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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/11/2009 - Work SessionMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE TOWN OF VINTON PLANNING COMMISSION HELD ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009, AT 6:45 P.M., IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING LOCATED AT 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dave Jones C.W. Pace, Jr. Bob Patterson (departed at 7:28 p.m.) Dawn Michelsen STAFF PRESENT: Anita McMillan, Planning and Zoning Director Chris Lawrence, Town Manager Karla Turman, Associate Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Julie S. Tucei, Planning and Zoning Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: Lindsay Blankenship, Roanoke County Planner Steve Azar, Vice Chairman, Roanoke County Planning Commission WORK SESSION AGENDA I. Call to Order II. Election of Officers III. Vinton Area Corridors Plan Update IV. Family Day Homes V. Fences on Corner Lots VI. Other Business VII. Adjournment The meeting of the Vinton Planning Commission was called to order at 6:44 p.m. by Acting Chairman Jones. Ms. Michelsen, Mr. Pace, and Mr. Patterson were also present. The next item on the agenda was the election of officers for Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and Recording Secretary. Prior to the elections being held, Ms. McMillan stated that Ms. Drewery has resigned due to work commitments, though she has not officially submitted it in writing. Ms. McMillan asked that they let her know if they have any suggestions for a new member to take Ms. Drewery’s place. Mr. Patterson said he thought they needed to go ahead with the elections rather than waiting for a new member. He made a motion to nominate Mr. Jones for Chairperson, which was seconded by Ms. Michelsen. A roll call vote was taken, and all members voted in favor of approving the motion. Mr. Patterson made a motion to nominate Ms. Michelsen for Vice Chairperson, which was seconded by Mr. Pace. A roll call vote was taken, and all members voted in favor of approving the motion. Mr. Patterson made a motion to nominate Ms. McMillan for Secretary and Ms. Tucei for Recording Secretary, which was seconded by Mr. Pace. A roll call vote was taken, and all members voted in favor of approving the motion. The next item of business was the Vinton Area Corridors Plan Update. Ms. McMillan introduced Ms. Blankenship from Roanoke County to present the update to the corridor study. Ms. Blankenship gave a PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION AUGUST 11, 2009 PAGE 2 PowerPoint presentation summary of the project, a copy of which will be made a part of the permanent record for this meeting. She first introduced Mr. Steve Azar who represents the Vinton area on the Roanoke County Planning Commission. During her presentation, she highlighted some community input about the corridors and what people would like to see. She also highlighted the draft goals and recommendations of the plan for the corridors. Ms. Michelsen suggested having a business incubator, perhaps located in the former William Byrd High School Building. Ms. McMillan said that during community meetings people suggested that the building be used as a trade school and recreation center. Mr. Lawrence stated that the school board plans to use the building as a flex space during renovations at the current Byrd high school. Ms. Blankenship also presented several maps including: current future land use map from the 2005 Comprehensive Plan and maps showing three different scenarios for the future land use map. She informed then that the ideas from the maps could be combined rather than using just one of the maps. She asked for their opinions on the scenarios, and wanted to know if they felt scenario three was too extreme or not. Mr. Jones suggested that the maps be kept together as far as the geographic areas in order to help people see what scenarios are being suggested. Mr. Lawrence mentioned that along some of the corridors the infrastructure is not able to support redevelopment to commercial uses. Water and sewer lines in place in those areas are residential lines. Mr. Jones suggested that they add more landmarks on the maps to help people see what area they are looking at. Ms. Blankenship stated that they were concerned with showing favoritism to certain businesses if they used them as landmarks for the maps. She said they can show the shopping centers such as Lake Drive Plaza, River Park Plaza, and East Vinton Plaza. Mr. Lawrence suggested that the draft documents could show specific businesses, and then the final approved map would not have to show the businesses. Ms. Blankenship asked if anyone had any questions about the scenarios. Ms. Turman asked if the scenarios for each area had to be the same or if it could one scenario for one area and another for other areas or any combination thereof. Mr. Azar stated that the County Planning Commission had taken pieces from scenario two and three and combined them into one map. He said they felt scenario three was too extreme in several areas. Ms. Michelsen stated that she felt citizens may find all the information very confusing. Mr. Jones mentioned that, during the comprehensive plan process, one citizen had concerns about the new town center suggestion for the River Park area. Ms. Blankenship stated that during the public hearings the staff will explain more about what the future land use designations mean and that it doesn’t change the zoning of the property. She showed them the proposed time line for the corridor study project. She mentioned that the public hearing for Vinton Planning Commission is scheduled for September 10th. Mr. Azar expressed concerns that they may end up with 5 or 6 scenarios on the table. Ms. McMillan asked if the County had any citizens at their work session. Ms. Blankenship said there were no citizens there. Ms. McMillan asked if each property owner would be notified of the public hearing. Ms. Blankenship stated they would be sending out notices to all owners of record. A proposed joint work session is proposed for late September for the Vinton and Roanoke Planning Commissions. Both Mr. Jones and Mr. Azar stated that the amount of information presented was overwhelming. Mr. Lawrence suggested they take the next two weeks to look over the information they have been given and then be ready to discuss it in a work session before the September 10th public hearing. Mr. Pace said he would like to look at each geographical area one at a time. He said it would be less confusing rather than jumping around. Ms. McMillan suggested that they consider whether they are looking at the citizens’ needs as a whole when they look at the scenarios. Mr. Pace asked if they could change the color of the boxes on the maps for each scenario so you would be able to tell what parts are the same on the scenarios and what has changed. Mr. Jones stated that the scales of each map PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION AUGUST 11, 2009 PAGE 3 should be the same. Ms. Blankenship explained why the scales were not the same on each map. Mr. Jones said each scenario map should be the same scale. Ms. McMillan said they can schedule additional work sessions if the Planning Commission feels necessary. Ms. Michelsen said she’d like to have another work session prior to the public hearing. Mr. Jones agreed and said he didn’t feel they were ready for the public hearing. Ms. McMillan stated that perhaps September 10th meeting could just be a work session rather than the public hearing. Ms. Blankenship mentioned that Roanoke City officials highly recommended that the Town does all it can to keep the post office in downtown when the corridor plan overview was presented to them. Mr. Lawrence said they would talk with County officials to see if the time table can be pushed back a bit to allow them more time to study the scenarios. Mr. Azar stated that their Commission went through the same thing as far as needing more time and not wanting to rush it through. Ms. Blankenship stated that she would also relay those sentiments to her supervisor. The Commission briefly discussed the need to take the citizens’ comments into serious consideration. Ms. Turman stated that she felt it was very important to do so since she had received several comments from business owners about how they have given suggestions to the Town before, but nothing had ever changed. Ms. Blankenship wrapped it up by saying that they needed feedback from the Commissions to make the plan complete. Mr. Jones suggested they hold off on the rest of the agenda considering the time. Ms. Michelsen mentioned that she would be having some surgery on August 17th and would be unavailable for meetings during that timeframe. Mr. Lawrence stated that another month would not hurt the fencing regulations, and the day home regulations can also wait if necessary. They thanked Mr. Azar for attending the meeting and for his input. Mr. Pace made a motion to adjourn the work session, and Ms. Michelsen seconded it at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Anita McMillan Planning Commission Secretary