Planning Commission

6/13/2024 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mike O’Brien, Chair; Abby Bleything; Vice-Chair; Sarah van Ryckevorsel; Tommie Murray City Staff Present: Eric Vorwald Guests Present: Kristine Lott, Mayor; Marielle Matthews; Filipe Hoyos Call to Order by: Mike O’Brien Meeting Start Time: 6:33 PM Minutes Recorded by: Eric Vorwald II. Changes to the Agenda None III. Public Comment Filipe requested clarification on the recent zoning change related to the O’Brien Community Center. Specifically, he asked for clarity related to the neighborhood manners boundary between his property at 25 Hickok Street and the property at 21 Hickok Street that was rezoned from Residential C to Gateway. He indicated that he attended the City Council meeting and requested that the boundary be increased to provide additional separation between his property and the O’Brien Community Center Property. In response, Eric stated that the neighborhood manners boundary in that location was approximately five feet and was not discussed during the amendment process. Several other commissioners indicated that they did not recall discussing that boundary. Filipe indicated that, in discussions with Ray Coffey, it was thought that the boundary was 20 feet. Eric referred to the specific notation on the map that referenced the boundary here at five feet. Filipe asked the Planning Commission to reconsider this and increase the size of this boundary. IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: 3 – 0 Motion by: Sarah Second: Tommie With multiple commissioners absent from two of the meetings, only the May 9th minutes were considered. Sarah made a motion that was seconded by Tommie to approve the May 9th meeting minutes as presented. All were in favor. The April 25th and May 23rd meeting minutes were tabled for consideration at a future meeting. V. Presentation from Winooski Partnership for Prevention Regarding Information about Uses in Proximity to Schools Marielle Matthews, Winooski Partnership for Prevention, provided an introduction regarding research she had done related to buffers around schools for age restricted products. She  V. Presentation from Winooski Partnership for Prevention Regarding Information about Uses in Proximity to Schools Marielle Matthews, Winooski Partnership for Prevention, provided an introduction regarding research she had done related to buffers around schools for age restricted products. She provided the Planning Commission with a brief presentation that outlined the statutory authority to consider separations for age restricted products from school uses. In addition to the presentation, she reviewed a map that was created to include two buffer zones around the City’s two main schools; the Winooski School District Campus and St. Francis Xavier Church School. The buffers identified a 500 foot zone and a 1,000 foot zone around each school property. The mapping also included the retail locations that sold age restricted products that were located in each of these buffer areas. The mapping can be found at at https://ccrpc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/interactivelegend/index.html? appid=ab6013ba079e4da3ae9d1c5ecea52bfc. After her presentation, the Planning Commission discussed the feasibility of instituting such a procedure as to limit specific uses within proximity to the schools. Eric identified other uses that currently have restrictions on their locations including vehicle repair/sales uses in the Gateway Zoning District and proximity of Group Homes from one another. Additional conversation included regulations on signage for age restricted products and what options may be available for the City to address these concerns. Overall, the Planning Commission seemed interested in exploring these options further. Eric indicated that the buffers could potentially be linear to limit restrictions on neighborhood commercial uses, which already require conditional use approval. Marielle indicated she would provide information to Eric on the impacts of such restrictions to be shared with the Planning Commission. The Planning Commissioners thanked Marielle for the presentation and the work done to date on this project. VI. Continue Discussion on Inclusionary Zoning and Replacement Regulations Eric introduced the draft regulations and indicated there would be additional discussion on the draft regulations at the joint meeting with the Housing Commission. He also noted that the Housing Commission reviewed the draft regulations and suggested several edits that were incorporated into the information that was included with the agenda. He also indicated that the section on Priority Housing (Section 5.14) may need to be updated for consistency with these sections based on levels of affordability and duration of affordability. The Planning Commissioners discussed the draft regulations and made suggestions for edits and clarification. In general, the Planning Commissioners supported the proposed amendments but were concerned about the incentives being offered for the replacement regulations and if they were necessary. Mayor Lott asked if these incentives had been reviewed with the development community or other partners. Eric stated that they had not yet been distributed, but would be after there was more clarity on the specific language. The Planning Commissioners continued the discussion and provided additional feedback for consideration, as well as several topics or points to discuss at the joint meeting on the 25th. At the conclusion, Eric thanked the Commissioners for their comments. VII. City Updates Mayor Lott provided updates on the policy and priority meeting with City Council on June 10th, and noted that the City Council received an introduction to the draft amendments related to Act 47. Eric did not have any specific updates. VIII. Other Business Eric reminded the Planning Commissioners that the next meeting would be a joint meeting with the Housing Commission on Tuesday, June 25th. This meeting would begin at 6 PM and participants were encouraged to attend online to better manage the meeting. The VIII. Other Business Eric reminded the Planning Commissioners that the next meeting would be a joint meeting with the Housing Commission on Tuesday, June 25th. This meeting would begin at 6 PM and participants were encouraged to attend online to better manage the meeting. The Commissioners asked about the status of the hiring for Eric’s replacement. No specific details were available. The Commissioners thanked Tommie for serving again as her work schedule would limit her ability to regularly attend meetings. The Commissioners also thanked Eric for all his work over the past six years supporting the Planning Commission. IX. Adjourn Motion by: Abby Second: Tommie Meeting End Time: 8:32 PM