Planning Commission

City of Petersburg Planning Commission Meeting September 7, 2023 Minutes The City of Petersburg Planning Commission meeting held on Thursday, September 7, 2023, was called to order by the Chair, Mrs. Tammy Alexander, at 6:30 p.m. A roll call was completed by Ms. Michelle Murrills. Members Present: Ms. Tammy Alexander, Chair Mr. Fenton Bland, Vice Chair Dr. Chioma Adaku Mr. Thomas Hairston Mr. Michael Edwards Dr. James Norman Dr. William Irving Ms. Marie Vargo Mrs. Candace Taylor Members Absent: A Quorum was established by Ms. Murrills. Others Present: Ms. Naomi Siodmok Planning Director, Ms. Sandra Robinson, Ms. Michelle Murrills, Mr. Stacey Phelps, Petersburg Commissioner of Revenue Brittany Flowers, and Mr. Randall Williams, Assistant Director Public Works & Utilities. 3. Adoption of the Agenda: 1 Chair Alexander called for any changes to the agenda. Since there were none, Commissioner Edwards moved for the approval of the agenda; Commissioner Hairston seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Consent Agenda: a. Minutes from the June 1, 2023 meeting. b. Minutes from the July 6, 2023 meeting. c. Minutes from the August 17, 2023 meeting. Chair Alexander asked if there were any changes that needed to be made to any of the minutes. Commissioner Adaku moved for the approval of all the minutes while Commissioner Norman seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously. 5. Public Hearings: Chair Alexander read the notice of a public hearing as follows: 2023-SUP-07: A Public Hearing and consideration of a resolution recommending approval of a petition for a special use permit at the property located at 2744 South Crater Road for a hand car wash and detailing use in a B-2, General Commercial, District. Director Siodmok made the presentation. This is a petition by Mr. Stacey Phelps, owner and operator of Sparkle Detailing, LLC to be considered under Article 23. Supplementary Use Regulations. Special Uses. Section 4. Special Uses Enumerated. #23 Stand-alone vehicle repair, to include general automobile repair shops, truck repair shops, transmission repair shops, engine repair shops, car washes or car washing and detailing operations, and similar facilities, such to be permitted within the B-2, and M-1, zoning districts only. The subject property is addressed at 2744 S Crater Road, further identified as TP#065140005, currently zoned B-2, General Commercial District which requires the approval of an overlay district of a Special Use Permit for the proposed hand car wash & detailing use. The Comprehensive Plan is that this is zone Commercial, and it is Commercial so that they are consistent and support this use. Staff does approve this Special Use Permit, with a few conditions. 1. The applicant shall maintain a clean site environment without any outside storage of materials or equipment. 2. No vehicle stored on the property awaiting cleaning may be retained on the premises for more than 48 hours. 3. No vehicle repairs will be operated on the subject premises. Chair Alexander then invited the petitioner, Mr. Stacy Phelps, to come forward to talk to the Commissioners. Mr. Phelps then stated that he had previously operated an auto detailing 2 business at 601 E Wythe Street. He said that he started the business to give youth in the area a job. He said to help the business to have better visibility, he cut down the bushes down Flank Road. He said that he did that for the safety of both his employees and his customers. He said he had been robbed before. Chair Alexander then asked if this was the old Kangaroo Mart and Mr. Phelps said yes. Chair Alexander then asked the commissioners if there were any questions. Vice-chair Bland then asked if the bushes that were cut down were in the National Battlefield and the answer was no. Chair Alexander then verified that Mr. Phelps was no longer on Wythe Street. Commissioner Edwards then asked Director Siodmok if she had received an email that he sent and if she had been able to get information on the parking issues in the area. She said that all that was required by the city for this type and size of establishment is two parking spaces and there was room for them. Also, she said that she looked at the establishment that was next door that was supposed to be a vape shop, but it is not a vape shop, it is operating as a gambling establishment, which is not a permitted use. Director Siodmok then said that staff was looking into what to have done about that, but that the any parking issues should be resolved with that. She then asked Ms. Robinson about talking with Chief Reid and she said that Chief Reid didn’t any problems with placement of the carwash, just that the only thing that Mr. Phelps needs to be concerned about is making sure that he reaches out to public works in terms of the water, the uses and how it is set up and everything. Commissioner Edwards then said that his concern was that the commissioners had discussed these gambling places in great detail and that the lot is not big enough as it is. He said that there are times that that lot is packed and that his major concern is that all those cars could cause