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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/13/2015 - Public HearingMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE TOWN OF VINTON PLANNING COMMISSION HELD ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015, AT 7 P.M., AT THE VINTON MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 311 SOUTH POLLARD STREET. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dave Jones, Chairman Bill Booth Paul Mason Bob Patterson MEMBERS ABSENT: Dawn Michelsen STAFF PRESENT: Anita McMillan, Planning and Zoning Director Karla Turman, Associate Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Julie Tucei, Planning and Zoning Coordinator AGENDA I. Call to Order II. Approval of Minutes: November 13, 2014 Meeting III. Public Hearing: 1. A request by James Wright for a fifty (50) foot wide by approximately one hundred and ninety (190) foot long undeveloped portion of right-of-way, known as S. Pollard Street, and fifteen (15) foot wide by one hundred seventy (170) foot long undeveloped alley located between 101 and 105 Giles Avenue, Plat Book 1, Page 127, be closed, vacated, and deeded to the adjoining property owners. IV. Citizens’ Comments V. Comments of Planning Commissioners and Planning Staff VI. Adjournment The meeting of the Vinton Planning Commission was called to order at 7 p.m. by Chairman Jones. Roll was called and all members, except Commissioner Michelsen, were present. The first item on the agenda was the approval of minutes from the November 13, 2014, meeting. Mr. Patterson made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Booth seconded the motion. Roll was called and all members present voted in favor of the motion to approve the minutes as presented. Next on the agenda, was a public hearing on a request by James Wright for a fifty (50) foot wide by approximately one hundred and ninety (190) foot long undeveloped portion of right-of-way, known as S. Pollard Street, and fifteen (15) foot wide by one hundred seventy (170) foot long undeveloped alley located between 101 and 105 Giles Avenue, Plat Book 1, Page 127, be closed, vacated, and deeded to the adjoining property owners. Chairman Jones opened the public hearing. He asked staff for a report on the request by the Mr. Wright. Ms. McMillan gave her staff report, a copy of which will be made part of the permanent record. She mentioned that Mr. Kasey was in attendance and is an adjoining owner along the alley. Chairman Jones asked if the Wrights will gain anything that anyone else in the Town would not get in a similar street closure. An example given was Tommy Wood’s request to close part of Bowman Street a few years ago. Ms. McMillan mentioned their taxes may go up, but that would be up to the assessor’s office. She also said that if the request is granted, they will be responsible for maintaining the property. Ms. McMillan stated that she had not heard any comments from any adjoining property owners. Chairman Jones asked for comments from Mr. and Mrs. Wright and Mr. Kasey. Mr. Wright said he didn’t really have anything to add, other than to mention that a few years ago the Town used to absorb the cost of closing an alley. Chairman Jones briefly mentioned and explained a recent case where they had worked with some property owners along Olney Road on another right-of-way PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING JANUARY 13, 2015 PAGE 2 closure request. Mr. Mason said he didn’t see any negative impacts from granting this request. Mr. Kasey was asked if he had any comments. He said he was for the request. However, he asked that his portion of the alley be given to Mr. Wright because he doesn’t want the property. Ms. McMillan said once the Council gives their approval, Mr. Kasey would have to have an attorney prepare a quit claim on his portion if he does not want it and wants it to go to the Wrights. The Town will not be able to do that for them. Ms. McMillan mentioned, in regards to the costs associated with the request, that the state allows the locality to assess the costs of closing the alley to the property owners including the survey and any other costs such as advertising of meetings and mailing letters of notification. She said some localities also charge a fee for the portion of property that they close. Chairman Jones said they will get this sliver of land, and the property will all be combined into one with the Wright’s other property. Ms. McMillan said the only way for them to close the right-of-way is for their property to be combined into one lot so a non-conforming lot is not created. Mr. Witt’s property will not be affected since he will still have road frontage. Chairman Jones asked for other comments. Mr. Booth stated that Mr. Wright had been taking care of the property for a long while. He said he feels that this closure is an excellent idea. With there being no further comments, Chairman Jones closed public