City Council

February 24, 2015 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Comprehensive Plan Workshop City Council Room 6:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES CONSENT AGENDA Nothing at this time. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. 2015 Comprehensive Plan – Public Workshop ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS ADJOURN Comprehensive Plan Workshop 2/24/15 February 24, 2015 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Comprehensive Plan Workshop City Council Room PRESENT: Joanne Yepsen, Mayor John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Christian Mathiesen, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Joe Ogden, Deputy Mayor Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Peter Martin, Supervisor EXCUSED: Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance Sharon Kellner-Byrnes, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Vincent DeLeonardis Matthew Veitch, Supervisor RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Yepsen called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. PUBLIC COMENT Page 2 of 7 Comprehensive Plan Workshop 2/24/15 Mayor Yepsen said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes each according to the rules approved in February of 2004 by the City Council. Mayor Yepsen opened the public comment period at 6:03 p.m. Bonnie Sellers of 73 Fifth Avenue advised she hopes the Council will be open to making a change for the residential community. She asked if backyard agriculture be changed so that instead of it stating within City limits it should state it be consistent with the surrounding neighborhood. Travis Mitchell of the Environmental Design Partnership stated he is here to represent the D’Andrea family. They would like to change the land use classification for their property on Crescent Avenue. He provided Comprehensive Plan maps from various years depicting the zoning of this family’s land. On the 2001 plan, their property was entirely placed within the conservation development district and the 1999 plan placed part of the property in the medium density residential (MDR) and part in the greenbelt. They are requesting they change the land use designation of the unconstrained portion and put it back to the land use designation that is consistent with the neighborhood. Matt Jones, attorney for Saratoga Hospital stated he is the attorney for Saratoga Hospital. There is 20 acres of vacant land on Morgan Street that would provide the opportunity for the hospital to expand their facilities. They are urging the Council to maintain the change made to the map regarding this land. Todd Shimkus of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and member of the Comprehensive Plan Committee stated there is more work to be done; this should be a product all can be proud of. He advised the Council to be careful when reviewing the document. The Committee agreed on the map except for the D’Andrea property and the Saratoga National Property. From a tourist stand point there are a number of new hotels being built in the City and the County. If these rooms aren’t filled; occupancy rates, taxes, and sales tax will come down. We have to do something about a golf resort in this community if we want to fill those rooms. Devin Dal Pos of 20 Karner Drive and member of the Comprehensive Plan Committee reinforced 2 amendments - #32 and #43; both pertain to the South Broadway area. The mark has been missed on the requirements for 2 sections of the GAP plan keeping the area from being improved as gateways to the City. He presented 2 amendments to tweak the recommendation of the GAPS study and aid in the realization of it. From Lincoln to Fenlon Street he would like to make the ‘build to’ line and minimum frontage requirements guidelines. From Fenlon Street to the East West Road, he proposes a shift in the Specialty Mixed Use – Park (SP) language to encourage that the shift of focus be less on use and more on the architecture, landscaping and bike/pedestrian connections with the State Park and the City. Harry Moran, chair of Sustainable Saratoga stated they are pleased the Council is moving forward. Mayor Yepsen closed the public comment period at 6:24 p.m. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Mayor Yepsen thanked the members of the Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC) for their hard work and time. She also thanked the residents for being so involved in this process as well. The next step is for the Council to study these documents and coordinate all the information presented to them and create a document for public presentation as our Comprehensive Plan. Brad Birge, Kate Maynard, and Susan Barden of the Planning Department joined the meeting to walk the Council through each of the following recommendations from the CPC. Brad explained the Council is required to have at least 1 public hearing before the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. The Page 3 of 7 Comprehensive Plan Workshop 2/24/15 Comprehensive Plan must also be submitted and reviewed by the Saratoga County Planning Board. The Planning Department staff explained the meaning and intent of each recommendation and asked the Council to provide their feedback on each. (Copies of recommendations and PowerPoint attached to minutes) Commissioner Mathiesen stated he felt that the document as a whole shows a lack of appreciation of residential neighborhoods. He would like to see this included in the overall document. #1: Correct List of Members: Council agreed to recommendation. #2: Add Executive Summary: Council agreed to recommendation. #3: Delete Reference to Don McLean: Council agreed to recommendation. #4: Delete All Sidebars & “Did You Know”: Brad Birge advised they hope to be able to use this document as a marketing tool in the future. Mayor Yepsen requested something regarding the City’s Centennial be added to this document. The Council agreed not to include the sidebars. They could, however; be in a separate document. #5: Revise Description of “Saratoga Springs – A Great American Place”: Council agreed to the alternate recommendation. #6: Revise Vision Statement: Council agreed to recommendation. #7: Strengthen a Guiding Principle Relating to Transportation: Commissioner Mathiesen pointed out he does not see ‘rail’ or Amtrak mentioned as a form of transportation. He also prefers ‘accommodates’ over ‘encourages’. Council agreed with Commissioner Mathiesen’s recommendations; go with ‘accommodates’ and add the reference to ‘rail’. Brad advised there is a second piece to this. The Council agreed to the addition of a second bullet point and they agreed with the alternate. #8: Strengthen a Guiding Principal Relating to Community Character: Council agreed to recommendation. #9: Use More Updated Economic Data: Council agreed to recommendation. #10: Revise Action Items Relating to Zoning