South Hero Planning Commission Minutes (via Zoom) April 15, 2020
Members Present: D. Patterson (Chair); S. Gregg (Vice-Chair); D. Roy; B. Kerr; M. Gammal
Public Present: M. Taylor-Varney, ZA
- Gregg opened the meeting at 6:15PM.
Changes to the Agenda
- Gregg requested to add discussion about warning remote meetings. She attended a meeting via Zoom hosted by NRPC, Open Meeting Law during Covid 19, on 4/19 and referred the Commission members to a Power Point presentation from that meeting. [To view the presentation, you may request it by email from [email protected]. ]
Public Input
There was none.
Discussion on the need for a Junk Ordinance
- Patterson and M. Taylor-Varney gave the Commission members some background on various junk issues throughout S. Hero that have produced numerous complaints. Vermont DEC has a salvage yard program through its waste management and prevention division, but the program is frequently overwhelmed due to a minimal staff. The Planning Commission would like to encourage the Selectboard to consider a Junk Ordinance, with support by the public. The Commission has collected several ordinance examples from towns/cities throughout Vermont. S. Gregg volunteered to put together a sample outline to present to the Selectboard. D. Patterson will ask to be on the agenda for the Selectboard’s May 11 meeting.
Meeting Minutes
- Gregg moved to accept the Feb. 19, 2020 minutes, with corrections; D. Roy second. All in favor.
New/Old Business
- Village Center Designation – Gregg applied to the Vermont Dept. of Housing and Community Development to expand the boundaries of the Village Center Designation to encompass the proposed location for Senior Housing. There will be a virtual meeting on April 27, 2020 at 1PM for the Downtown Board to consider the application, but Sandy reported that the initial feedback was positive.
- Food Truck Ordinance – There was discussion about whether an ordinance was needed, and the Commission members agreed that there was a need. Roy asked if it would be only for food trucks or also include general vendors (“Transient Vendor Ordinance”)? How narrow or broad do they want it defined? S. Gregg will send examples from other towns’ ordinances for the Commission members to comment. This will be further discussed at the next PC meeting.
- Taylor-Varney gave a shout out to the Commission for the recently approved updated Development Regulations, which became effective on March 31, 2020.
- Gammal and B. Kerr will do some research on the possible future need for a Town Manager.
Administrators Report
- Taylor-Varney is having copies of the updated Development Regulations printed and will deliver them to the Commission members when they arrive at the Town Office. Martha is working from home during the Covid 19 closure of the Town Office but goes into the office one evening a week for research and to collect mail and messages. She can still be reached by the zoning office email address – [email protected].
- Martha is working on updated old zoning applications and adding new ones to reflect the requirements from the updated Regulations. These will be presented to the Planning Commission members for comment and approval.
- The Commission will schedule no further remote meetings at this time until it is determined that in-person meetings cannot be held for the foreseeable future.
Adjournment
- Gregg moved to adjourn; D. Patterson second. All in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA
Signed: ____________________________________________ Date: _________________
For the Planning Commission
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.