Planning Commission

City of Petersburg Planning Commission Meeting May 5, 2022 Minutes The City of Petersburg Planning Commission meeting held on Thursday, May 5, 2022, and was called to order by the Chair, Ms. Tammy Alexander at 6:45 p.m. A roll call was completed by Ms. Michelle Murrills. Members Present: Ms. Chioma Adaku Mr. Fenton Bland, Vice Chair Ms. Tammy Alexander, Chair Ms. Marie Vargo Mr. Thomas Hairston Dr. James Norman Dr. William Irvin Members Absent: Mr. Michael Edwards Ms. Candy Taylor A Quorum was established by the Chair. Others Present: Mr. Reginald Tabor, Ms. Michelle Murrills, Ms. Sandra Robinson, Mr. Mike Haley and Mrs. Connie Haley. Adoption of the Agenda: Commissioner Hairston moved for the adoption of the agenda, and it was seconded by Commissioner Irvin. The motion passed unanimously. 1 Minutes: Chair Alexander called for the approval of the minutes. Then Commissioner Irvin moved for the adoption of the Minutes from the March 3, 2022, meeting; Commissioner Vargo seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. There seemed to be a question about the date of the minutes in the agenda as the minutes were not from the past meeting. Public Information Period: Chair Alexander opened the Public Information Period to anyone who wished to speak on an item not on the agenda. No one chose to speak and so Chair Alexander closed the public information period. Public Hearings: Ms. Robinson of the Planning Department read the notice of a public hearing as follows: 6. 2022-ZTA-01: On referral from The Department of Planning and Community Development for review and recommendation regarding a text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Petersburg, Article 15, Section 2 of the B-2, General Commercial District Use Regulations, to permit the following uses: Micro-Brewery, Micro-Distillery, Micro-Winery and/or Micro-Cidery. A facility for the production and packaging of alcoholic beverages for distribution, retail, or wholesale, on or off-premises and which meets all Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control laws and regulations. The facility may include other uses such as retail sales, tasting rooms and restaurants. Mr. Tabor then made the presentation. The City of Petersburg Zoning Ordinance establishes zoning district and permitted uses within each district. The City of Petersburg City Council adopted Ordinance 21-ORD-18, March 23, 2021which includes definitions the following uses, Micro-Brewery, Micro-Distillery, Micro-Winery and/or Micro-Cidery. A facility for the production and packaging of alcoholic beverages for distribution, retail, or wholesale, on- or off-premises and which meets all Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control laws and regulations. The facility may include other uses such as retail sales, tasting rooms and restaurants. The Micro-Brewery, Micro-Distillery, Micro-Winery and/or Micro-Cidery uses are generally not combustible and result in alcoholic beverages with alcohol contents less than 16%. The district in which the defined uses was not specified. This is a resolution recommending that the uses be permitted in the B-2 Zoning District. All Micro-Brewery, Micro-Distillery, Micro-Winery and/or 2 Micro-Cidery businesses must comply with all relevant codes related to alcoholic beverage control, building, health and public safety. Pursuant to the requirements of Title 15.2-2204 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, this is a public hearing to consider approval of rezoning, and the public hearing was advertised, in accordance with applicable laws. Mr. Tabor also said that the planning department contacted other jurisdictions and asked them how they handled such uses, including Fredericksburg, Dinwiddie County and Hopewell. The City Council on Tuesday, May 17, has a request to schedule a public hearing and consideration of an ordinance amending the City’s Zoning Ordinance to permit Micro-Brewery, Micro-Cidery and Micro-Winery in the B- 1 Zoning District and include Article 3 Section 1 of the Petersburg Zoning Ordinance “Definitions” use regulations amended and re-adopted to include a building of premises may only be used for the following: (1) Retail sale of merchandise, services, recreational areas, parking areas and other facilities, as set forth and described in this section and ordinarily accepted as shopping center uses; (2) uses permitted in the project area, according to the residential district regulations in force prior to the establishment of the shopping center district on the tract in question as the only alternative in case the district is not used for the purpose for which it was especially intended, namely a shopping center; and (3) A