Planning Commission

12/8/2022 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mike O’Brien, Chair; Abby Bleything, Vice-Chair; Joe Perron; Sarah van Ryckevorsel; Connor Daley City Staff Present: Eric Vorwald Guests Present: Bryn Oakleaf, City Councilor; Michael Arnold; Daisy Berbeco 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 Michael Arnold requested the Planning Commission consider the removal of minimum parking standards and instead better manage the on-street parking through metering, resident-only parking, and similar measures as outlined in the Parking Inventory, Analysis, and Management Plan. IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: 3 – 0 – 1 Motion by: Joe Second: Sarah Joe made a motion that was seconded by Sarah to approve the minutes as presented. Connor abstained as he was not present at the meeting on November 10th. V. Continued Discussion on Article IV – Sections 4.1 through 4.12 Eric provided a brief introduction to the discussion and indicated that Sarah was interested in revisiting the incentives for adaptive reuse before resuming the discussion on parking. After a brief discussion the Commission was in agreement to keep the existing language on design review that is included in Section 4.4 and also add a new section (Section 5.15) that would include that language for adaptive reuse. After this discussion the Commission turned to Section 4.12 related to parking. Eric highlighted several changes that were discussed at the last meeting include the removal of language outlining that there is no maximum parking requirement. With that, the Commission discussed if there should be a maximum amount of parking that could be incorporated with land development. Eric indicated that he would review other municipalities to identify maximum capacities but thought something in the range of 120% to 125% of the required minimum was generally what was used by other municipalities.  After this discussion the Commission turned to Section 4.12 related to parking. Eric highlighted several changes that were discussed at the last meeting include the removal of language outlining that there is no maximum parking requirement. With that, the Commission discussed if there should be a maximum amount of parking that could be incorporated with land development. Eric indicated that he would review other municipalities to identify maximum capacities but thought something in the range of 120% to 125% of the required minimum was generally what was used by other municipalities. Next, Eric provided updates on changes that were made to the specific uses and their minimum parking numbers. The Commission spent time discussing the parking minimums for schools, and Eric provided information that he received from the architect of the Winooski school related to potential updates. Specifically, Eric suggested that primary and secondary schools be combined and one value be used, then a second use of “higher education” be included with a separate minimum parking requirement. The Commissioners discussed this at great length and Eric indicated he would research this issue more. Abby also volunteered to reach out to the school to inquire about parking needs. Next, the Commission began a discussion on parking adjustments. Eric noted that he had received comments related to the requirement for shared parking and indicated that there was concern these numbers were too high. He identified several developments that had been built in recent years and the amount of non-residential space that was included. He suggested that maybe a tiered approach be used. The Commissioners generally supported this idea and Eric agreed to provide updates that included tiered options. With that, the Commissioners agreed to pause their discussion on parking until the next meeting. VI. City Updates Councilor Oakleaf provided an update on activities of the City Council. Specifically, she noted that the Council discussions are focused on the budget and this will continue over the next several meetings. She also highlighted several aspects of the general budget overview that was presented on December 5 th . Eric provided updates on zoning permits including the expiration of the permit for the redevelopment of 101 and 109 Main Street. He also indicated that the City was exploring updates to the sidewalk use permit, including the application and municipal code. Finally, he informed the Commission that the City was in receipt of a zoning permit application for the demolition of the St. Stephen’s Church. He also stated that there were still a few outstanding items to consider the application complete, but once those were provided, the application would be reviewed following the same process as any other zoning permit application. The Commissioners spent several minutes discussing this and Eric provided clarification to questions related to the process. VII. Other Business Eric indicated that the next meeting would not be until January, and that the Commission would return to two meetings per month unless otherwise decided at that meeting. VIII. Adjourn Motion by: Abby Second: Connor Meeting End Time: 8:30 PM