Planning Commission

SOUTH HERO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES                                       May 18, 2022

 

Members Present: Sandy Gregg (Chair); Michele Gammal (Vice-Chair); Fred Bartle

Members Absent: George Harwood; David Roy

Others Present: Joan Falcao; Emily Klofft (NRPC); Bridget Kerr (via Zoom); Kathy Magill (via Zoom); Martha Taylor-Varney (ZA)

 

6:04PM – S. Gregg opened the meeting.

 

Changes to the Agenda

There were none.

 

Public Comment

There was none.

 

Continue Town Plan Discussion

1. Emily Klofft of NRPC to discuss data to be included in the plan: Emily presented a PowerPoint data presentation to the Commission. This will be put on the South Hero – Town Plan page of the NRPC website. South Hero’s year-round population has grown 3% since 2010.  Subject headings include Land Use, Transportation and Complete Streets, Municipal Facilities and Services, Housing, Local Economy, Climate and Flood Resilience.  A copy of the presentation is also available from the Zoning Office.
2. Review draft of Town Plan Survey Formatted Questions: The questions are based on the work by the survey committee (Sandy Gregg, Michele Gammal, Joan Falcao). The draft included open-ended questions related to specific Town Plan Guiding Themes.
3. Vibrant Villages (Change to Village Zoning Districts) – Emily reported that median primary home sale prices from 2015 to 2021 had increased by 74%. Joan Falcao was concerned about no minimum lot sizes in the village zoning districts.  Can these be covered in general comment at the end of the survey, or should there be more specific references to this? She also recommended adding support/neutral/against for each question, rather than “dos you support…”.  Bridget Kerr suggested changing “concentrated Development” to “density.” It was suggested to add the purpose statement from the Regulations to the introductory paragraph.  Also, add additional lines to the “other” designation to allow for more room to write comments.
4. Public Transit — question on public transit: would you use it; how would you use it (commute to work, appointments/etc.); how often?
5. Water Quality – questions include whether residents support efforts to increase public drinking water?; efforts to improve water quality of Lake Champlain?
6. Recreation – the Commission removed questions about the proposed Rec Park since the Recreation Commission is including them in their survey.
7. Equity and Inclusion – how can South Hero be welcoming to all people. It was decided to remove the question “Would you like more information about what “Equity and Inclusion” means?

 

ARPA Committee Update

There was no update.

 

Wastewater Planning and Assessment Committee Update

George Harwood was not available.

 

Old Business

1. Fred Bartle spoke with David Hobbs about School Safety Zones. Fred needs additional information about safety zones for crosswalks and will discuss with D. Hobbs further.
2. 2022 VTrans Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant Program update: Sandy Gregg explained that this is only for a scoping study to study the possibility of sidewalks in both villages. The study is required for any future implementation grant to develop.  Should the Town apply?  More discussion is included on the Selectboard agenda for their next meeting.

 

New Business

There was discussion about identifying areas of forest fragmentation and maintaining wildlife corridors in a map for the Town Plan.

 

Meeting Minutes

Fred Bartle moved to approve the minute of May 4, 2022; Michele Gammal second.  Joan Falcao asked that the discussion about the survey draft at that meeting related to minimum lot sizes be added to the minutes because “community members are concerned.”  Sandy Gregg commented that minutes are not a transcript of the meeting.  Fred suggested adding that as part of public comment.  Joan agreed to do that at the next meeting.  At the end of discussion, the motion to approve the minutes was unanimous.

 

Administrator’s Report

-There will be a webinar sponsored by VLCT on Regulating on May 24 from 10 to noon.

-The 2022 Downtown and Historic Preservation Conference will be in St. Johnsbury on June 9^th, hosted by the VT Dept. of Housing and Community Development.

 

The next meeting will be June 1^st at 6PM.

 

8:03 – Michele Gammal moved to adjourn; Sandy Gregg 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.

SOUTH HERO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES                                       May 4, 2022

 

Members Present: Sandy Gregg (Chair); Michele Gammal (Vice-Chair); David Roy; George Harwood; Fred Bartle

Others Present: Joan Falcao; David Hobbs; Tim Maxham; Kathy Magill (via Zoom); Greta Brunswick, NRPC (via Zoom), Martha Taylor-Varney, ZA.

 

6:00PM – S. Gregg called the meeting to order.

 

Changes to the Agenda

Adjust the agenda until Greta signs on.

