Planning Commission Minutes
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June 11, 2007
Present:
Guests: Dennis
Smith, John Bloomer, Lisa Charbonneau, Tom Phillips, Karen Lamay, Jill Burkett,
Robins and Clarice Best
1.
Election of Chair
Bill Scranton nominated
Motion made by
2.
Review and Approval of the Meeting Minutes of
3.
Interview Planning Commission Candidate
Lisa Charbonneau came
forward to express interest in becoming a member of the Planning Commission. She
gave a brief presentation of her qualifications and reasons for wanting to be on
the board. Jay Kenlan asked about her interest and qualifications. She said she
left her resume and recommendations with Julie so we will get those before the
next meeting.
4.
SITE PLAN REVIEW: Dennis
Smith – Permit #07-23 – 2251 Rt 7 S – use front of north building (Route 7
South property) for office
On June **, 2007, Dennis
Smith applied to the Wallingford Zoning Administrator for a permit to use the
portion of the north building on his Route 7 South property (where Mill River
Auto is currently located) that extends out toward Route 7 for a business office
for all his businesses (LMS Construction, Mill River Auto, Mom’s Country
Kitchen, etc.) The application has
been referred to the Planning Commission for site plan review.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Bloomer
advised the Planning Commission that Lisa Charbonneau, General Operations
Officer for Mr. Smith’s business entitles, would usually be the only person
there, running the daily operations of the many businesses located at the Route
7 South property. There may be one or two more office workers who work at the
Route 7 South property and would park their personal vehicles there, and that
Mr. Smith would come to the Route 7 South property from time to time.
No other people involved with Mr. Smith’s business would park on the
Route 7 South property. The office
workers and Mr. Smith would park behind the fence which currently extends north
from the building. The fence will be painted a taupe color and additional tree
and shrub screening would be provided. The office employees would do Payroll,
Accounting and organizational type work from the office. The space is better
suited to the “office” function than the space currently being used on
No construction vehicles or
equipment, heavy trucks, job or other trailers, or vehicles or equipment other
than the private automobiles and standard size pickup trucks belonging to the
office workers who worked in the building and, occasionally a personal
automobile or standard size pickup truck used by Mr. Smith, would be parked on
the property.
No additional lighting is
proposed at this time, but if it is added it should be shielded from adjoining
properties. If outdoor lighting is
proposed, the property owner would have to file an application to amend the site
plan.
Jay Kenlan asked Mr.
Smith’s attorney, John Bloomer, to provide the Planning Commission with copies
of any previous permits that were issued on this property so that the Planning
Commission can review any conditions that may have been placed on the property.
Jay Kenlan also requested a more detailed site plan showing additional
landscaping and screening. Mr.
Bloomer agreed to do so by the next meeting.
Jill Burkett who owns the
property across Route 7 South from the Smith property said that the permit for
Mill River Auto only applied to the building at the south end of the property.
She suggested we review the court documents for info on all aspects of their
findings. She said we should clearly spell out in the permit what this office
will be used for and place strict conditions on it. Jay
Kenlan asked the Zoning Administrator to ask Attorney John Liccardi, who is
representing the Town in zoning enforcement litigation against Mr. Smith
involving this property, to advise the Planning commission whether the Planning
Commission’s consideration would have any bearing on the current court
proceedings pertaining to this property.
Mr. Smith mentioned that he
is purchasing the Bernier house and property on
Jill Burkett asked how to
enforce any permit conditions and who would enforce them. Jay Kenlan said that
the Planning Commission only has site plan review which pertains to parking,
screening, lighting and traffic and the Zoning Administrator has the authority
to enforce the permit conditions.
Jay Kenlan asked for a
motion to recess the site plan review until we have the information from Mr.
Bloomer and Mr. Liccardi and also a more detailed depiction of the proposed
screening. Missy Whitmore so moved. Bob Soule seconded. Motion carried 7-0.
5.
Proposed Zoning Changes from Selectboard
Some general discussion took
place about the time constraints, if any, that we are under since the Planning
Commission had its final public hearing on the Proposed Zoning Regulations on
Under Recommended Changes:
1.
Define Survey. There is a definition of survey at 601.2.1B in Article 6. The
question arose… does “survey” require a licensed surveyor? Jay Kenlan will
develop some language for this and forward to the members.
2.
Define Variance. The definition is in 1206.1 and is according to statute.
3.
Consider referencing “Rural Otter Creek Valley Multiple Resource Area” as a
note to certain parts of Town. This is talked about in the Town Plan. Should it
be an overlay zone in the new regulation? No decision reached.
4.
Add “Setback” to front, side and rear under Minimum Yard Size on Article 5.
In the Dimensional Standards chart in Article 5, changing the heading of the row
“Minimum Yard Size” to “Minimum Setback” should take care of it.
5.
Consider Flood Hazard overlay. Section 310 refers to the FEMA maps regarding
flood areas, and these maps are updated with some regularity, which would render
an overlay map obsolete. Therefore we feel we should continue to refer to the
latest FEMA maps.
6.
Regarding Parking Spaces.
7.
Add “NA” (not allowed) to all blank spaces on the Table of Permitted and
Conditional Uses in Section 407. Fill the blanks with an “X” and add a
footnote “X = Not Permitted”
8.
Consider mentioning affordable housing. This is in the Town Plan – page 46
Housing Affordability and page 33. It is already referred to and provided for in
the Plan. There are not any restrictions in the Zoning Regulation on
affordability or income.
Under Questions:
1. Why isn’t Shaw property on Route 7 North deemed commercial? This would be one property doing commercial things in a residential/agricultural area. While these are allowed conditional uses it would be spot zoning to set this one property apart with its own zone.
2.
Would the Orton grant mesh with the proposed regulations regarding potential for
growth? We feel that the Orton software would be a valuable tool for the town.
Is the project still progressing? We had information that it was not being
worked on because no one had volunteered to lead the effort.
We agreed that it is a worthwhile project and that we need to find
someone to lead it.
3.
Meeting with Prudential Committee about water/sewer capacities?
6.
Next Meeting:
July 9th.
7.
Adjourn:
Missy
Whitmore moved and Bill Scranton seconded to adjourn at
Respectfully submitted,
William Brooks, III
Secretary and Zoning Administrator