MINUTES OF THE SHAFTSBURY PLANNING COMMISSION
September 28, 2004, COLE HALL, SHAFTSBURY, VERMONT
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Kevin Brubiski - Chair; Andrew Knafel; David Mance; William Jakubowkski; and Mark Young.
OTHERS PRESENT: Tony Zazzaro-Zoning Administrator; John Endres; KathyWhitman; Art Whitman; Bill Pennebaker; and Recording Secretary, Christa LeBlanc
1. CALL TO ORDER:
At 7:30 P.M. Kevin Brubiski called the meeting to order.
2. NEW BUSINESS:
A. William Dailey: Final Review of two lot subdivision: Ehrich Road
John Endres stated there were some minor changes to the plan and is waiting for the State Subdivision Permit. The common boundary line was altered to reflect a ten foot minimum separation between the existing well and the line. There were also slight changes in the lot and septic system sizes. John also mentioned they do have a state permit.
David Mance stated the right of way serves three lots and John indicated it is up to town standards where it passes the first property line. William Jakubowkski asked to have this noted on the site plan.
David Mance moved and Andrew Knafel seconded to close the hearing.
William Jakubowkski moved and Kevin Brubiski seconded to grant the two lot subdivision with the condition of adding the right of way, State Septic Permit and Town Subdivision Permit numbers to the site plan.
The motion carried unanimously.
B. NOISE ORDINANCE:
It was the consensus of the Board to make the following changes to the Noise Ordinance:
William Jakubowkski moved and Mark Young seconded the changes be included in the draft document and when received back from BCRC, this Board will send to the Select Board with their request to take the necessary actions to implement.
The motion carried unanimously.
D. WHITMAN SITE PLAN REVIEW:
John Endres submitted a sketch plan to the Board and stated this property is located on Route 67, Shaftsbury/North Bennington boundary. The North Bennington Planning Commission is also reviewing this plan this evening.
Art and Kathy Whitman are proposing to make a number of changes to their property. John Endres stated the first stage of the process is demolishing an existing duplex residence that is at the west end of the property on Route 67, the existing seed house will be removed, and mobile home next to the greenhouse will be removed. In addition, the nursery stock and greenhouse will be relocated, new construction of a small garage to the west of the existing retail store, and an on road diesel above ground fuel tank will be relocated to the North Bennington side of the property.
The applicant is also proposing to build 4800 square feet of retail space, take down a small section of the existing retail store, retain the existing warehouse, loading docks, removing a portion of the loading docks on the east side of the existing building and building a new approximately 5000 square foot warehouse. The applicant will be providing new parking on the east side of the property by filling in a wet area that has been reviewed by the State Stream Alteration Engineer. This will be culverted and treated before going into the existing culvert under the railroad tracks on Paran Road. Nothing will be done with the grain mill or associated scale. In the space where the duplex was sitting there will be 21 new paved parking spaces. The greenhouse will be relocated where the garage was and this is where their retail plant sales area will be. A lot of the retail plant sales and the nursery stock area will act as revolving landscaping. The applicant is not proposing any new landscaping but may put in permanent trees along the westerly side of the property.
The curb cut going into the property will be eliminated and proposing to take the curb cut directly across from Corey's and make wider so trucks can turn off Greenwich Street, off Route 67, into the property without driving on someone else’s property. The property has five curb cuts and will drop that down to two curb cuts by widening what is there.
On the North Bennington side of the property there will be truck parking and relocation of a fuel tank. The North Bennington/Shaftsbury line runs through the middle of the retail space and the proposed warehouse. The existing warehouse and retail space has no bathroom facilities and employees must use either the seed house or the mobile home which have septic systems. The existing duplex has a municipal sewer connection which is going to be reutilized. A new sewer pump station and bathrooms will be added to the new retail space and the sewage will be pumped to the connection that already exists. There is also a plan to run a water line and a possibility it may come directly where the seed house connects to the municipal water line. John also mentioned there is currently a new connection for the Town of Bennington for projects in Shaftsbury but the Town of Bennington is making an exception in this case because the applicant is reducing their flows.
William Jakubowkski asked if this application has had any historical impact and John Endres stated Art Whitman had approached the Shaftsbury Historical Society and the state database for historical structures and neither of these two entities indicate any historical value and has a letter to that effect. John also mentioned this application has been warned through Act 250 as a minor application.
William also questioned the zone as VC2 and stated it looked more like VR. David Mance stated the zone was changed to join the North Bennington's commercial zone.
Andrew Knafel inquired on the wetlands and asked where the water comes from. John stated the water comes from a large swamp on the north side of Route 67 that crosses into a small culvert. John is not sure if it flows into Paran Creek or Lake Paran. John also mentioned that the State of Vermont is requesting some sort of treatment to the water and the applicant is looking at a silt settlement, vortex separator device.
David Mance stated we are also going to have to confirm the zoning which means referring back to March 2002 to see the warning on the vote. Andrew suggested referring to March 2003 also.
David Mance also asked if there was an agreement with the state for using the parking area and Kathy Whitman stated there is a 99 year lease with the Railroad. David also asked if John was aware of any variances needed and John stated he is not aware of any but exceeds all the setbacks.
William Jakubowkski asked if there would be any screening around the parking area and John Endres stated the intent was to have the entire parking area surrounded by plants that would be available for sale. There is a possibility to add more nursery stock beds in that area.
Mark Young asked if the applicant is proposing any additional lighting and John stated there is a light pole on the plan with a parking sign with arrows pointing to the right for customers. There will also be low profile lighting to illuminate the entrance, more of an aid for customer parking and trucks coming in at the end of the day.