Micro-Brewer, Micro- Distillery, Micro-Meadery, Micro-Winery and/or Micro-Cidery. Chair Alexander then asked if any commissioners had any questions. Commissioner Irvin had a question about the actual zoning and how it all worked. Ms. Robinson then clarified that these various definitions were not included in the zoning and without those definitions being in the zone ordinance, they would not be allowed to happen in the retail district. Commissioner Vargo then asked why the City Council was already scheduled for two weeks from today and it was explained that it was so that City Council could schedule their meeting with the proper notices. Chair Alexander then asked what staff’s recommendations were. Staff recommendations for conditions: • No heat used in the production process • Maximum quantity of 5,000 gallons per year • Alcohol levels in beverages shall be below 16% to minimize combustibility • No offensive odors should be produced • Noise levels will have to comply with the City’s Code regarding Noise • Must comply with all relevant codes including alcoholic beverage control, building, health and public safety Ms. Robinson wanted to say that she went to go visit the applicant’s place of business and that there was no noise. She was very impressed with how peaceful it was. 3 Chair Alexander then opened it up to the public and asked if there was anyone who wanted to speak on this. Mr. Mike Haley from Haley’s Meadery, the applicant, explained that mead is just like wine except that instead of grapes to sweeten it, they use honey instead. Mrs. Connie Haley explained more of the process to show that they could meet the staff’s recommendations. She also said that they are looking at leaving Hopewell and bringing their production company to Petersburg and if that were to happen then the bottles would be labeled that they were bottled in Petersburg. And since they make 29 different flavors that would be a lot of bottles labeled from Petersburg. Richard Cuthbert also spoke as he is the person who will be their landlord in Olde Town. He mentioned that he is trying to bring more business to Olde Town and believes the applicant would be a good fit. He also wanted to let the Commission know that he is planning on having the meadery on the ground floor and have people live upstairs—mixed use type of thing. Chair Alexander then closed the public hearing portion of the proceedings and asked for any comments or questions from the commissioners. Commissioner Hairston then made a motion to accept it as offered by staff so that it can go on to City Council, which was seconded by Vice- Chair Bland. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Old Business A. Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment: Bicycle on sidewalks and License Requirements. Mr. Tabor asked if we could table the amendment until the next time. Commissioner Hairston wanted to say one thing before the commission moved on. He said that his sister-in-law is deathly afraid of having people ride on the sidewalks in Petersburg, but that being said, he was down in West Palm Beach, Florida, and they ride on the sidewalks everywhere and it seemed to work in Florida. He believes that it might be useful to try it here. B. Zoning Ordinances Text Amendment: Nightclubs. Mr. Tabor asked that this also be tabled because there are some issues that need to be worked through first. Commissioner Hairston mentioned that he had been subpoenaed to discuss this very thing on May 16th at a disciplinary hearing for Paradise Nightclub. C. Capital Improvement Plan. Mr. Tabor explained that there were some capital improvement plans that the public works department wanted to work on. The Virginia code requires that the Planning Commission adopt a Capital Improvement Plan. So, the Planning Department wanted to provide this information to the Planning Commission. These plans include the Park and Ride, the Southside Depot, the Operations Center/Fuel Station, Farmer Street Pool, Farmer Street Safety Building, the Sycamore Street Culvert, South Crater Road signal improvements, LED replacements, Phlow Pharmaceutical development, citywide drainage study, Etc. Mr. Tabor said that this was all for informational purposes tonight. 4 8. New Business Chair Alexander asked if there was any new business. There was not. 9. Announcements Chair Alexander then asked if there were any announcements. Commissioner Hairston announced that in two weeks there would be trash dumpsters placed through out the city and he asked that people come and bring their household trash to throw away that he helped to organize and help with the clean up of Petersburg. 10. Adjournment Commissioner Irvin moved for adjournment at 7: 40 PM. 5