a dangerous traffic jam. Back when it was operating as a gas station people were in and out of there, but with this there will not be that easy in and out. Ms. Robinson then said one: the building next door was being operated illegally and therefore would not be included in the Staff’s approval for the business. Two: Mr. Phelps’s business had nothing to do with the illegal establishment next door and therefore would not be considered along with it. The city has taken a stand, because Council, and Planning Commission, has not reviewed these things so no determination has been made (about gambling establishments). But when a potential applicant comes in for a business license, she signs off on it and these businesses licenses for vape shops she specifically places no gaming. The Commissioner of Revenue is here, and she can verify that is what she does. But a B-2 General Commercial District (as well as an Industrial District) does allow for multiple businesses to be on one property, contingent upon parking being met. In this instance Mr. Phelps meets the parking criteria. The vape issue and the gambling issue are something totally different than what is being presented to the Planning Commission tonight. Commissioner Edwards then added that he understood the issue because there are many gambling places popping up as vape shops. There is one over on Walnut Blvd and Sycamore Street as well as over at the Plaza so he knows that that is an issue that hopefully the city will be moving forward we address that because it then gives you all more power to stand on and gives the Commissioner of Revenue something to enforce, but unfortunately, someone trying to open a new business has to be subjected to the back and forth of this. But that still doesn't eliminate my concerns because you may go and put a sticker on the door and say Shut Down, but we all know that when the city closes everybody does what they want to do. Ms. Robinson said that today she spoke with the operator of the vape shop and he stated to her that he just worked there. He 3 did not know that it was illegal and so tomorrow she plans on reaching out to the owner of the establishment, to let them know that this is illegal…there was NO vape in the establishment— NONE! Commissioner Hairston then asked if Sparkle detailing had operated above board—like have we had any problems? It has been there on that corner on Wythe for a long time. I am asking because that is a hot corner and if he operated on that corner with no problems well then. He used to clean lots of expensive cars over there and so I am just wondering if we had any problems. Ms. Robinson said that basically there were no problems except that he did not realize that he had to go through a Special Use Program through the Planning Commission. Mr. Phelps then said he had never had any problems and if anything at the various places he has had his business in areas that were considered drug infested areas and he cleaned them up. He also said because the people in the area respect him, the criminals have left the area that he was set up in and the crime rates went down. Commissioner Edwards then said that he had a concern. Petersburg has Flagstop going in down the street, we have the carwash right down from King’s Barbeque, we have the automatic car wash behind Wawa, there is the one going in front of Walmart, so my question is, how many car washes do we need? Especially right there. That’s four within a mile radius. Commissioner Irvin said that it seems like the risk of a profit is up to the applicant. And if anything, since he is not franchisee, it is possible that if someone drops out it would probably not be him. Commissioner Hairston added that while he certainly does not think that Petersburg needs another car wash, the car washes that are there already are all automated and this is more of a detailer and not a car wash. Plus, this is not adding a car wash, it is just moving. Commissioner Vargo agreed that this is a free market. If there is supply and demand that’s great and if not…he’ll do something else. Mr. Phelps said that he has been doing this for over thirty years and people who have high end cars do not take their cars to somewhere like Wawa. (He has cleaned up cars that have been washed at Wawa). I am at a totally different level than anything like Wawa. Chair Alexander then opened the hearing up for public comment. Mr. Randall Williams, Assistant Director Public Works & Utilities—City of Petersburg, said competition breeds the best from everybody. Look at up 460 you have all those car washes up there. They are building a Sheetz there next to Wawa, Pilot, Loves, etc. I am thinking that there must be some money in car washes. There are all styles of car washes throughout Petersburg. So, he believes that with competition, cream rises to the top. Chair Alexander then closed the public hearing portion. Vice Chair Bland then asked if there was any problem with the water that would be used for the car wash and was told that there should not be a problem. Commissioner Hairston then asked what Staff’s recommendation was. Director Siodmok answered that Staff recommended yes but with the previously stipulations: 1. The applicant shall maintain a clean site environment without any outside storage of materials or equipment. 