabor, Ms. Michelle Murrills, Ms. Sandra Robinson, and Mr. Dulaney Ward. Adoption of the Agenda: Chair Alexander called for any changes…there were none Commissioner Norman moved for approval of the agenda. Commissioner Edwards seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 1 Minutes: Commissioner Edwards moved to adopt the Minutes from the June 2, 2021, Planning Commission meeting. Commissioner Hairston seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Public Information Period: Chair Alexander opened the Public Information Period to anyone who wished to speak on an item not on the agenda. Chair Alexander closed the Public Information period. Public Hearings: 6A. Chair Alexander announced a public hearing-- 2021-CPA-01: Request to amend the City of Petersburg Subdivision Ordinance to include text regarding the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas. The City of Petersburg subdivision ordinance currently does not include required elements and criteria that local governments must adopt and implement and administering Chesapeake Bay act programs. There is a need to amend the Subdivision Ordinance to include Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas section required elements and criteria to comply with Act requirements. Director Tabor made a small presentation as a continuation of the discussion from last month’s meeting. With no new comments from either the public or the commissioners, Commissioner Hairston approved to do as Director Tabor suggested. Commissioner Norman seconded it. Old Business: a. City Comprehensive plan update Director Tabor wants to prioritize the issues that the consultants brought up in the last meeting. So it was voted to save until September 1st. Director Tabor said that the Berkeley group has given a proposal and the city will have to still decide if the group will be hired. The hope is that the group will be with the commissioners throughout the whole process of our future comprehensive plan. b. Reports regarding the following land use issues: i. Homeless shelters The Planning Commission tried to come up with the definition of what is homelessness and what is a homeless shelter. The planning department wants to come back to the Commission at the September meeting to then decide what exactly constitute a homeless shelter and where are they allowed in the city of Petersburg. Ms. Robinson wants to have the definition of homeless shelter so that the city has something to give parameters to. 2  With a definition it then makes it easier to both get funding and keep track of everything that is going on with the shelters. Commissioner Hairston is wanting to work on how a homeless shelter (s) will work in Petersburg. Commissioner Vargo wants to keep things fairly generic and by keeping it as such, makes it easier to have several different types of shelters. Which may be something that would be easier in Petersburg. Commissioner Edwards wants to try to make it as easy as possible to get a homeless shelter up and running. While at the same time, once they are up and running, he want to have many controls in place so that Petersburg has control over who is and is not staying there. Chairman Alexander wants to continue the discussion and the definition of homeless shelters. So, it was decided to move the discussion to the September 1st meeting. ii. Solar Farms: It was decided to bring birth back as a text amendment to the September 1st meeting which would include a public hearing. iii. Games of skill: Since games of skill are now illegal in the state of Virginia... Chairman Alexander simply wanted everyone to be aware of that. iv. Hemp/Marijuana Cultivation 2024 is when the new laws that pertained to the sale and growing of marijuana come into effect. Potentially, in the future, the commissioners will have to change some of the zoning laws. However, until 2024, everything is put on hold. 8. New Business: a. APA Virginia Virtual Conference July 19th-July 20, 2021. Commissioners are eligible to go to a virtual conference that would have classes that they would be interested in. b. Arts and Culture District: Because Commissioner Hairston want to know more about an Arts and Culture district, Director Tabor put this on the agenda. Commissioner Hairston wants to set up an area in Old Town that would allow for horse drawn carriages, pedal bars, possibly another town center, etc., to give tourists something to do once we get them to Petersburg. It was agreed to do some research about arts and entertainment and tourism districts and then come back in September and discuss what we could do in Petersburg. c. Small Area Plans-Downtown Mr. Delaney Ward gave a presentation on potential grant opportunities which would allow first time funding to help with downtown development. Mr. Ward said that we (the city of Petersburg) were offered to apply for $100,000 grant for downtown planning by Main Street Virginia. The new city manager is very much into helping and planning the downtown area and he told Mr. Ward that the downtown area is a priority of his. Mr. Ward is going to work very hard to get the grant paperwork completed and turned in by August 30th. But grant award announcement will be in September with the money available by October... quick turnaround. This grant, if awarded, would then go to studying and 3 planning the urban area and Old Town. If Petersburg is going to have a permanent Old Town square, then it needs to be properly planned out. Main Street Petersburg as part of Main Street Virginia. Delectable Heights- Director Tabor wanted the commissioners to keep in mind that Delectable Heights should be a big part of the comprehensive plan. Delectable Heights is being brought to the table because there is a project being paid for by the that is an infrastructure proposal for more residential development. And there is the additional development occurring in the Poplar Lawn in historic district that is being funded by the Cameron foundation. This covers Harrison St East to Sycamore and then from Liberty Street down to Shore Street. Also, the city is in the process of selling properties for residential development. As well as several other projects. Because of all this development director Tabor wanted to make a point that the plan for this area needed to be finished so that there would be direction which would strengthen the neighborhood, make sure that the infrastructure is there for the neighborhood development, and that the development that does occur as planned and not haphazard or isolated. The hope is, as the commissioners think of the comprehensive plans, they also think of these small area plans as part of the city's comprehensive plan. Announcements: Director Tabor announced that Stuart Turille is on board as the next city manager, and everyone is looking forward to working with him. . Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm by Commissioner Vargo. Next meeting is at 7:00 pm on September 1, 2021. 4