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November 14, 2018 DRB Minutes

DRB, DRB minutes

SOUTH HERO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD                                            November 14, 2018

 

Members Present:    Tim Maxham (Chair); Doug Patterson (Vice Chair); Jim Brightwell (Alternate); Ross Brown, Sherry Corbin; Nate Hayward; Gareth Hunt; Liza Kilcoyne

Others Present:          Martha Taylor-Varney (Zoning Administrator)

Members Absent:      None

Public Present:         Jennifer Buckner, Heidi Chamberlain, Janine Bellinghiri, David Carter

Call to Order:              Meeting was called to order by T. Maxham at 7:00 p.m.

Changes to Agenda:   None

Public Input:               None

Hearing:          19-26-RT329 – Conditional Use/Site Plan Review Hearing for Island Craft Shop

  1. Maxham opened the hearing at 7:03 p.m.   J. Brightwell (Alternate) substituted for S. Corbin, who recused herself for this hearing

Notice & Oath

  1. Patterson read the hearing warning. T. Maxham administered the oath to the attending members of the public.

Appearing on behalf of the applicant:

Heidi Chamberlain

Hearing Notes

The application is for a change in use for the building at 329 U.S. Rte. 2 South. The applicant is the Island Craft Shop; the land owner is the Town of South Hero. The proposed use is seasonal retail. The previous use was housing for the town’s rescue squad.

Statement by Heidi Chamberlain

The Island Craft Shop is a cooperative and proposes to operate a retail store in the building from the 1st of May until Columbus Day, 7 days week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The shop will be open on the first Friday of every month until 7:00 p.m. during the summer months. After Columbus Day the shop will be open only on weekends until Christmas.

The cooperative is comprised of 25-30 crafters. There are no employees, as the store is staffed by cooperative members. Typically there is one person staffing the store when it is open. The Shop’s busiest time is from 10-12 in the morning, and generally there are no more than 3 cars at one time. The Shop sells items ranging in price from $1 to $180. The Shop is a small but successful business, having operated for 27 years at several locations in the islands.

  1. Maxham said this hearing is for a combination of conditional use and site plan review, and asked for an overview of the site plan.

Heidi Chamberlain said where the front door is will be the handicapped parking. Two cars can also park in front of garage door. Parking in the front will be straight-in parking. The shop will use the side door for people access and will put plants in front of the front people door. The only landscaping changes anticipated are trimming the existing shrubs to allow more light into the building.

The shop will erect a sign similar to what was in the previous location at David Carter’s former law office, consisting of 2 big upright posts with sign suspended in between. There will also be a smaller sign on the building. There will be no flags.

