City Council

August 24, 2021 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Special City Council Meeting (UDO) 3:00 PM 5:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATION CONSENT AGENDA MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion: UDO Workshop ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS Matt Veitch 1. Nothing at this time. Tara Gaston 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN City Council Meeting 8/24/2021 August 24, 2021 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Special City Council Meeting (UDO) 474 Broadway 3:00 PM PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Robin Dalton, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Lisa Shields, Deputy Mayor Deirdre Ladd, Deputy Commissioner of Finance Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Vincent DeLeonardis Susan Barden Patrick Cogan Amanda Tucker Aneisha Sanford EXCUSED: Joe O’Neill, Deputy Commissioner, DPW 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 Kelly called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Mayor Kelly advised this is the last scheduled workshop for the UDO. All information and materials are available on the UDO page of the City’s website. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Kelly said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes. Mayor Kelly opened the public comment period at 3:01 p.m. Page 2 of 5 City Council Meeting 8/24/2021 Laura Faulk of Sustainable Saratoga urged the Council to take additional steps to address the climate crisis. The Planning Board’s advisory opinion outlines the issues of energy, decarbonization, clean transportation, and water efficiency. This is consistent with Sustainable Saratoga’s comments submitted with draft 2 of the UDO. They also urge the Council to remain committed to the Comprehensive Plan’s to protect the greenbelt. (copy attached). Tom Denny of Saratoga Springs stated he is here to support the advisory opinions of the City’s Planning Board, specifically, item #4 under inconsistencies. The Planning Board recommending re-visiting articles 16.5 and 16.6 to be sure it would not be inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. In the recommendation section, UDO section 15.8 relates to the 10% open space, preservation, and recreation. He urged the Council to accept the Planning Board’s recommendation here, which is to use language found in an earlier draft. He also supports the Planning Board’s recommendation to strengthen the commitment of rural character in the greenbelt. Mayor Kelly closed the public comment period at 3:08 p.m. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Mayor Kelly stated she is pleased with the work accomplished in the workshops. Three years ago this month they started work with Camiros. The UDO now includes increased energy and sustainability measures, conservation provisions, improvement to on-sight development standards, and stronger use of definitions and standards. Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, advised today they hope to wrap up the conversation and changes to the document. They hope to have a final version of the UDO to present to the Council and public at a special City Council meeting on September 14th and set a public hearing to be held September 21st through October 5th. They anticipate holding the SEQRA analysis on October 19th and possibly a discussion and vote on the UDO. Vince DeLeonardis went on to recap the four areas that were found not to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan: 1. Establish GCR district residential density – we have addressed the density and depth of GCR. Depth is 600’ and density has been changed to 1 dwelling per 15,000 square foot parcel. Ground floor residential is by special use permit only and must be behind a commercial building. 2. Change 2 parcels on Marion Ave = UR2 → RR. 3. Revise uses allowed + design standards in GCR near State Park. The proposal is to keep the GCR and confirm the gateway standards further along south Broadway. 4. In RR + SR, require conservation analysis for site plan and special use, as well as subdivision. The general consensus is to move forward with this change. Commissioner Madigan and Commissioner Dalton asked for clarification of definitions for country club, community center, and clubhouse. Patrick Cogan advised the country club definition was modified to clarify it’s primarily for social and recreational. This is not as wide open as indicated. Commissioner Dalton asked if this includes banquet facilities at a country club. Patrick Cogan advised the number of times a banquet can be held at a country club can be defined by the Planning Board with a special use permit. It has not been discussed what zones country clubs will or will not be allowed. The staff has been asked to remove the use of community center as an allowed use in the RR. The Planning Board recommended the use of community center be removed from RR. Commissioner Madigan advised she struggles with removing community center and becoming too restrictive. Page 3 of 5 City Council Meeting 8/24/2021 Commission Dalton advised she would be more willing to take out country club and leave in community center. Commissioner Scirocco and Commissioner Dalton stated they are not comfortable yet with leaving country club and community center in the RR at this time. Vince DeLeonardis advised none of the land use boards suggested country club is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The removal of the community center from the RR district was recommended but was not included in their list of inconsistencies. Right now, this is in the UDO and will remain unless the Council votes otherwise. Commissioner Franck advised he has no issue with leaving community center in the RR district. Commissioner Madigan and Mayor Kelly are both fine with leaving community center in the RR district. Patrick Cogan advised campground is supposed to be removed from the RR as an allowed use. The Planning Board recommended the removal from the RR district. Commissioner Madigan and Mayor Kelly are in agreement with removing campground. Commissioner Franck stated he will go with the recommendation of the Planning Board. Commissioner Scirocco and Commissioner Dalton both said they are good with the Planning Board’s recommendation to remove campground. Patrick Cogan advised the Council not to tamper with the definition of clubhouse. If it is defined separately, it will need to be considered separately. Council agreed to leave clubhouse as is. Patrick Cogan advised they added a standard to the definition of marina specifically relating to the RR district. Boat charter services remains in the allowable uses of a marina. Council is in agreement with marina definition. Commissioner Madigan stated she wanted to talk about Section 13.16 of the UDO. It states there is a change to have PUDs go directly to the Planning Board before going to the City Council. Vince DeLeonardis advised that is correct. They thought this would improve efficiencies by first applying to the Planning Board and they would make recommendation to the Council. By the time it gets to the Council, the PUD would be developed enough for the Council to make a decision. Commissioner Dalton likes the process of the application going to the Council first to see what the Council interest is. Commissioner Madigan stated the Council should decide if it is interested before going to Planning Board. This can be costly for the applicant. Commissioner Franck stated he would hate to take away a power to a future administration. With the process the way it is now, we hear a lot from the public right away. Council agreed to keep the process the way it is now. Page 4 of 5 City Council Meeting 8/24/2021 Commissioner Madigan stated she would like to review the section on trees and why it is included the way it is. Patrick Cogan advised they have been asked to incorporate as much of the master plans into the UDO. The majority of this article would apply to things that are subject to Planning Board review. The tree preservation requirements would designate significant trees. The approach is to evaluate each site with a tree survey which trees on the site are significant and how to best preserve those trees. Mayor Kelly stated this clarification will help. Council is in agreement with this. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Kelly adjourned the meeting at 4:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 9/7/2021 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 5 of 5