HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-17-2016 Minutes PB Regular MeetingPlanning Board Minutes
November 17, 2016
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MINUTES
PLANNING BOARD
Thursday, November 17, 2016
7:00 PM, Town Barn
PRESENT: James Czar, Chairman Dan Barker, Lisa Frazier, Janie Morris, Carolyn Helfrich, Jenn Sykes
ABSENT: Rick Brewer, Doug Peterson, Vice Chair Toby Vandemark, Chris Wehrman
STAFF: Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Town Attorney Bob Hornik
ITEM #1: Call to order and confirmation of a quorum
Chairman Barker called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and confirmed a quorum with six
members present.
ITEM #2: Consideration of additions or changes to the agenda
There were none.
ITEM #3: Approval of minutes from September meeting and October public hearing
MOTION: Ms. Morris made a motion to approve the minutes from both meetings as submitted. Ms.
Frazier seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #4: Approval of 2017 meeting calendar
MOTION: Mr. Czar moved to approve the calendar. Ms. Sykes seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #5: Recommendation to Town Board regarding request from Vouthaus, LLC to Rezone
9.75 acres at 505 Eno Street from General Industrial to Adaptive Re-Use so the
building can house a wider variety of uses that are not industrial (OC PIN 9864 -65-
3492).
Ms. Hauth said she didn’t have any additional information. There was one speaker at the
public hearing who asked questions that were not directly related to the application and
those questions were answered at the hearing. The applicant did not attend the public
hearing.
Ms. Sykes expressed concern about potential traffic impacts in that area. Ms. Hauth said
there’s unlikely to be an impact to Nash Street. The driveway access is on Eno Street and
the driveway is very wide. Ms. Sykes expressed concern about adding to traffic on Eno
Street but she is not opposed to the types of uses permissible in Adaptive Re-Use. Mr. Czar
spoke in favor of Adaptive Re-Use. Ms. Morris agreed it seemed like a good fit. Ms.
Frazier said she has concerns about traffic around Gold Park and the school over there. Ms.
Helfrich said the re-zoning seems reasonable to her but she understands concerns about
traffic.
MOTION: Mr. Czar moved to recommend that the Town Board approve rezoning this property to
Adaptive Re-Use. Ms. Morris seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
Planning Board Minutes
November 17, 2016
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ITEM #6: Recommendation to Town Board regarding request from the Little School
Development LLC to Modify their approved Special Use Permit to create additional
on-site parking and remove the enrollment limitation (OC PIN 9873-25-6187).
Ms. Frazier said her daughter is employed by The Little School. Mr. Hornik advised that is
not a legal conflict of interest but if she feels uncomfortable, she may recuse herself. Ms.
Frazier said she doesn’t feel uncomfortable participating in this conversation. No one on
the board felt that she needed to be excused from this item.
Ms. Hauth reviewed the request and that speakers employed by The Little School spoke at
the public hearing. The waiver regarding the number of parking spaces is no longer needed
because the school has the exact number of spaces now required under the Unified
Development Ordinance (UDO).
Ms. Morris asked about the number of employees. Wendy Vavrousek of The Little School
said 65-66 including teachers, chef, and administration.
Regarding Waivers 1, there was general consensus to grant so that The Little School would
not be required to plant trees throughout the parking lot. First, Mr. Czar expressed that he
did not support granting this waiver. The intention of islands with trees is to provide shade
and reduce heat in the summer. If the waiver wasn’t granted, then the school would lose
four parking spaces and would need the waiver regarding the number of parking spaces.
Another board member said the islands with trees doesn’t add much to the current parking
lot. The trees will be moved to the edge near the parking.
Regarding Waiver 2, also requiring shade trees, there was general consensus to grant the
waiver.
Regarding Waiver 3, there was agreement to grant the waiver and reduce the side setback
from 20 feet to 10 feet. First, Ms. Helfrich shared that in a couple of daycares she’s seen a
u-shaped drop-off lane that would accommodate 6 to 9 cars. Chairman Barker advised that
the layout was approved when the original parking was approved. The 20 foot setback
would take away one or two parking spaces.