2. No vehicle stored on the property awaiting cleaning may be retained on the premises for more than 48 hours. 4  3. No vehicle repairs will be operated on the subject premises. Commissioner Irvin then made a motion to accept Staff’s recommendation with stipulations. It was seconded by Commissioner Vargo. A vote was then taken, and it was 5 yes-1 no-1 abstain, with Commissioner Edwards voting no and Commissioner Adaku abstaining. Motion passed. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business. 8. NEW BUSINESS It was agreed that because Mr. Randall Williams, Assistant Director of the Public Works and Utilities, had a family engagement he would actually go first with his presentation and then Director Siodmok reversing the order on the agenda. Mr. Williams then made his presentation. He wanted to explain the differences between the Operating Budget, the Capital Improvement Plan, and the Capital Budget. For the past three years Petersburg has had a Capital budget (after a couple of years with none). The problem is that the Capital Budget is only for one year. A Capital Improvement Plan is a plan for up to five years. Any larger project that needs to be budgeted for more than one year in order to be completed, at this point is automatically denied because Petersburg does not have a CIP. The process that is being proposed, it should not be just one person doing the Capital Improvement Plan, and it should be department heads and people like the Planning Commission all sitting around a table and everyone has a template, and everyone fills out their template to then put forward the projects that you feel the city needs to make your department successful. The main reason that Petersburg does not have a Capital Improvement Plan is that the city has not had the money for major improvements for the past few years and the attitude has been why should we waste the time to make a CIP if we already knew that we do not have the money to fund our projects. But we are no longer in our financial crisis, we have moved on. We are going on to bigger and better things and we need to get that mindset back. Mr. Williams said that he has spoken to the last three City Managers about the importance of a CIP. When he goes to City Council meetings and hears all these accolades about how great we are doing financially he thinks to himself, but we don’t have a CIP and most properly run municipalities have one. All a CIP is, is a working document with some projects budgeted out a year or two and others all the way at 5 years. But when you are not used to doing it and have gotten out of the habit of doing it for so many years trying to get everyone back to the table can be hard. He has made CIPs every year, but when he presents it to the powers that be, he gets told let’s just concentrate on the one- year projects that we already have funded. For the past three years the Capital Budget has been included in the Operating Budget and so improvements have been made, but the problem is there are things out there to be done over more than just one year. For this fiscal year 23-24 we are good, but only for one-year operations. So, the way this process would work is that we would start the process, collect the templates, put the data together, get the funding sources together (and sometimes you are not going to have funding sources—but if its three years from now and you know that you are still applying for grants and applying for funds, it’s not like you’re not 5 trying). And then you bring all that together and a calendar has to be prepared, just like it was for the operating budget, and once the calendar was prepared you work through that calendar then it goes in front of council. Council then goes through all their questions and approvals and all those types of things and then have Council sign off on it. Once it is signed off on, then it goes to various commissions and boards (like you all) and then you have your ideas to help shape it. Ultimately it would go back to council and then they would eventually approve and adopt it and we would have a CIP. Once you have it, you have it for five years, and like a continually moving target, as one year is added another drops off. Chair Alexander asked if a Capital Improvements Committee had been put together. The answer was that the process was started under Aretha, but no, one has not been done yet. But if you look at the Capitol Budget, you will see that 60-70% of it is Public Works and Utilities because of the nature of the projects we have going right now, such as Poor Creek and such. But here in the City of Petersburg, you have Public Works and Utilities put together in other municipalities they are separate. I want to end with that it is easier to maintain a CIP, once it gets started, than to start one up every few years. While I have talked with Mr. Altman, but right now it seems to be just me with the templates and all the projects. So, we just need to reestablish the process and have meetings, get out