City Council

November 30, 2021 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Special City Council Meeting (UDO) 11:30 AM 11:30 AM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATION CONSENT AGENDA 1. Resolution for Insurance Reserve #11 2. Budget Amendments – Insurance Reserve #11 MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 1 – Remove Uses in RR and GC-R 2. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 2 – Add Design Standards – Sec. 16.10 Conservation Design 3. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 3 – Add Design Standards – Sec. 13 Land Use Board Applications 4. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 4 – Add Design Standards – Sec. 4.6 Gateway Commercial District 5. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 5 – Add Clubhouse Use Definition in “Country Overlay Area” ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Set Public Hearing: Smiley-Brackett Cottage Zoning Amendment FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. City Council Meeting 11/30/2021 SUPERVISORS Matt Veitch 1. Nothing at this time. Tara Gaston 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN Page 2 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/30/2021 November 30, 2021 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS Special City Council Meeting (UDO) 474 Broadway 11:30 AM PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance (arrived at 11:59 a.m.) John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Robin Dalton, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Lisa Shields, Deputy Mayor Vincent DeLeonardis Patrick Cogan EXCUSED: Deirdre Ladd, Deputy Commissioner of Finance Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS 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 11:31 a.m. Mayor Kelly thanked Wendy Mahaney and Geoff Bornemann from Sustainable Saratoga for joining the Council and participating in the meeting. 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 11:32 a.m. Diana Goodwin of Saratoga Springs and co-chair of Sustainable Saratoga stated they do not support the proposed clubhouse amendment. It is not an appropriate use for the greenbelt and it is not compatible with the 2015 Comprehensive Plan. Page 3 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/30/2021 Sherry Grey of Saratoga Springs and member of the Zoning Board stated for the record ‘again’ that she would like to see a chart like they have in the Zoning Ordinance for easy reference. She feels in UR1, UR2, and UR3, the principal plus accessory coverage being changed to 40% is not keeping with our downtown urban residential districts. Mayor Kelly closed the public comment period at 11:38 a.m. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Kelly moved and Commissioner Dalton seconded to approve the consent agenda as follows: 1. Resolution for Insurance Reserve #11 2. Budget Amendments – Insurance Reserve #11 Ayes - All MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, reminded the Council they have had a version of this UDO since January 2020. They have received numerous public comments that have been incorporated in this document. The UDO has been reviewed by all the land use boards and has received favorable opinions by all with the exception of four specific comments from the City’s Planning Board. Sustainable Saratoga brought forward four amendments and the fifth amendment, clubhouse definition, was brought forward by Commissioner Madigan. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 1 – Remove Uses in RR and GC-R Geoff Bornemann advised this amendment is to remove certain uses in these areas. They have concerns with two uses in the RR area – 1. a country club (new use) and 2. primary and secondary schools (a new use). They would like to see these uses removed. Patrick Cogan responded stating the primary and secondary schools in the RR is a new use and feels it is in line with the goals of having a sustainable community by having schools close to where people live. Country club is a new definition but a combination of existing uses. These decisions are up to the Council. Council had no comments. Patrick Cogan advised the City’s Planning Board recommending strengthening the definition of country club, not removing it. Commissioner Scirocco stated he does not feel the definition needs to be there. Commissioner Dalton stated she is opposed to having the educational facilities as a use in that area. Council consensus is they are okay with educational facilities in RR district. Council consensus is to leave country club in as an allowed use with special use permit in the RR district. Geoff Bornemann advised Sustainable Saratoga feels to include the 10 uses in the lower South Broadway (tourist area) will increase the density and that is not the objective of the Comprehensive Plan. Vince DeLeonardis explained the TRB (Tourist Related Business) is intended to allow uses to accommodate tourists. Page 4 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/30/2021 Council consensus is to remove campground and leave the rest as is. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 2 – Add Design Standards – Sec. 16.10 Conservation Design Geoff Bornemann advised the UDO proposes to eliminate the design standards. Sustainable Saratoga wants to see the restoration of the design illustrations and see criteria for the waiver of standards. The Comprehensive Plan states the documents should be well illustrated so people can understand them. Wording is often vague and can be misinterpreted. Patrick Cogan clarified they are not removing the design standards. What they eliminated is 10 pages of illustrations to reduce volume. The design standards have not been made mandatory, as they are vague and not enforceable. Vince DeLeonardis advised these are guidelines because it is recognized there is more than one approach. Illustrations can be put on the web to assist people but they do not necessarily need to be included in the UDO document. Council consensus is to remove illustrations from the UDO and have them placed elsewhere, and leave the determination to waive requirements to the Land Use Boards. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 3 – Add Design Standards – Sec. 13 Land Use Board Applications Geoff Bornemann advised this amendment is to implement a policy for rural character in the greenbelt. There is nothing in the design guidelines now that says anything about rural character. They would like to implement a rural character design. Patrick Cogan advised making it mandatory which standards the boards have to use to describe and classify rural character is very different from what they have right now. Projects that have to go through DRC review in the architectural areas are evaluated for context. Council consensus is to change ‘must to ‘should’ and add a qualifier for scope under DRC purview. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 4 – Add Design Standards – Sec. 4.6 Gateway Commercial District Geoff Bornemann advised this amendment is to have the illustrations for South Broadway put back in and establish criteria for the waiver of standards. Patrick Cogan stated the image used as an example was removed because there is no more split between gateway overlay design 1a and 1b. There are mandatory design standards application to GCR. They had the standards for campus like setting mandatory and had the consultants create new images showing design standards. The gateway overlays no longer exist. Council consensus is to leave the UDO as is, in regard design standards applicable to GCR. Also, reference should be added regarding parking. Discussion: Proposed UDO Amendment 5 – Add Clubhouse Use Definition in “Country Overlay Area” Commissioner Madigan advised this amendment is add a definition of “clubhouse”. The City Planning Board’s advisory opinion was to leave the definition of clubhouse undefined. She suggested setting a public hearing for the next City Council meeting regarding the definition of clubhouse. Geoff Bornemann advised they submitted a letter in response. Commissioner Madigan set a public hearing for Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 7 p.m. regarding the definition of clubhouse. Page 5 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/30/2021 ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Set Public Hearing: Smiley-Brackett Cottage Zoning Amendment Commissioner Franck set a public hearing for Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Kelly adjourned the meeting at 2:29 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Margaret LoPresti Clerk Approved: 5 - 0 Vote: 12/21/2021 Page 6 of 6