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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/7/2009 - JointMINUTES OF THE JOINT WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING OF THE TOWN OF VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS HELD ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009, AT 6 P.M. AND 7 P.M. RESPECTIVELY, AT THE VINTON WAR MEMORIAL, 814 WASHINGTON AVENUE. JOINT WORK SESSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Dave Jones, Chairman C.W. Pace, Jr. Bob Patterson Dawn Michelsen, Vice Chairperson TOWN COUNCIL PRESENT: Brad Grose, Mayor Wes Nance, Councilman TOWN STAFF PRESENT: Anita McMillan, Planning and Zoning Director Karla Turman, Associate Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Julie S. Tucei, Planning and Zoning Coordinator OTHERS PRESENT: Martha Hooker, Roanoke County Planning Commission Steve Azar, Roanoke County Planning Commission David Radford, Roanoke County Planning Commission Gary Jarrell, Roanoke County Planning Commission Rodney McNeil, Roanoke County Planning Commission Philip Thompson, Roanoke County Community Development Lindsay Blankenship, Roanoke County Community Development Tammi Wood, Roanoke County Community Development Tara Pattisall, Roanoke County Community Development Rebecca Mahoney, Roanoke County Community Development Susan Carter, Roanoke County Community Development Melinda Cox, Roanoke County Economic Development Joe Obenshain, Roanoke County Senior Assistant Attorney Matt Miller, Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission AGENDA I. Call to Order II. Discussion of Vinton Area Corridors Plan Draft Document III. Adjournment The joint work session of the Vinton and Roanoke County Planning Commissions was called to order at 6:18 p.m. by Vinton’s Chairman Jones and Roanoke’s Chairperson Hooker. Roll was called, and all Vinton and Roanoke County Planning Commissioners were present. Mr. Thompson began the work session with a brief introduction of the corridor study. He said he knew the document could be overwhelming. He mentioned that the actual document is to page 178, and from there are the supporting documents. He turned the meeting over to Ms. Blankenship to continue the presentation. First, Ms. Blankenship highlighted the implementation strategies and schedule, a copy of which will be made part of the permanent record of this work session. She briefly went through each category on the schedule. Ms. McMillan also updated them on the Downtown Revitalization plan through the DHCD and the recently VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING DECEMBER 7, 2009 PAGE 2 received RFP’s from potential firms. She said they plan to begin the interview process with the firms in the next week and hope to have a contract signed by the beginning of 2010. She also updated them on the feasibility study on the Vinton Ford Motors property. Ms. McMillan said the study would be presented to Town Council at their next meeting. Following Ms. McMillan’s updates, Ms. Blankenship asked if there were any questions, comments, or additions to the implementation list. Chairman Jones asked what Ms. Blankenship planned for the public hearing. Ms. Blankenship stated that she would be giving a presentation that included a brief overview of each chapter of the study and also an overview of the implementation strategy. Mr. Patterson stated that he thought they had done a good job on the study. Chairman Jones mentioned that there are some items that need to be corrected prior to the final draft. He also mentioned that he was concerned about the elderly having access to the document since it was a web document. Chairman Jones asked if the Mayor thought the Town had left out any segments of the Vinton population in the process. Mayor Grose stated that it is always a challenge to get the word out to population segments such as the elderly. He said they do use the newspaper to help with notification. Next, Ms. Hooker opened the floor up to her commission for comments. First, she stated that she appreciated all the work that has been done on this project. Mr. Azar said he believes this to be one of the most comprehensive studies that had ever been undertaken by the Town and County. He said they have made efforts to include all segments of the population with the community meetings and stakeholder interviews. He congratulated both staffs for getting the document to this point. Mr. Radford agreed with Mr. Azar and also complimented both staffs on their work. He mentioned that it takes a lot of work to get these studies together. He also stated that his father is 77 years old, and he still reads these types of documents on the internet. Mr. Jarrell said he felt that there are a lot of elderly citizens who do not have access to the internet. Mr. McNeil applauded the staff of both localities on their efforts. He said that you can put out notices for people about meetings, but people will not become involved until it directly affects them. He stated that you cannot make people attend the meetings. Ms. Hooker said the efforts have been made to invite people to be involved and she looks upon tonight as a celebration of the study. Mr. Obenshain suggested that Town meetings could be broadcast on RVTV as a way to reach more citizens and get the word out. Mr. Azar asked if the County had the ability to do webcasts. Mr. Obenshain said there are funds available to enable the purchase of equipment