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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/31/2021 - Minutes t ROANOKE COUNTY '' .z PLANNING COMMISSION ,% WORK SESSION MINUTES AUGUST 31, 2021 Commissioners Present: Mr. Wayne Bower Mr. Rick James Mr. Troy Henderson Mr. Kelly McMurray Mr. Jim Woltz Staff Present: Mr. Philip Thompson, Secretary Ms. Rachel Lower, Senior Assistant County Attorney Mr. Alex Jones Ms. Rebecca James Mrs. Bailey Howard-Dubois Ms. Alyssa Dunbar Ms. Cecile Newcomb Ms. Cecelia Monnin, Recording Secretary Call to Order Mr. Bower called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. Approval of Agenda Mr. James made a motion to approve the agenda, which passed 4-0. Approval of Minutes Mr. McMurray made a motion to approve the June 1, 2021 minutes, which passed 3-0-2 with Mr. Woltz and Mr. Henderson abstaining. Consent Agenda Ms. Dunbar reviewed the Economic Development Authority of Roanoke County's request to rezone approximately 30 acres from AR to 1-2. She reviewed the site location, zoning, future land use and floodplain maps with the Commission. Mr. James noted to Ms. Lower that he works for a company that owns the asphalt plant to the south of the proposed parcel of the rezoning. He noted the company had no interest in the parcel on the consent agenda and verified there will not be a conflict of interest. Mr. James questioned the reason for rezoning the property. Mr. Thompson explained Economic Development has had an interest in the property and foresaw an opportunity to help the current owners rezone the property. The commission noted a residential parcel to the east of the potentially rezoned parcel. Mr. Bower asked if the signs had • ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS AUGUST 31. 2021 gone up, and Mr. Thompson noted the adjacent mailers and signs should be going up three weeks before the public hearing. Mr. James noted that citizens on West River Road were not happy about the Industrial zoning of the asphalt plant. He stated the potential of opposition from them. Mr. James noted that he wanted to thank the County for the initiative of getting the property rezoned to interest potential buyers. Mr. Woltz made a motion to approve the consent agenda which passed 4-0. Roanoke County 200 Plan Update Ms. Howard-Dubois presented on the Roanoke County 200 Comprehensive Plan. She reiterated the plan's purpose. She explained the new website and where to find the meeting schedule. She discussed the marketing approach to encourage people to find their planning area. She noted the data reports for the existing conditions were close to being finalized and the stakeholder meetings that have been held. She discussed the diversity, equity, and inclusion outreach of the project. She mentioned the timeline of the community engagement strategy and the meeting schedule for each of the planning areas. She detailed the meeting exhibits that will be used at the meetings and the intent to listen to citizens and their concerns. The marketing plan was overviewed. She showed an example of an RVTV video that is part of the marketing plan. Mr. Jones noted that any additional outreach to help get the community involved would be appreciated. He reiterated the large social media outreach to encourage adolescents and college-aged citizens to participate. He noted part of the plan to get the community involved is to get the high school students involved through the student advisory board. He hoped the initiative would help to increase a lower aged demographic to be involved and Mr. James noted he hoped that outreach would encourage the younger population to want to stay in the Roanoke area. Ms. Newcomb reiterated that the comp plan was mentioned frequently in the newsletter to encourage outreach. Ms. Howard-Dubois followed her statement noting that people do not have to leave their homes to participate. Citizens are able to participate in all of the meetings virtually. Mr. Thompson noted that the comprehensive plan has been a large effort of the planning department, and stated it will be interesting to see the involvement as it has been over 15 years since the last comprehensive plan was adopted. He noted that due to Covid restrictions it was essential that all of the information and events be available online. He mentioned wanting to go out into the community with the planning commissioners and board members to listen to issues within each planning area. He noted the mass mailings that are happening to try and ensure citizens have the opportunity to participate in the meetings. He noted the intention to do meeting summaries so citizens would be able to have a synopsis of the meeting if they are unable to attend. Mr. James noted that he hopes there will be a diverse group of individuals giving feedback. Mr. Thompson responded that would be the best outcome, but the best we can do is to provide opportunities for the community to get involved. Page 2 of 4 • ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS AUGUST 31.2021 Mr. Woltz verified with Ms. Howard-Dubois that there would be a Bent Mountain meeting, but noted that the map did not appear to include all of Bent Mountain on the planning area map. Ms. Howard-Dubois noted that the area will be included and the meeting will be held in November. The information will be available on the site two weeks before each meeting. With no further questions, she ended her presentation. Zoning Ordinance Amendments Mr. Thompson discussed possible zoning ordinance amendments. He noted new additions to the list of possible zoning ordinance amendments. He mentioned the request by Ms. Hooker to revise the height standards for exterior lighting. Mr. James questioned the issue with the height of exterior light poles. Mr. Thompson noted that he could not speak to the origin of the matter, but that they planned to review the information. Mr. James questioned whether or not there was anything in place to prevent potentially dangerous LED lights that propose a hazard to drivers. Mr. Thompson noted VDOT had regulations in place to prevent that. Mr. Woltz noted that something should be done to regulate that light beams should be down lit for safety. Mr. Thompson noted that there are regulations in effect, but that the matter would be investigated. Mr. James noted that due to the nature of the comprehensive plan update, that it should take precedent over the zoning ordinance amendments. Mr. James made a motion to approve the list of possible zoning ordinance amendments for staff to work on and that all additions, as deemed appropriate by staff, be included in future amendments. The motion passed 5-0. Upcoming Planning Commission Meetings Mr. Thompson noted the upcoming schedule for the comprehensive plan meetings and stated that there was only one date with overlap, October 18th. The Planning Commission noted that due to the influx of meetings staff would be attending, it would be appropriate to cancel the Commission's October 18th meeting. Mr. Bower made a motion to cancel the October 18th meeting which passed 5-0. Citizen Comments There were none. Comments of Planning Commissioners and Planning Staff Mr. James noted the effort that has been put into the Roanoke County 200 Plan by staff and commended them for all of their efforts. Mr. Woltz also commended staff for their efforts. Mr. Thompson and Mr. Bower discussed the GroupWise update. Mr. Thompson also noted an increase in pre-application meetings and noted that there would be more applications coming under review in the fall. Mr. Woltz questioned the zoning of the applications. Mr. Thompson and Ms. James reviewed the potential applications. With no further business or comments, Mr. Bower adjourned the meeting at 7:18 p.m. Page 3 of 4 ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS AUGUST 31.2021 Respectfully Submitted: Oltdayy-AaAyti CMonnin Recordi. . ecretary, Roanoke County Planning Commission ek/A. LI4 Philip Th9/ pson Secreta Roanoke County Planning Commission Wayne Bo 4er Chairman, Roanoke County Planning Commission Page 4 of 4