Planning Commission

11/12/2020 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mike O’Brien, Chair; Amy Houghton, Vice-Chair, Terry Zigmund, Secretary; Abby Bleything; Joe Perron; Sarah van Ryckevorsel; Tommie Murray City Staff Present: Eric Vorwald Guests Present: Kristine Lott, Mayor Call to Order by: Mike O’Brien Meeting Start Time: 6:37 PM Minutes Recorded by: Eric Vorwald II. Changes to the Agenda None III. Public Comment None IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Tabeled for clarification - while reviewing the minutes, Abby asked for clarification on the discussion related to education facilities and daycare facilities. After some discussion is was decided that the tape from the previous meeting would be reviewed for clarification and the minutes updated as needed to reflect the discussion. V. Discussion of Master Plan Goal Progress Mayor Lott began the discussion by indicating that, in lieu of getting all the commissions together to discuss master plan progress, each commission was spending time at a meeting review the master plan goals associated with their specific charge. In this case, the Planning Commission would review the goals related to the land use section of the master plan. Mayor Lott recommended that each goal be reviewed individually for comments or discussion related to progress. She also stated that several questions would be asked at the end of the goal review, and that outcome would be to review the goal progress in context with the budget process to have an overall picture of where the City stands with implementation. She indicated that this information would be shared back with all of the commissions at a future date. With no specific questions about the purpose of the discussion, Mayor Lott began reviewing the goals one by one. The commissioners commented and provided feed back on each goal including specific examples of how the goals were being implemented including the Main Street Revitalization plan and the East Allen Scoping Study. The commissioners also commented on goals that were less of a priority including the expansion of the Neighborhood Development Area designation throughout the City. The commissioners also commented on the need to increase the opportunities for neighborhood scale commercial uses to enhance the vibrancy of the neighborhoods. Following the review of the goals, Mayor Lott provided a recap of the discussion and asked if there were any additional items. It was noted by several members that adaptive reuse of historic structures should be prioritized as a way to implement several of the goals in order to retain the historic character of the community without the need to preserve every aspect of a  neighborhoods. Following the review of the goals, Mayor Lott provided a recap of the discussion and asked if there were any additional items. It was noted by several members that adaptive reuse of historic structures should be prioritized as a way to implement several of the goals in order to retain the historic character of the community without the need to preserve every aspect of a structure making it a “museum house.” Another item that was discussed was how to increase first floor commercial, office, or retail within the gateways to balance development and increase the mix of uses instead of primarily residential uses in the corridors. VI. Review Draft Unified Land Use and Development Regulations – Section 5.1 Eric provided an overview to the commission and indicated that this was a continuation of our previous discussion, but was a bit of a jump ahead in the regulations. He stated that it would relate to the use table, so there was a tangential relationship to the previous meetings discussion, but this review would include more specific detail on accessory dwelling unit regulations. Eric noted that the agenda included recently signed legislation that changes the regulations on accessory dwelling units and that the City’s regulations were no longer consistent with state statute. He indicated that, even though our regulations were no longer compliant, the state statute would dictate how the uses were regulated, but this was an effort to better align our regulations with statute and allow the commission to move forward with a specific amendment to address the statutory change. After providing the overview, Eric walked the commissioners through the proposed changes. He identified which changes were related to statutory amendments and which were changes that he was proposing. One specific change that was proposed was the removal of the requirement for owner occupancy. This resulted in extended discussion on how this change may impact the community. The discussion included pros and cons to this change and what it might look like from a regulatory perspective. After providing initial thoughts, the commissioners requested additional information and to continue the discussion at the next meeting. It was decided that there was not sufficient time to engage in a robust discussion, and the commissioners wanted additional time and information to be more informed as they discuss the ramifications of this proposed change. VII. Department and City Updates Eric provided updates on the Notice of Violation that was issued to 133 Elm Street, updates on the UPWP parking study, and information on the Parks and Open Space Master Plan. The Mayor provided an update on the noise mitigation work being done by the airport and discussed the matching funds being provided by Vermont Gas. VIII. Other Business Eric indicated that, in order to more efficiently and effectively review the changes to the Unified Land Use and Development Regulations, the Planning Commission would begin having two meetings per month. This was discussed with Mike and it was agreed that this should start in January. The Planning Commission was accepting of adding an additional meeting for the purposes of reviewing the regulations. IX. Adjourn Motion by: Joe Second: Amy Meeting End Time: 8:30 PM