 

Public Comment

There was none.

 

ARPA Committee Update

1. Roy reported that the ARPA survey is now available.

 

Continue 2023 Town Plan discission

Debrief Stakeholders’ discussions – All members had compared their notes to those provided by Northwest Regional Planning.  There were no comments. Greta Brunswick will post them on the South Hero page of the NRPC website.  These will be revisited at a future meeting.  S. Gregg will post on FPF that the notes are available on the Town website under Planning Commission.

Review Draft of Proposed Survey – The Commission reviewed the draft survey questions by S. Gregg, M. Gammal, and Joan Falcao.  Greta Brunswick of Northwest Regional Planning Commission helped review the questions, offering suggestions and alternate ideas.   The Commission agreed that the goal of the survey should be to identify common themes to help form a vision statement.  The survey will be open for the month of June.  There was discussion about wording and rephrasing questions.  Themes of the survey include — Housing: The questions will consider housing needs – a) affordability; b) do housing options meet the needs of the community? c) short-term rental – should these be regulated?  Transportation: Needed to provide information to Green Mountain Transit and CIDER.  Would public transportation be utilized here if it was available?  Water Quality: Add water supply and wastewater management?  Recreation and Public Safety: The focus should be on the proposed Town Park.  Need to prioritize what activities community members want to see there. David Hobbs also suggested a questions about whether the community would support multi-use paths and trails for pedestrians and bikes for connectivity?  Equity and Inclusion: Greta suggested that this part be approached from the standpoint that we need to learn more and do more.  Greta suggested adding a section on Vibrant Villages with village-related questions. The Village zoning district purpose statement and the village zoning district maps from the Development Regulations needs to be included for reference. Greta suggested including a general question “Do you have concerns with the vision described in the village zoning district purpose statement”? rather than getting too specific with questions that could be considered leading.

Joan Falcao suggested a question directly related to businesses – Are there impediments that businesses face in South Hero?  Is there anything the Development Regulations can do to support businesses here?  S. Gregg recommended that the Commission sponsor a public meeting specific to that subject instead.

Public Outreach schedule – public outreach opportunities to gain feedback will include [CCC’s] on June 27 and August 22, in addition to a table at the Farmers’ Market on June 22, July 13, and August 17.

Discuss idea of a Resource section – for the back of the Town Plan, to include stakeholders’ links, other links, and references.  Greta agreed that it would be a good idea.

 

Future Agenda Items – it was suggested to put Impact Fees on the June 15 Planning Commission agenda for discussion, not as part of the Town Plan discussion. Could possibly be included as a mention in the Plan.  The May 18 agenda will include Emily Klofft of NRPC reviewing data that will be used in the plan.

 

New/Old Business

1. Gregg will discuss with David Hobbs whether the Town should apply for the 2022 VTrans Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant Program. This would be for a scoping study. Sandy wants to concentrate on sidewalks in South Hero Village first.  The application is due by the beginning of June.  The Selectboard must authorize it and would need to agree to a 20% match. Sandy also reported that the renewals of the Village Center Designations for South Hero and Keeler Bay Villages have been renewed by the State.

 

Wastewater Planning and Assessment Committee Update

1. Harwood reported that the committee is moving along. The contract for Otter Creek Associates was signed by the Selectboard. The application for the State Revolving Fund grant has been submitted.  The committee’s survey has been mailed out to residents in the 2 village zoning districts.

 

Meeting Minutes

1. Bartle moved to approve the minutes of April 20, 2022; M. Gammal second. All in favor.

 

Administrator’s Report

ZA Martha Taylor-Varney told the Board about a VLCT webinar scheduled for May 24^th on required regulations related to cannabis.  It is recommended for ZA’s, Planning Commission members, and Selectboard members.  She will forward the registration information to the PC members.

Martha discussed with the Board a recent change to a VTrans rule and how it had affected a local resident’s subdivision review before the DRB.  She noted that towns are too often not notified of changes in State regulations until months after they are implemented, resulting in delays and additional financial obligations to applicants.

 

The next meeting of the Planning Commission will be May 18, 2022 at 6PM.

 

Due to the late hour, agenda 6 (School Safety Zone Update) will be included on the May 18 agenda.  Planning Commission Rules of Procedure prohibit any meeting lasting longer than 2 hours.

 

 

Adjournment

8:00 — G. Harwood 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.