for broadcasting meetings. Ms. Cox stated that she has an upcoming taping of a show that will mention the various corridor studies and she offered to give out contact information for the Vinton study on the show. Ms. McMillan mentioned that she had received two citizen comments about the study. One gentleman wanted copies of the map, and one just wanted to make sure his property was not being rezoned. She mentioned that they both said they appreciated the letter they received notifying them of the meeting. In other business, the commissions discussed how the public hearing would be held and limitations on the time that the public would be allowed to speak. Mr. McNeil suggested that they announce that people will have the opportunity to speak on the study, but to ask that they try to limit their comments to three minutes. With there being no further business, the joint work session was adjourned by Chairman Jones and Ms. Hooker at 6:50 p.m. to prepare for the public hearing at 7 p.m. VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING DECEMBER 7, 2009 PAGE 3 JOINT PUBLIC HEARING MEMBERS PRESENT: Dave Jones, Chairman C.W. Pace, Jr. Bob Patterson Dawn Michelsen, Vice Chairperson TOWN COUNCIL PRESENT: Brad Grose, Mayor Robert Altice Carolyn Fidler Wes Nance TOWN STAFF PRESENT: Consuella Caudill, Assistant Town Manager Anita McMillan, Planning and Zoning Director Mary Beth Layman, Special Programs Director Joey Hiner, Assistant Public Works Director Karla Turman, Associate Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Julie S. Tucei, Planning and Zoning Coordinator ROANOKE STAFF PRESENT: Martha Hooker, Roanoke County Planning Commission Steve Azar, Roanoke County Planning Commission David Radford, Roanoke County Planning Commission Gary Jarrell, Roanoke County Planning Commission Rodney McNeil, Roanoke County Planning Commission Philip Thompson, Roanoke County Community Development Lindsay Blankenship, Roanoke County Community Development Tammi Wood, Roanoke County Community Development Tara Pattisall, Roanoke County Community Development Rebecca Mahoney, Roanoke County Community Development Susan Carter, Roanoke County Community Development Melinda Cox, Roanoke County Economic Development Joe Obenshain, Roanoke County Senior Assistant Attorney Matt Miller, Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission CITIZENS PRESENT: Chris Craft, Roanoke Aaron Lyles, Vinton Janet Scheid, Vinton Wayne Dunman, Vinton Esther Adcox, Vinton William Figart, Vinton Tiffany Rawling, Vinton Harold and Judy Harless, Vinton W.C. Butler, Vinton Tim Greenway, Vinton VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING DECEMBER 7, 2009 PAGE 4 CITIZENS PRESENT (cont.): Keith Lafferty, Vinton James Privitera, Vinton Susan Teass, Vinton L.T. McGhee, Roanoke Gayette Epperly, Vinton Ann Huddleston, Vinton Tommy Wood, Vinton Randy and Marie Flippen Doug Forbes, Vinton AGENDA I. Invocation/Pledge of Allegiance II. Call to Order III. Public Hearing—Vinton Area Corridors Plan Draft Document IV. Citizens’ and Staff Comments V. Adjournment The joint public hearing of the Vinton and Roanoke County Planning Commissions was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Jones and Chairperson Hooker. Roll was called and all Vinton and Roanoke County Planning Commission members were present. Vinton’s Mayor, Bradley Grose, gave the Invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance. The first item on the agenda was the joint public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Roanoke County Comprehensive Plan and the Town of Vinton Comprehensive Plan. The proposed amendment would incorporate the Vinton Area Corridors Plan into the Comprehensive Plans of both Roanoke County and the Town of Vinton. Chairman Jones thanked everyone for attending the public hearing and stated that he knew their time was very valuable. Chairman Jones asked staff to present the corridor plan overview. Ms. Blankenship first recognized County and Town staff who worked on the study. She stated that everyone would have the opportunity to make comments during the public hearing after her PowerPoint presentation. She also stated that they can call staff if they have any questions during regular office hours. In her presentation, she gave an overview of each chapter of the study. A copy of the presentation will be made a part of the permanent record of this meeting. The presentation covered: Chapter 1-Introduction of the approximately 7.5 miles of corridors in the study; Chapter 2-Transportation; Chapter 3-Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodations; Chapter 4-Community Facilities; Chapter 5-Resource Preservation; Chapter 6-Land Use and Development; Chapter 7-Community Involvement; Chapter 8-Goals, Recommendations, and Implementation Strategies. Chapter 8 included the chart of implementation strategies, a copy of which will be made a part of the permanent record of this meeting. Ms. Blankenship also presented a list of proposed funding sources. She briefly mentioned the CDBG for downtown revitalization that the Town had applied for and received. Lastly, she gave an overview of the adoption process for the corridors plan, with the implementation to follow adoption of the plan. Chairman Jones thanked Ms. Blankenship for her presentation and also thanked County staff for all their hard work on it. Ms. Michelsen said they had done an excellent job and that they appreciated the hard