hearing. Mr. Booth made a motion to recommend that Town Council accept and approve the request by Mr. Wright to close the said rights-of-ways and deed them to the property owners. The motion was seconded by Mr. Patterson. A roll call vote was taken, and all members voted in favor of the motion. The next item on the agenda was comments from citizens. There were none. Lastly, comments from the Planning Commissioners and Planning Staff were heard. Ms. McMillan stated she will email them about the upcoming February and March meetings, including Ms. Michelsen since she is not here tonight. She asked that they let her know if any of the dates are not good as soon as possible after receiving her email. Chairman Jones asked if the Commissioners had any further comments regarding the Mixed Use District (MUD). He said he felt staff has done a great job on it. Ms. McMillan read the comments emailed to her in December from Ms. Michelsen about it. A copy of Ms. Michelsen’s comments will be made a part of the permanent record. Ms. McMillan said she is open to suggestions from them on the MUD regulations. Chairman Jones said he had no need to go through it page by page. He said that they do have an obligation to the County and Town to try to get the two former school buildings back into use and on the tax rolls. He commended staff again for doing a great job pulling the ordinance together and having it reviewed by those who know about those types of regulations. Mr. Booth said he agrees with Chairman Jones and also said that the Town could use some additional revenue. Chairman Jones mentioned that Ms. McMillan has shown him a concept plan that was submitted for the old William Byrd school building. The plan is available for them to look at as well. Chairman Jones asked how the surplus item giveaway went at old William Byrd. Ms. McMillan said it went very well, and all the items were gone quickly. Ms. McMillan said they still have a lot of items to disperse in the main building and may have another giveaway in the future. She said there is also a lot of surplus in the Roland Cook school building, too. Ms. McMillan mentioned that they just need people to come and try to do the same thing with these buildings that has been done in downtown Roanoke. Ms. McMillan stated again that they are welcome to look at the proposal that was submitted; however, she is not able to make copies of it. Ms. McMillan reminded them that the County will still have to rezone the properties after the zoning amendment is complete. Mr. Booth asked if the Town will get any money from the sale of the property. She said the Town will get taxes from it once it is developed. She mentioned that the County received one proposal each for the former William Byrd and Roland Cook school buildings. PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING JANUARY 13, 2015 PAGE 3 Next, Ms. Turman gave the Commission a brief update on the spot blight abatement properties. She said there were five original properties included. The Town has been working with the property owners of three of them. She stated that the Blair Street property has been purchased by Greenway Construction. The house at 1323 Hardy Road has been demolished. And for 308-B 9th Street near Vale Avenue, a plan has been received and approved to fix the property. The owners of it have until February 24th for the work plan to be completed. However, Ms. Turman mentioned that no permits for the property have even been applied for as yet. The house on Pollard Street has had a title search completed, and it showed that there were nine possible heirs to the property. She said they had not heard from them even though notifications had been sent about the property. For the house on Gus Nicks Boulevard, a title search was also done. Ms. Turman said that quotes have already been received for the asbestos testing and demolition of the two properties. Chairman Jones asked if she thought anyone would oppose the demolition of these two houses. Ms. Turman said they don’t believe there will be any opposition. She mentioned that they will have to have asbestos testing done before demolition and will have to either have permission of the property owner or an inspection warrant to do so. She stated that Mr. Banks told her that he knows the house on Pollard Street needs to be torn down, but he just cannot afford it. Chairman Jones asked if the Town would take the properties once the houses are torn down. Ms. Turman said the Town would just place liens on them. Chairman Jones said he thinks it is good to demolish them, especially the one on Gus Nicks Boulevard since it is on one of the main gateways into Town. Chairman Jones thanked Ms. Turman for all her work on this project. With there being nothing further to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m., on a motion by Mr. Booth and a second by Mr. Patterson. Respectfully Submitted, Anita McMillan Planning Commission Secretary