  1. Taylor-Varney asked how much of the building will be retail space. Heidi Chamberlain responded that the conference room and garage will be retail space; the kitchen will be enclosed with walls and will not be part of the retail space. M. Taylor-Varney asked what percentage of the interior floor space will be retail. Heidi Chamberlain answered that approximately 80% of the space will be retail. M. Taylor-Varney said that the parking on the site plan was calculated based on 100% of the building being retail space, at one space per 200 sq. ft.
  2. Kilcoyne asked how many spaces in the parking area will be reserved for the adjacent municipal building. M. Taylor-Varney said that parking for the municipal building does not extend to that side of the lot. T. Maxham clarified that the former rescue building and municipal building are on two separate lots, with the property line dividing the parking area at midpoint. Parking for municipal building business will be head-in on the municipal building’s east side, and parking for the Craft Shop will be head-in on the Craft Shop’s west side.
  3. Maxham asked if the Craft Shop was looking to open prior to Memorial Day weekend. Heidi Chamberlain answered that they would be open daily from the first weekend in May through Columbus Day, and from Columbus Day until Christmas they will be open weekends.
  4. Hayward asked where the Shop was located previously. Heidi Chamberlain answered that the Shop was most recently in the building formerly housing David Carter’s law office, and prior to that in the Catholic Church in North Hero.
  5. Taylor-Varney clarified that lines will not be painted on parking lot. H. Chamberlain said that the employees would park head-in to provide a clue to patrons on where/how to park.
  6. Hunt observed that no contours/vegetation/natural features were depicted on the site plan and asked if the Board needed to grant a waiver to omit these requirements from the site plan. M. Taylor-Varney said that a waiver was needed.
  7. Maxham asked if VTRANS had to be notified. M. Taylor-Varney replied that VTRANS has to weigh in on this since it’s on Route 2, a State highway. She said that access from the highway is fully on the parcel; if the town ever decides to sell it the property, the access needs to remain so she doesn’t anticipate that VTRANS will try to eliminate the access on that parcel. M. Taylor-Varney indicated that she would be notifying VTRANS.
  8. Kilcoyne observed that the Craft Shop is busiest on weekends and town offices are closed Friday through Sunday.
  9. Taylor-Varney asked if the Shop would consider putting up a bike rack. Heidi Chamberlain said that the Shop we would consider a bike rack, noting that they’ve had customers come from the bike path, and return in their cars to pick up merchandise.
  10. Kilcoyne asked if there is heat in the building. Heidi Chamberlain said that there was an old but functional heating system.
  11. Maxham asked if the Shop planned to keep the space heated. H. Chamberlain replied that they planned to keep it heated at 55 degrees.
  12. T. Maxham, noting the limited septic capacity, asked if the restrooms will only be used by employees.   H. Chamberlain confirmed that the restrooms would be used by employees only, and noted the availability of public restrooms at the Jolley two doors away.

Statement by David Carter

David Carter said he was addressing the Board on behalf of the Selectboard.  He indicated that when the Town explored what to do with the old rescue building, they discovered that the boundary between the municipal building parcel and the rescue building parcel was closer to the municipal building than to the rescue building. The Town felt they needed to keep the rescue building parcel to preserve the municipal building parking.   The Selectboard decided it would be best to keep the building occupied. Since there weren’t any other Town uses for the building, they entered into a lease with the Island Craft Shop. The Craft Shop will pay rent and utilities. One of the conditions in the one-year renewable lease agreement is that the Craft Shop must comply with all DRB conditions.

  1. Patterson asked if the applicant was going to have a dumpster. Heidi Chamberlain answered that the Shop did not plan to have a dumpster and would carry out all trash.
  2. Taylor-Varney indicated that the only features that were required but missing from the site plan were contours and natural features. In discussion, the Board decided that a verbal request for waiver of contours and natural features on the site plan was sufficient. Heidi Chamberlain requested a waiver for contours and natural features.
  3. Kilcoyne made a motion to accept a verbal request for waiver of contours and natural features from the site plan. The motion was seconded by G. Hunt and carried by acclamation.
  4. Hunt made a motion to accept site plan with waivers. L. Kilcoyne seconded the motion, which was carried by acclamation.
  5. Maxham opened the hearing to public comment.   Jeanine Bellinghiri stated that hosting the Craft Shop in the former rescue building was a good use of the building and was an asset to the town.

The hearing was closed by T. Maxham at 7:35 p.m.

 

Review of Minutes

  1. Patterson moved to accept the minutes of September 12th. R. Brown seconded, and the motion passed by acclamation.

Administrator’s Report

The Administrator’s Report was delivered by M. Taylor-Varney (Zoning Administrator).

The next meeting is November 28th. There are no hearings on this date. The Board will deliberate on the Island Craft Shop application.

There will be two hearings on December 12th: (1) a continuation of the Clifford variance, and (2) a change in conditional use based on a reduction in non-conformity.

The Board will not have a 2nd meeting in December due to the holidays. Deliberatives from December 12th will be conducted in January.

Adjournment

  1. Brown moved to adjourn business meeting. The motion was seconded by D. Patterson and carried by acclamation at 8:00 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.

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