work. Mr. Patterson congratulated the staffs of both localities on the plan. Mr. Pace mentioned that it had been a phenomenal process. Chairman Jones asked for additional comments from the Vinton Planning Commission. There were no further comments so he turned the meeting over to Ms. Hooker. She began with Mr. Azar. Mr. Azar thanked those in attendance for coming out to be a part of the VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING DECEMBER 7, 2009 PAGE 5 process. He stated that this plan was for them and that is why the Commissions are here. He said the staff had done excellent job on the plan. Mr. Jarrell said there was a lot of work that had been put into the plan, and he looked forward to the citizens’ feedback on it. Mr. McNeil echoed their comments. He thanked those in attendance for coming out to be a part of the process. Mr. Radford said he represents the western part of the County. He stated that his father built Maywood, and he feels a real connection to the community. He said he was looking forward to the comments from the citizens tonight. Ms. Hooker stated that this is a celebration of the work that has taken place in this process. She said the document is probably not a perfect document, but is probably pretty close. Next on the agenda was the citizens’ comments time. Chairman Jones mentioned that they want to hear from everyone who wanted to speak, but would like to keep the comments to three minutes for each speaker. He stated that they had five people sign up to speak. Chairman Jones asked that they identify themselves, as well as their address, prior to speaking. He said they would first hear from the five people who signed up to speak, and then open it up to others wishing to speak. He asked that each person use a microphone when they speak. Ms. McMillan suggested they use the podium. Mr. Chris Craft was first on the list. He stated he is not a resident of Vinton, but he comes to Vinton quite often to go to the library and post office. He stated he liked the suggestions for the post office improvements, improvements to the gateway signs, and improvements to the infrastructure. He said he hopes they will also consider renovating the library. He also liked the idea of taking down the large power poles in downtown and using smaller ones. He mentioned the proposed improvements to the William Byrd area and to the River Park shopping center. Because he is on the regional stormwater committee, he asked that they protect the rivers and streams in the area. Next to speak was Janet Scheid: She thanked Chairman Jones and Ms. Hooker. Ms. Scheid stated that she has lived in Vinton on Wolf Creek Drive for more than 22 years. She said the Town is great place to live. She thanked the town and county staff for the enormous amount of work they put into this plan. She mentioned that she is the greenway planner for the County. For the plan, she asked that they consider the transportation aspects of the greenways rather than just viewing them as community facilities. She said they increase the capacity and safety for walkers and bikers and reduce the number of cars on the roadways. She asked for improvements to Hardy Road for people to get across it to get to the greenway, perhaps adding a crosswalk or island in the road. She asked that the sidewalks in the Town be improved to allow connection of the Wolf Creek Greenway to Tinker Creek Greenway. She urged them to be more specific as to the sidewalk improvements that are to be made. She said Bypass Road needs sidewalks for connection of Hardy Road and Washington Avenue. She also discussed Hardy Road from a personal standpoint. She said Hardy Road may be the worst corridor in this part of the County. She said it is acknowledged that there is a poor level of service on Hardy Road. She pointed out that frontage parcels along Hardy Road are proposed to be upgraded to more intense land use designations. She recommended that it be reconsidered since Hardy Road is no longer on the VDOT six-year plan. She urged that there be no changes along Hardy Road. She mentioned that she would like to see some design guidelines to go along with changes that are recommended, including for new entrances onto existing roadways. She said everything needs to be done in a cohesive manner. She thanked them and said she appreciated all the work that had gone into the plan. Next on the list was Wayne Dunman. He deferred, as did Esther Adcox and William Figart. Chairman Jones asked if anyone else who had not signed up would like to speak. Ms. Suzette Epperly who lives on Augusta Avenue behind Famous Anthony’s Restaurant spoke next. She said she is all for beautification of the properties in the Town. However, she mentioned that she has complained about the property behind Anthony’s, which she stated has not been mowed for three summers. She said it is overgrown with brush, honeysuckle, and weeds. She said each time she complained, there was no action taken and was told none would be taken. She pointed out that another restaurant, Bojangles, takes good care of its property. She said it VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING DECEMBER 7, 2009 PAGE 6 is a violation of the Town Code to have weeds over twelve inches tall. She mentioned that they also have groundhogs that live in the overgrown area. She asked for their consideration of this matter. Chairman Jones asked if anyone else would like to speak. No one did. He asked for further comments