Planning Commission

3/11/2021 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mike O’Brien, Chair; Amy Houghton, Vice Chair; Terry Zigmund, Secretary; Abby Bleything; Sarah van Ryckevorsel; Tommie Murray City Staff Present: Eric Vorwald Guests Present: Kristine Lott, Mayor; Robert Millar; Kaegan Pearsall Call to Order by: Mike O’Brien Meeting Start Time: 6:32 PM Minutes Recorded by: Eric Vorwald II. Changes to the Agenda None. III. Public Comment Robert Millar indicated he was in attendance to listen in and had no specific comments or concerns. IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: 5 - 0 Motion by: Abby Second: Amy Motion to approve the minutes with several corrections. Sarah requested the minutes be updated to reflect the discussion at the end of the meeting on siting in the Form Based Code and Mike recommended one editorial correction. V. Review of Article III – Downtown Core Zoning District Regulations Eric provided an overview of the documents that were included with the agenda. He identified a strikeout version of Article III and a “clean” version, as well as amendments to Sections 4.9 and 6.6, which would be amended to reflect changes to the Downtown Core Zoning District. The Planning Commission reviewed the “clean” version of Article III and asked questions during the review. Several comments were made that resulted in changes to the language. This primarily related to the parking standards. Following the review of Article III, Eric introduced the proposed amendments to Section 4.9. Specifically, he indicated that Section 4.9 provides information on non-conforming uses, structures, lots, and rights-of-way. Eric identified several minor changes that were being proposed to this section overall, and highlighted the specific change related to the Downtown Core District. Eric referenced the addition of subpart H, which was included in Appendix C and stated that it was a better “fit” for Section 4.9 since it dealt with non-conformities. The Commission discussed this change, and the other proposed amendments and recommended  Following the review of Article III, Eric introduced the proposed amendments to Section 4.9. Specifically, he indicated that Section 4.9 provides information on non-conforming uses, structures, lots, and rights-of-way. Eric identified several minor changes that were being proposed to this section overall, and highlighted the specific change related to the Downtown Core District. Eric referenced the addition of subpart H, which was included in Appendix C and stated that it was a better “fit” for Section 4.9 since it dealt with non-conformities. The Commission discussed this change, and the other proposed amendments and recommended minor edits to what was proposed. Next, Eric introduced the proposed amendments to Section 6.6, which includes information on site plan review. He noted that similar to Section 4.9, there were minor amendments proposed in addition to the specific amendments for the Downtown Core District. Eric highlighted the proposed changes and the Commission began their discussion. Specifically, the Planning Commission discussed the proposed language related to changes of use. The Planning Commission discussed various options related to changes of use and how potential impacts might be measured. Concerns were raised related to limiting site plan review. Eric sited the specific language in Section 4.3 that led to the proposed language indicating the proposal would provide more guidance for how and when changes of use would be required to go through a site plan review. After significant discussion, the Planning Commission recommended several changes to the proposed language to address their concerns. Following the discussion of these proposed amendments, Eric recapped what was discussed. Mike asked if the Planning Commission was prepared to set a public hearing on the proposed amendments or wanted to wait until a future meeting to set the hearing. Eric reiterated that conducting a hearing did not require the Planning Commission to take formal action on the amendments. Tommie made a motion that was seconded by Terry to warn a public hearing on the proposed amendments for April 08, 2021. All were in favor. VI. Begin Review of Appendix B – Form Based Code Mike indicated that, due to the time, the Planning Commission would postpone their discussion on proposed amendments to the Form Based Code until their next meeting. VII. City Updates Mayor Lott provided updates on Town Meeting Day, the hiring process for the City Manager, information on the budget, and updates on other commission meetings including the Housing Commission and the Municipal Infrastructure Commission. VIII. Other Business Eric reminded the Planning Commission that the March 25th meeting would be cancelled due to a training that was being offered. He indicated the next meeting would be on April 08, 2021 and would include a public hearing. Sarah asked about expediting the approval of the amendments to the Form Based Code related to the siting standards since it had been extensively discussed previously. Abby asked about the progress related to the impact fee ordinance. Eric indicated there was a very rough draft and that Council would be receiving a report at their regular meeting on March 15th to discuss potential uses to exempt from the fees. This information was discussed by the Housing Commission and the Safe, Heathy, Connected People Commission. The Planning Commission asked if they would be reviewing the ordinance. Eric indicated that since it was an ordinance, the Planning Commission did not have a formal role in the review, but if changes to the land use regulations were needed for implementation, the Planning Commission would be involved in that discussion. Eric stated that he would provide the Planning Commission with the draft ordinance once it was in a more finalized format for their information. Terry asked that the Planning Commission discuss the meeting schedule at a future meeting. This was specifically related to the need for two meetings per month and if the Planning Commission could return to meeting once per month. IX. Adjourn Motion by: Amy Second: Abby Meeting End Time: 8:06 PM Motion by: Amy Second: Abby Meeting End Time: 8:06 PM