SOUTH HERO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD April 28, 2021
Members Present: Tim Maxham (Chair), Doug Patterson (Vice Chair), Jim Brightwell, Nate Hayward, Gareth Hunt, Liza Kilcoyne, William Rowe, Mike Welch (alternate)
Others Present: Martha Taylor-Varney (Zoning Administrator)
Members Absent: None.
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by D. Patterson at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was conducted by Zoom web meeting software.
Changes to Agenda: None.
Public Input: None.
Hearing: Conditional Use and Site Plan review for Mobile Vendor – Goulet (21-65-RT467)
Appearing on Behalf of the Applicant
Guy & Lori Goulet
Public Attending: Ilmar Vanderer, Tiiu Vanderer, Michele Gammal
Hearing Notes
Chair T. Maxham recused. Vice-chair D. Patterson opened the hearing at 6:03 p.m.
- Taylor-Varney read the hearing warning. D. Patterson administered the oath to the applicants and members of the public who wished to speak.
Lori Goulet said that they are looking to host mobile food vendors on their farm on an occasional basis. The vendors will set their own hours between 11:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. The Goulets hosted vendors for a short time last year, posted no-parking signs along Route 2 and had sufficient parking on their farm such that they were able to prevent parking on the highway. They provide water and power (via extension cord) on-site to the vendors. The driveway to their farm is wide enough to accommodate two dump trucks side-by-side, and one-way signs direct traffic around the parking area. There is overflow parking further up the driveway that can accommodate oversize vehicles. The food vendor truck parking area is alongside the current farm stand along Route 2.
- Rowe asked how many food trucks there will be at one time. Guy Goulet said at most 3 at one time, most of the time two or one.
- Brightwell asked how many cars can park around the circle in front of the barn. Guy Goulet said up to 30 cars, but there have not been more than about 15 at any given time.
- Brightwell asked if the Board could mandate no parking along Route 2. M. Taylor-Varney said that the Town was negotiating with VTRANS to have no parking zones on the highway in select areas of the Village district. J. Brightwell observed that the situation worked well last year because the applicant seemed to be able to keep people from parking on the highway. Guy Goulet said his goal was to keep people off the highway.
- Rowe asked if there would be picnic tables. Guy Goulet said there were no plans for picnic tables at present – people got their food and got back in the cars and did not eat on-site.
- Brightwell asked if there were any improvements planned on the site as a part of the application. Guy Goulet said no.
- Kilcoyne made motion to waive the requirement for contours on the site plan. M. Welch seconded the motion, which passed by acclamation.
- Patterson opened the floor to questions from the public.
Michele Gammal said she thought the proposal was a great idea. She asked if each of the vendors would have to apply for a mobile vendor license and asked how many trucks would be approved. M. Taylor-Varney said that each vendor would have to obtain a license from the Town, which is good for a year, and the approval would likely be written for “up to three” vendors.
- Brightwell made a motion to accept the site plan as complete. M. Welch seconded the motion, which was approved by acclamation.
The hearing concluded at 6:22 p.m.
Hearing: Conditional Use and Site Plan Review for Mobile Vendor – Victoria’s Café/Alexander (21-73-FR014)
Public Attending
None.
Appearing on Behalf of the Applicant
Bill Alexander
Hearing Notes
- Maxham assumed the chair and opened the hearing at 6:25 p.m. M. Taylor-Varney read the hearing warning.
The applicant did not appear, so W. Rowe made a motion to recess the hearing. The motion was seconded by N. Hayward and carried by acclamation.
Hearing: Conditional Use and Site Plan review for Mobile Vendor – Tappan South Hero LLC/Seb’s (21-68-RT295)
Appearing on Behalf of the Applicant
Heidi Tappan
Public Attending
None.
Hearing Notes
Chair T. Maxham opened the hearing. M. Taylor-Varney read the hearing warning.
- Maxham administered the oath to the applicant and members of the public who wished to speak.
Heidi Tappan said she wanted to host vendors once or twice a year on the lawn between her parking lot and South Street. While she does not have concrete plans at this time, she has in mind the caramel apples / cotton candy food truck she hosted last year, and perhaps local merchants such as Snow Farm vineyard. She also wanted to consider doing an evening farmers market. The events would take place within her current permitted business hours.
- Kilcoyne asked if the food trucks would be parked on the lawn. Heidi Tappan said yes, on the lawn.
- Brightwell said he was concerned about the sight distance for cars turning from South Street onto U.S. Route 2 and asked how far back the food trucks would be parked from Route 2. Heidi Tappan said the vendors would be parked further back on the lawn.
- Welch asked if there was power on the lawn. Heidi Tappan said that there was a conduit providing power on the lawn with two separate outlet locations. M. Taylor-Varney said she would work with the applicant to add the power outlets to the site plan.
- Brightwell said he was concerned about parking along South Street given the proximity to the proposed mobile vendor locations. N. Hayward said there were two lanes for right and left turns on South Street at Route 2 and there was not really space on the concrete apron for parking. T. Maxham said that the Board does not have the ability to regulate parking on Town roads.
- Brightwell said he would ask for a condition that the mobile vendors not be parked any closer to Route 2 than the historical marker along South Street to preserve sight distance for cars existing from South Street onto Route 2.
- Rowe asked where on Route 2 cars could legally park. M. Taylor-Varney said it is legal to park in a travel lane on a state highway, but she is talking to VTRANS to further restrict on-highway parking in selected areas within the village district.
- Taylor-Varney asked how many vendors would be present for a farmers’ market. Heidi Tappan said she had not approached anyone yet but suggested that there might be ten vendors. She said she wanted to explore the idea. D. Patterson said that the parking lot is often full, and that adding a farmers’ market might be overkill. T. Maxham said the farmers market was well established, operating Wednesday night and Saturday morning, and run according to a set of bylaws. He expressed concern that a farmers’ market at the location might cause congestion.
- Brightwell asked if Heidi would object to the Board conditioning its approval with up to, for example, 3 food trucks or trailers and if plans advanced for a bigger event, that Heidi return to the Board for a separate approval. Heidi Tappan said up to 3 trucks sounds reasonable and was agreeable to appearing again if her plans evolved further.
There was no comment from the public.
- Hunt moved to accept the site plan as complete, with the addition of the power sources. L. Kilcoyne seconded the motion, which passed by acclamation.
The hearing was closed at 6:55 p.m.
Chair T. Maxham reopened the previously recessed hearing for Victoria’s Café/Alexander. Since the applicant was still not present, D. Patterson made a motion to recess the hearing to May 12th at 6:00 p.m. W. Rowe seconded the motion, which passed by acclamation.
Old Business None.
Review of Minutes
- Kilcoyne moved to accept the minutes of March 24th, 2021, with corrections. D. Patterson seconded the motion, which passed by acclamation.
Administrator’s Report
Upcoming hearings:
May 12 Continuation of Alexander mobile vendor conditional use hearing; conditional use and site plan hearing for the first floor of the Zlotoff Tool Museum.
May 26 Continuation of the hearing for the Gammal subdivision.
June 9 Continuation of the hearing for conditional use and site plan review for The Anchorage.
Motion to Adjourn
- Welch moved to adjourn to deliberative session for Bayview Crossing. The motion was seconded by D. Patterson and passed by acclamation. The meeting was adjourned to deliberative session at 7:12 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
James G. Brightwell
Clerk for S. Hero Development Review Board
Signed: ____________________________________________ Date: __________________
For the Development Review Board
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly-scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.