Planning Commission

2/13/2025 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mike O’Brien, Chair; Abby Bleything, Vice Chair; Sarah Van Ryckevorsel; Brendan Sage; City Staff Present: Ravi Venkataraman, Director of City Planning Guests Present: Tim Mack, Nevin Mack, Bryn Mack, Michael Alvanos Call to Order by: Mike O’Brien Meeting Start Time: 6:33 Minutes Recorded by: Ravi Venkataraman II. Changes to the Agenda None III. Public Comment None IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: 3-0 Motion by: Abby Second: Sarah V. Presentation and Discussion: City of Winooski Working Communities Challenge Grant Ruth reviewed the Working Communities Challenge, the accomplishments with Working Communities Challenge grant, and her role in the Working Communities Challenge as the initiative director. Ruth noted that the Working Communities Challenge steering committee were given additional funding to complete initiatives by the end of the year, and that she will be collaborating with other communities that have received funding through the Working Communities Challenge in Vermont. Ruth went over the Working Communities Challenge steering committee. Ruth went over the priorities of the Working Communities Challenge steering committee— housing, entrepreneurship support, youth support, and collective statewide voice. Ruth highlighted the housing priorities of the steering committee—the need for targeted projects for larger New American families, and the need for special mortgage programs for New American families. Mike asked if multigenerational housing means larger units. Ruth said that multigenerational housing doesn’t necessarily mean larger units, but potentially larger living spaces and flexible living spaces, such as multiple units that are interconnected. Mike suggested talking to Opportunities or other smaller credit unions for special mortgage programs. Abby asked if the steering committee had discussed the replacement units regulations the planning commission has previously discussed. Ruth said that the committee has not  larger New American families, and the need for special mortgage programs for New American families. Mike asked if multigenerational housing means larger units. Ruth said that multigenerational housing doesn’t necessarily mean larger units, but potentially larger living spaces and flexible living spaces, such as multiple units that are interconnected. Mike suggested talking to Opportunities or other smaller credit unions for special mortgage programs. Abby asked if the steering committee had discussed the replacement units regulations the planning commission has previously discussed. Ruth said that the committee has not discussed this because the cost to rent or purchase larger units in general is prohibitively high while the units don’t meet the spatial needs of families. Ruth said that instead the committee has been more focused on land acquisition to build tailored multigenerational units. Abby asked if the steering committee has had conversations with CHT. Ruth said that they have not yet. Ruth added that they are hopeful about engaging with stakeholders and possibly having a role in the armory project. Ruth reviewed the committee’s priorities for entrepreneurship support—the provision of resources, general support, and methods to mitigate the city’s construction impacts in the near term. Ruth noted that the steering committee is working with the city on marketing to support businesses during construction, as well as Downtown Winooski to develop a BIPOC and New American Business Association. Sarah asked if Ruth knew of people who are looking to start businesses and are facing barriers personally. Ruth noted individuals having skills that don’t transfer over because of the required credentials and that face challenges in garnering startup costs. Ruth reviewed the priorities the steering committee listed to support youth—including academic support, cultivating safe spaces, and connecting youth with mentors. Ruth reviewed the priorities the steering committee identified that they are working with legislators with to enact change—such as relicensing international medical graduates, and creating an office of New Americans to provide support for recent immigrants. Mike encouraged Ruth to present this information with City Council and the school board. Brendan asked Ruth what the planning commission could do to support the housing priorities. Ruth said that she will remain engaged with the ongoing planning commission conversations, and that she will be working toward fundraising for land acquisition. VI. Discussion: Unified Land Use and Development Regulations (ULUDR) Sections 2.4, 4.12, 5.1, and 5.15 and Article IX Michael Alvanos went over their request for regulatory changes to allow for redevelopment at 41- 47 West Center Street. Michael noted the development costs currently and the cost of parking, and recent regulatory trends in nearby municipalities to remove parking requirements. Tim Mack said that they could look into a concept with less parking and more bedrooms. Tim: potential for 30 units, currently has 10. Isn’t cost effective to rebuild the building, unless they do ground floor commercial and three stories residential, underground parking with 16-18 parking spaces. Noted public parking nearby, and parking garage. Current residents include travel nurses and doctors who use buses or e-bikes to get around. Abby asked how many units were in the building currently. Tim said that the main building has nine units, and one standalone unit located at the corner of Malletts Bay Avenue and West Allen Street was burned out. Abby asked about the number of parking spots currently. Tim said the site currently has 14 to 16 parking spots. Abby asked about the unit sizes. Tim said that the building had a three-bedroom unit, a two- bedroom unit, and seven 390 square-foot one-bedroom units, and the house had had two bedrooms. Abby asked about parking utilization currently and where the overflow parking is located. Tim said that right now five cars were parked on-site, that the current tenants were transitory and didn’t have cars; that the parking area was underutilized; and that CHT across the street had no cars, from what he can tell. Michael added that one spot per unit was antiquated in terms of adding more units. Michael said that he was seeing 0.25 spot utilization per unit in high density areas, that areas in Winooski and Burlington that have high density and low utilization of parking, that currently developers were not able to build to scale with the parking requirements,  bedrooms. Abby asked about parking utilization currently and where the overflow parking is located. Tim said that right now five cars were parked on-site, that the current tenants were transitory and didn’t have cars; that the parking area was underutilized; and that CHT across the street had no cars, from what he can tell. Michael added that one spot per unit was antiquated in terms of adding more units. Michael said that he was seeing 0.25 spot utilization per unit in high density areas, that areas in Winooski and Burlington that have high density and low utilization of parking, that currently developers were not able to build to scale with the parking requirements, and that developers were actively working with municipalities and nearby residents to create parking management plans. Abby asked Ravi about parking reductions in the current regulations. Ravi reviewed the reductions currently in the regulations, including the forthcoming possible Transportation Demand Management requirements, EV charging reductions, and reductions for structured parking. Michael said that he will look into the Transportation Demand Management requirements again. Sarah said that she was nervous about removing parking requirements to create housing that may not be as needed in the city compared to larger affordable units. Brendan said that the commission needed to make sure the incentives to create larger affordable units are sufficient. Mike discussed the issue he is facing with his property and asked the planning commission for flexibility to add units. Sarah asked if someone could tear down the building and put in housing. Mike said that one could tear down and put in five or more units but they could not add an additional unit. Ravi reviewed the proposed language for adaptive reuse of historic structures, which would allow adding additional units to historic structures. The commission raised questions about the definition of “proposed development”. Mike suggested revising the term “proposed development” for more clarity. Kristine asked if Ravi had received parking utilization data from developers. Ravi said that he will need to follow up. VII. City Updates Updates from the Mayor Kristine reviewed the recent City Council meeting—the approval of the budgets for the community to vote on during Town Meeting Day, and the water/wastewater fee increase for staffing. Updates from the Inclusion and Belonging Commission No updates. Updates from City Staff Ravi reviewed the planning report provided during the joint housing and planning commission meeting, and the new Unified Land Use and Development Regulations in effect starting February 17 th . Abby asked for updates on the armory project and the St. Stephens property. Ravi said that he had no updates to provide at this moment for both properties. VIII. Other Business N/A IX. Adjourn Motion by: Abby Second: Brendan IX. Adjourn Motion by: Abby Second: Brendan Meeting End Time: 8:14 pm