information, put together a calendar, have groups that at least ask those questions and then get one done. Chair Alexander asked the last time we had a CIP, and the answer was 2017. Commissioner Edwards then asked if anything was going to get done to the Union Train Station. Mr. Williams then said that yes that was his next project. He said that he is trying to be smart about it. He is hoping to not put it through the whole procurement thing. It is going to happen in three phases. There are already formal proposals that were never acted upon so now it’s just a waiting game. Commissioner Edwards then asked about what the timeline for it is. Mr. Williams was not sure, but he said that he was trying to do it without having to deal with procurement and was trying to get it done as soon as possible. There have been a lot of things going on there this summer, like the governor visiting, and it looks bad. But it is a revenue generator and there are a lot of events and things that go on there. So, the idea is that if we could get that building updated, it would mean that the city could charge a little bit more. Chair Alexander also reminded everyone that it is the voting precinct for the 4th Ward. Commissioner Edwards also asked about making the handicapped entrance more stable. Mr. Williams said that he would get some city employees on it and that way one could see results, as long as it stayed below a certain amount. Perhaps there might be a state contract that we could piggyback off of and that would be another way to get it done. We don’t have to deal with the whole bid process if we keep the amount below a certain threshold. When asked what that threshold was, the answer was probably $50,000. I used to work in the budget department and the problem is that if something costs more than that, then you have to go out and get the funding, get the approvals and, and do all these presentations, and all these meetings, and for what? Because once we get the money no one wants to spend the money. So now that I am over to the public works, utility side I don’t mind spending the money. So, the train station is now my pet project. Commissioner Edwards said he was looking forward to the renovations, especially the windows. He then asked if there was any way to put some attention onto Centre Hill Mansion. Mr. Williams said that he does have a list and is working on it. Commissioner Hairston then asked if the commission was supposed to be voting on any of this and Mr. Williams said that he was here simply to explain everything and to explain that the city has not had a CIP since 2017 and we need to get the ball rolling. Commissioner Hairston then said that he was happy that money could be discussed 6 because Petersburg is spending is spending $2 million on Southside Depot to repair a visitor center that has been empty forever. We spend $571,000 on Parks and Rec at a time that the crime is crazy around here, the children have nothing to do. The basketball courts don’t have rims on them. So, I am questioning why we don’t juggle more money into Parks and Rec because we want to invite more people to the city. When they come here, they say where I should go and we say go to the parks. But the parks look bad and y’all want to spend money inviting people and we are going to have one little building in Old Towne that looks nice but the whole rest of the city looks like garbage while our kids are dying in the streets. That $2 million would make all of our parks look good and which would you rather have one building looking good or all of our parks? With that Mr. Williams ended his presentation. Director Siodmok then made her presentation, a discussion on nonconforming buildings and their uses in the City of Petersburg. In Petersburg we have many vacant homes that have been vacant for years. The problem is that a lot of these structures do not conform to the city code. For instance, if the building is a duplex, but does not have the required lot frontage for a duplex per the code it is nonconforming. Per Article 24, Section 3, - If any nonconforming use is discontinued for a period of two years…it shall lose its not conforming status and any further use shall conform to the provisions of the zoning ordinance. Which means that in the example above, the home would have to convert to a single-family residence. What would we like to do about this? Maybe we want to keep the codes the way they are. Maybe we want the structures to become single-family homes once they have been vacant for more than two years. Or maybe we would like to modify the code and preserve the housing diversity, retain the structures as they were historically. Or we could consider some other ideas. I am wanting the commission to think about this, because I would like us to modify the code. There are many reasons to do that. 1. It allows housing options of various sizes and affordability and not just single-family homes or apartments. 2. It can lower the cost of entry to home ownership and the opportunity to build equity. 3. Increases/preserves housing supply. 