William Jakubowkski stated he has a problem with the warehouse and if you look at commercial zoning it says retail establishments are allowed and there is always a certain amount of storage that is implied to retail establishments. William is not happy with five doors facing out and calling it a necessity to retail space when in fact, the retail space is a necessity to the operation. William is not sure whether or not the Zoning Board as part of the conditional use should address whether they consider that part of the retail operation. It appears what you have existing and what you are adding the structure will continue to be distribution feed. The VC Zone states retail is allowed consisting of and a store and store room. The store room is usually smaller than the store area. The zoning question that comes up would be since this is conditional use it has to go before the Zoning Board and the Board should make a determination that in their opinion, the warehouse is an accessory to the retail operation in the Town of Shaftsbury.
David Mance asked if the only sidewalk that exists in North Bennington stops at Grandview Street on the west side and John Endres stated yes. David also recommends the parking area screening be permanent plantings because if retail is during non-plant season you will not have any landscaping.
William Jakubowkski asked where the diesel would be stored and John stated the on road diesel tank would be placed next to the off road diesel tank.
The Board suggested having a site visit before their October 12th meeting at 6:30 p.m. The Board would also like to have the Zoning Board attend this visit and have a joint meeting to discuss this site plan.
The Board would also like to determine which zone the site is in, split the plan into existing proposed, screen landscaping around the parking area and in front of the building, and incorporate a drainage plan on a separate plan.
Tony Zazzaro stated this application is not warned for zoning. He will check to see if the joint meeting can be used without warning for zoning. David Mance asked if it had been warned for conditional use through the Planning Board? Tony stated the warning is for site plan review for Whitman's Feed Store addition and renovation to retail/warehouse facility.
3. OLD BUSINESS:
A. Carol Bloomquist: Review of Permits & Set to Warn
David Mance recused himself from Carol Bloomquist, Review of Permits and Set to Warn.
David Mance stated the applicant started out with five lots and the fifth lot was the balance of the property that was left off the other maps. When this application was approved, it was approved as a four lot subdivision. In 1999 the project came back in Lot 2 and was split in half to become Lot 2A and Lot 2B. The remaining land is 127 acres and the conditions of approval on all the other lots are covenants and those covenants apply to those four lots. The applicant is proposing for the balance of the property is to create two lots one being 42 acres and the other being 85 acres. David has septic designs that will be submitted to the state.
William Jakubowkski moved and Andrew Knafel seconded to warn this application for the first meeting in November for a preliminary hearing.
The motion carried unanimously.
B. Sage City: Preliminary Review & Classification: Set to Warn
David Mance stated this is a two lot subdivision, Lake Paran Project. Sage is donating Lot 2 to fund North Bennington. There is no access at this point and is undisturbed lake frontage. This will only be conveyed to an adjacent parcel.
William Jakubowkski moved and Andrew Knafel seconded to make this a two lot minor subdivision and to warn at the second meeting in October.
The motion carried unanimously.
C. SWTFC Report/Update: Bill Pennebaker
Bill Pennebaker stated there is one addenda the Committee would like to add to the agreement with some provisions regarding readable access by the representative of the town, in case something appears to be wrong or disruptive to the operation. The Committee has asked this Board to inspect the agreement for anything that may disrupt the operation.
William Jakubowkski moved and Mark Young seconded to have the Solid Waste Task Force Committee rework Action 3 into Action 4 and bring back to this Board for approval.
The motion carried four in favor and one abstention.
4. ZONING ADMINISTRATOR:
Tony Zazzaro stated a potential buyer is interested in the White Property on the corner of Route 7 and Depot Street. There are 35 five acres and the potential buyer wants to subdivide into five lots and put a Bed & Breakfast on it. Tony also commented he is not sure where they could put septic systems in.
The Board suggested the potential buyer start researching septic systems for these lots.
Tony also stated Erin would like Tony to write a letter for a grant stating the Board strongly supports the new sidewalk that will loop Main Street and Cleveland Avenue.
David Mance moved to support the proposed sidewalk project.
The motion carried unanimously.
5. MINUTES:
William Jakubowkski moved and Mark Young seconded to approve the Minutes of June 22, 2004 as written. The motion carried four in favor and one abstention.
William Jakubowkski moved and David Mance seconded to approve the Minutes of July 13, 2004 as written. The motion carried three in favor and two abstentions.
William Jakubowkski moved and Mark Young seconded to approve the Minutes of August 23, 2004 as written. The motion carried four in favor and one abstention.
David Mance moved and William Jakubowkski seconded to approve the Minutes of September 14, 2004 as written. The motion carried unanimously.
6. AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2004 MEETING:
A. William Dailey: Final Review of two lot subdivision: Ehrich Road
B. Noise Ordinance
C. Lot Density Bylaw: Discussion
7. OTHER BUSINESS
William Jakubowkski stated he attended Strategic Planning Meetings and was asked about the budget. William asked them to leave the Planning budget alone.
William also inquired on the Recording Secretary and Tony explained he had received a letter of resignation and Erin will be advertising for a recording secretary.
William also expressed his concerns regarding the attendance for their meetings and feels the Board should have an Executive Session to discuss personnel.
The Board must also set up policy and procedures for what the Zoning Administrator should be doing.
William Jakubowkski moved to warn the October 26, 2004 meeting for Executive Session to discuss personnel.
Kevin Brubiski stated there has been a change in legal representation for Hale Mountain.
David Mance noted there was a notice of minor designation for Whitman's under Act 250 and they will not have a hearing unless one of the parties requests it. If we want the applicant to have a hearing, we would have to request this very quickly.
At 10:10 p.m. David Mance moved and Andrew Knafel seconded to adjourn the meeting.
The motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Christa LeBlanc
Recording Secretary