from the Vinton Planning Commission, and there were none. Ms. Hooker asked for comments from the Roanoke County Planning Commission, beginning with Mr. Azar. Mr. Azar asked for staff to come to the podium to elaborate on Ms. Scheid’s concerns about the greenways and the future land use designation along Hardy Road. Ms. Blankenship said they can adjust the plan in accordance with the Planning Commissions’ wishes. Ms. Hooker said she would hate for the document to be delayed in any way and asked how difficult it would be to revise the document after it is approved. Mr. Thompson said the comprehensive plan is updated every five years, but most plans included in the comprehensive plan will not be updated that frequently. Mr. Azar asked what the preferred method was for making the changes. He asked if they should consider taking action at the Planning Commission’s next work session on possible revisions. Mr. McNeil stated that this is a planning document, not an implementation document. He said it is a vision of what they want to see in place down the road. He said the document outlines plans, but does not necessarily mean changes will take place. Ms. Hooker stated that was all of the Roanoke County Planning Commission’s comments. Chairman Jones started to close the public hearing, but Mr. Leon McGhee requested to speak. He stated that he owns properties on Hardy Road and is also a realtor in the area. He said he received the notice in the mail about the meeting, and he stated that he has no idea what is being done with this plan. He asked that the Town take more time if they are changing the zoning or uses of properties along the corridors. He said people usually find out later about such changes, and he feels that business and property owners should know in advance of changes to the plans for their properties. Chairman Jones asked for staff comments on Mr. McGhee’s comments. Ms. Blankenship gave a brief history on the area along Hardy Road near Mr. McGhee’s properties regarding the zoning. Chairman Jones stated that they had been at this process for nearly a year with many opportunities for input and that this is just a plan with no changes being made tonight. Ms. Michelsen stated that it made sense to her to notify property owners of changes. Mr. Patterson agreed. Mayor Grose spoke next. He asked Ms. McMillan to correct him if he was wrong. He said if there is a rezoning for a property the owner and surrounding owners are notified of the change(s). He said the Town also notifies an extra layer of property owners, not required by Code. Ms. McMillan confirmed that property owners and adjoining property owners are notified by mail of zoning changes. She stated that individual owners do not have to be notified for comprehensive plan amendments. Mayor Grose said he feels the plan is very good. He thanked staff and both Planning Commissions for their hard work on the plan. Chairman Jones closed public hearing at 8:05 p.m. Next on the agenda were the comments of the Planning Commissioners and staff. Mr. Jones asked for Vinton Planning Commission comments, and there were none. Ms. Hooker asked for Roanoke County Planning Commission comments. Mr. Azar began with his comments. He stated that it had been a very long process. He said it was unfortunate that some felt that they were not notified of the meetings and of the plan. However, he said they are open to suggestions as to how they can do a better job and welcome any comments. He mentioned that the plan may need to be tweaked a bit before a recommendation is made. Mr. Jarrell agreed with Mr. Azar in that there had been a lot of work put into the plan and also that some tweaks may be necessary. He said it is a good plan, not perfect, but good and is just a plan. Mr. McNeil agreed and said he hadn’t heard any specific complaints about properties and changes to land use. He said he does not have a problem voting on the recommendation this evening. Mr. Radford agreed with his fellow members. He said it is more of a plan rather than a rezoning, and he was in favor of going forward with a recommendation. Ms. Hooker concurred with Mr. Radford. She said the plan is not set in stone and that this will be just a recommendation to Town Council and the Board of Supervisors. She stated that this is not the final say on the VINTON AND ROANOKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSIONS WORK SESSION AND PUBLIC HEARING DECEMBER 7, 2009 PAGE 7 plan. Chairman Jones asked for a motion from the Vinton Planning Commission. Mr. Pace made motion to move forward to Town Council with the plan. Mr. Patterson seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and all members voted in favor of the motion. For the Roanoke County Planning Commission, Mr. Azar made a motion to adopt the plan with scenario 4— (there was no second for the motion). A roll call vote was taken and all members voted in favor of the motion. Chairman Jones asked for any additional comments from those in attendance. There were no addition comments from attendees. He then asked for comments from the Vinton Planning Commission, and there were none. Ms. Hooker asked for final comments from the Roanoke County Planning Commission. Mr. Azar thanked everyone for coming out to the meeting. Chairman Jones stated that it had been a good celebration and also thanked everyone for attending. The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Anita McMillan Planning Commission Secretary