Amendments: Council agreed to recommendation. #11: Add Reference to Health Benefits: Council agreed to recommendation. #12: Add Details of Climate Pledge: Council agreed to recommendation. #13: Use Term Gambling Instead of Gaming: Council agreed to stay with ‘gaming’. #14: Revise Recreational Needs to Stress All Income Levels: Council agreed to recommendation. #15: Revise Action Item Relation to Water and Stormwater Issues: Council agreed to recommendation. Page 4 of 7 Comprehensive Plan Workshop 2/24/15 #16: Revise Action Item Relating to Conservation Easements: Council agreed to recommendation #1. #17: Revise the Emphasis For Renewable/Alternative Energy Action Item: Council agreed to recommendation #3. #18: Revise Action Item Relating to Utility Efficiencies: Council agreed to recommendation. #19: Revise Action Item Relating to Energy Costs: Council agreed to alternate recommendation. #20: Revise Action Item Relating to Energy Costs: Council agreed to recommendation. #21: Revise Action Item to Promote Renewable/Alternative Energy Sources: Council agreed to recommendation. #22: Revise Action Item to Promote Renewable/Alternative Energy Sources: Council agreed to recommendation. #23: Revise Action Item to Promote Energy Efficiency of Public Lighting: Council agreed to recommendation. #24: Add a new Action Item Relating to Energy Standards: Council agreed to recommendation. #25: Add a New Action Item Relating to Monitoring Energy Standards: Council disagreed with recommendation; not necessary. #26: Use Correct Term for Climate Adaptation Plan: Council agreed to recommendation. #27: Add References to Rail Service: Council agreed to recommendation; be consistent throughout the document. #28: Revise Action Items Relating EV Charging Stations: Council agreed to recommendation. #29: Change Photographs of Community Character: Council asked for 1 picture of the townhouses to be removed and replaced with residential neighborhood. #30: Use More Updated Housing Data: Council agreed to recommendation. #31: Revise Action Relating to City in the Country: Council agreed to the alternate recommendation with the addition of the reference to residential neighborhoods. #32: Revise Standards for South Broadway Zoning: Council discussed the transect zones and the gateway. Commissioner Mathiesen stated he felt that this language would be more for the portion of South Broadway that is south of Crescent Avenue. Commissioner Franck agreed that there is no problem with the wording; it is the location of where this would apply. The Planning Department staff will come back to the Council with suggested language. #33: Revise Action Items Relating to Planned Unit Developments (PUDs): Council agreed to first recommendation. #34: Revise Action Item Relating to Landscape Design: Council agreed to recommendation. Page 5 of 7 Comprehensive Plan Workshop 2/24/15 #35: Revise Action Item Relating to Land Use Board Training: Planning Department Staff will do some wording on this and bring it back to the Council. #36: Delete Action Item Relating to Outdoor Storage in Residential Districts: Council suggested the wording “investigate solution to appropriate storage.” #37: Delete Action Item Relating to Higher Density in Residential Neighborhoods: Brad advised this item relates to action item ‘b’. Commissioner Mathiesen stated they need to weigh the impact on the rest of the neighborhood. He suggested ‘b’ be omitted at this time. Brad suggested they may want to say ‘investigate the appropriate conversion’ here. Brad advised there is a second piece to this item. The Planning Department Staff will get more clarification of the intent. #38: Revise Description of Complementary Core Land Use: The Council agreed they like the statement to say ‘support the downtown core’. #39: Revise the Definition of the Conservation Development District Land Use: Council agreed to the alternative recommendation with the inclusion of “Areas typically include single family lots and subdivisions, existing planned developments, farms, estates, and natural areas.” In regards to the suggestions in the second paragraph, the Council agreed with the recommendation as presented. #40: Revise Definition of Density Conservation Development District: Council agreed to the 4th recommendation. #41: Revise Definition of specialty Mixed Use – Parks: Council agreed to the alternate recommendation with the sentence to read as follows: “…for a mix of commercial uses that focus on … and does not negatively impact the Spa State Park – a National Natural Landmark Property.” #42: Revise Description of Specialty Mixed Use – Parks Land Use: Council agreed to recommendation. #43: Revise Description of Specialty Mixed Use – Parks Land Use: Council asked for the wording in the parenthesis to be removed and the statement that references the Weathervane. Council also requested the second paragraph be changed to ‘low impact tenants’ rather than ‘low to moderate impact tenants’. #44: Revise Definition of Specialty Gateway: Council requested the change be ‘low impact’ rather than ‘low to moderate’. #45: Revise Description of Specialty Mixed Use – Gateway Land Use: Council asked ‘but not in competition with’ be removed to be consistent throughout the document. The Planning Department staff will do additional research on the second part as it appears something is missing. #46: Revise Action Item Relating to Early Development Reviews: Council agreed to recommendation. #47: Revise Future Land Use – Reduce Size or Eliminate Specialty Gateway Near Saratoga Lake: Council requested this be changed to be from the 9P bridge to Crescent Avenue. #48: Revise Future Land Use Map – D’Andrea Property: Council agreed they need to further discuss this. Page 6 of 7 Comprehensive Plan Workshop 2/24/15 #49: Revise Future Land Use Map – Resort Overlay Zone: Brad advised housing is permitted to a certain extent. Todd Shimkus advised Geoff Bornemann stated they should have looked at a resort overlay a long time ago. The golf course and their attorney never had an opportunity to describe this. He asked the proper people be invited to talk about a resort overlay. Theresa Capozzola advised the Committee received a lot of material on the resort overlay. The public reaction to the resort overlay was not positive. Council agreed to hear more information on this topic before moving forward. #50: Revise Future Land Use Map – Corrections for Density: Brad Birge explained the zoning density. Commissioner Franck asked for the maps associated with each of the districts from item #47 on. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Yepsen advised they are working on scheduling a second Comprehensive Plan Workshop. That date will be announced shortly. There being no further business, Mayor Yepsen adjourned the meeting at 9:31 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 4/7/15 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 7 of 7