4. Retains character and intent of historic neighborhoods and structures. The director then said that her preference was to modify the code to retain diversity. It gives lots of affordability options as well as size options. Maybe they will be rentals or maybe they will be ownership, but it still gives lots of options. It allows our neighborhoods to retain their historical character. There are some individual cases that have come up as well. For instance, what if a single-family home is in an Industrial Zone and has been vacant for more than two years…what do we do about that? Do we want to force the building to no longer be a home or do we want to change the code to allow the home to be fixed up, rather than another blighted building, even though it is a non-conforming building. What about if we have existing illegal multi-family apartments in a single-family home? Would we want to consider that by the adoption date of this new ordinance anything before that would be grandfathered in? Something to discuss. Ms. Murrills was the first to speak. She said that another non-conforming type of building is commercial space, like bodegas and small grocery stores that had been built 50-100 years ago as a neighborhood store that have been abandoned for more than two years are also held to this standard. Not just the ones that are storefronts with apartments above but stand-alone businesses 7 that were built as businesses if they have not been used in the past two years, they now have to become single family homes. Chair Alexander agreed. She said that she has lived in neighborhoods with neighborhood stores, and it was the best thing for the area. It gave the area a cohesiveness. The other thing is too, that people buy those expecting to be able to use them as they are meant to be and then they are not told that it is supposed to be a single-family home until they go to get the permits. Ms. Robinson then said that people who are buying property should first go to Planning and Zoning first before they go to the assessor’s office to buy the property. Chair Alexander said that while one should do their research, she does not like the idea that we are losing those mom-and-pop stores throughout the neighborhoods. Ms. Robinson said that one thing to remember was that back in the day, there was not parking associated with those mom-and-pop stores and that that creates issues with the neighborhood. Yeah, we love them for their convenience, but then we don’t like the density of people coming and going. Ms. Murrills then mentioned that Richmond has gotten completely rid of their parking rules associated with businesses. Director Siodmok then said that was a future goal for Petersburg. Commissioner Hairston said that he has a friend who bought a vacant apartment building. The city allowed him to fix up the apartments and pour all this money into it, but then would not give him the permit to run the apartments and instead was told that it had to be a single-family home. Also, he has heard from people that the city sold lots without letting people know that you cannot build on that lot. Yes, they should have done their due diligence, but it still happens and what the city should do is grandfather in if the lot had a house, as long as they build it to the specs of the house that was there. Commissioner Vargo then said that her issue is all the illegal multi-family structures. She does not want to say that there is a cut off point and those that were before that time are grandfathered in. Many of these illegal apartments are just carve-outs and they are not pretty. Director Siodmok then mentioned that all of those details could be addressed and maybe allow for some of the cut-up houses to continue to be apartments. Commissioner Hairston mentioned that also the empty lots need to be addressed. So, the city tore down the blighted houses that’s good, but then they leave the lot empty so that it can then just fill up with trash. He reiterated that the city needs to allow people to build tiny houses so that these lots can not only have someone taking care of them, but also then generating tax money as well. He said that the city needed to fix up the houses we have, we need to allow duplexes that were built as duplexes to be duplexes and we need to allow small houses to be built on small lots. That would help with our affordable housing issues. Ms. Robinson then said that rooming houses are only allowed in R-5 districts (Multi-family) as well as in B-2 by Special Use Permit. But no one has ever asked for a that Special Use Permit. The final issue that Director Siodmok wanted to address was what to do with an abandoned single-family residence that is in the middle of an Industrial Zone. What should happen? Change the zoning? Do it on a case-by-case basis? Or just leave the code the way it is and lose the home forever? The Director said that she would take all this discussion back with her and something would be brought out later for the commissioners to then vote on. 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS The Director said not to forget the work session. 10. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Irvin then asked for adjournment at 8:00 seconded by Commissioner Vargo. 8