SOUTH HERO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES August 21, 2019
Members Present: D. Patterson (Chair); S. Gregg (Vice-Chair); D. Roy; B. Kerr; M. Gammal
Public Present: Tim Maxham; Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA
7:00 PM – D. Patterson called the meeting to order.
Changes to the Agenda
There were none.
Public Input
There was none (…at the moment).
MPG 2020 – Scope?
- Roy asked that if there was public wastewater throughout Town, would community systems be considered? B. Kerr said she was on the fence. Are we trying to overdevelop South Hero? She felt strongly that any proposal should be aimed toward protecting the lake rather than how much of the town’s open space could be developed. This is just a feasibility study to identify options for town-wide water and/or wastewater. D. Patterson disagreed that town-wide water or wastewater would drive development. He wants to see a first broad brush that could identify options that could be available for the future. A feasibility study won’t obligate the Town to follow through with any of the findings. S. Gregg and M. Gammal agreed. The consensus of the Commission was to direct NRPC to apply for a grant for a feasibility study for both water municipal water and wastewater town wide.
Review Draft Development Regulations
There was some discussion about proposed Figure 4.1 (Subdivision Review Process: At a Glance) regarding the proper sequence after ‘Pre-application Conference’ – there as confusion about the process of Administrative Review vs. a DRB hearing and how clearly the chart spelled out whether the application will be reviewed next by the ZA or the DRB. Martha will talk to Taylor Newton at NRPC to see if this can be made clearer.
At the October 2, 2019 Planning Commission public hearing D. Patterson will introduce Taylor Newton and explain the background/relationship between South Hero and NRPC with this project.
Need to confirm the boundaries of the 2 proposed Village Zoning Districts with NRPC.
Meeting Minutes
- Gregg moved to approve the minutes from the August 7, 2019 Planning Commission meeting; D. Roy second. All in favor.
New/Old Business
- Kerr contacted Act 250 to ask if they’d come to a PC meeting in late Oct. or early Nov. to discuss their review process. It will be scheduled on a regular PC meeting night and will be formatted as a Q and A. It was discussed whether to invite other Island towns. The Commission will invite Bob and Jay Buermann to attend.
Administrator’s Report
- State Gov’t Municipal Days has scheduled several full- and half-days throughout Vermont on dates between Oct 23rd and Nov. 7. There will be a half-day session in Essex Junction. Planning Members are encouraged to attend one. Further information, with agendas for each, is available at [email protected].
- The October 2nd public hearing requires a 30-day warning and will appear in the 8/27/19 issue of the Islander. Planning Commissions from adjacent Towns (Grand Isle, Milton, and Colchester), NRPC, and ACCD can receive the warning and pdf of the draft Regulations by return receipt email. That will be sent out the week of Aug 26.
- The Library has been reserved for the 10/2 public meeting.
- The next meeting of the Planning Commission will be September 4th. The Sept. 18 meeting may not have a quorum and will be confirmed on the 4th.
8:30 PM – S. Gregg moved to adjourn; M. Gammal 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.