Regarding Waiver 4, there’s a portion of the travel aisle where the width is less than 25
feet. Regarding Waiver 5, it’s also related to landscaping in the parking area. Waiver 6 no
longer applies. Regarding Waiver 7, Ms. Hauth said if it’s in the range of 25 and 50
percent, it’s been permissible.
There was discussion that the concerns are for safety and for appropriate setback when the
land is developed next door (possibly by Habitat for Humanity). Tony Whitaker, a civil
engineer with Civil Consultants representing The Little School, said the 10-foot setback is well
landscaped and does conform to the landscape requirement and offers some buffering to
that adjacent property that is only 60 feet wide. He doesn’t think a building would be built
on that 60-foot strip. He didn’t think it would harm any other property to make this
request. Specifically, if this waiver isn’t granted, the school loses one parking space.
Planning Board Minutes
November 17, 2016
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Mr. Whitaker said for the affordable housing special use permit, that driveway is a current
requirement. It is essential for the circulation pattern and for what Ashton Woods requires.
Chairman Barker moved the discussion on to the request to remove the enrollment cap.
Mr. Whitaker said 294 is the theoretical cap for licensing but is not the practical one. The
existing SUP allows 196 and current population is 239 all day and 14 additional after-
school children. The original approval was for enrollment.
The board discussed thoughts on this, recognizing that The Little School has comfortably
operated at this capacity that is beyond their SUP cap for some time.
Mr. Whitaker clarified that if the star rating dropped the school would not be allowed to
enroll more than 294 children.
Mr. Hornik suggested requiring that the school report each year on the enrollment. It was
agreed that when the school annually reports its enrollment to the star rating program, the
school will also report to the town.
Ms. Hauth said if the staff is 66, there’s only parking for 208 students. Chairman Barker
asked The Little School how many staff members are present at one time. (The 66 is the
number of names under The Little School’s payroll). The requirement is one parking space
for every 8 students. Mr. Whitaker pointed out the 14 after-school students have parents
who need to pick up younger siblings at the school anyway. Ms. Hauth pointed out at the
enrollment of 239, with 66 employees (who are probably not all there at once), the school
would be shy 3 parking spaces in this proposal. The 66 employees are not all there at once.
Chairman Barker took straw polls of who was concerned about what. Two were concerned
about reducing the 20 foot setback.
MOTION: Ms. Sykes moved to recommend that the Town Board grant the waivers and grant the SUP
modifications, eliminate enrollment and replace with an annual report of parking
compliance.
DISCUSSION:
Mr. Czar noted there were two more modifications on the application including the play
structure and the sign location. Chairman Barker asked if the play structures were
permitted. Mr. Whitaker said staff is contacting Orange County inspections to figure out
what needs permitting. The electrical work for the outbuildings was inspected, he said. It
was clarified that the modification request to the SUP is out of an abundance of caution.
The buildings are play equipment or play structures.
Mr. Whitaker said when staff realized the sign location was nonconforming, that was
added to the request.
VOTE: Unanimous
Planning Board Minutes
November 17, 2016
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ITEM #7: Recommendation to Town Board regarding Text Amendments to Unified
Development Ordinance:
a. Amend Section 6.20, Stormwater, to match state minimum requirements and meet the
mandate for local regulations to not be more stringent than the state.
Ms. Hauth and Mr. Hornik explained that the state changed the law last year to say that
local governments cannot have more strict buffer requirements than the state. But the
state did say local governments could apply to the state for permission to have more
stringent buffers. The week before this meeting, the state decided that the state’s new
statute didn’t prohibit the more stringent riparian buffers that were due to the
stormwater programs.
MOTION: Ms. Morris moved to not recommend these changes unless additional word comes from the
state that the town does indeed have to implement these changes. Ms. Sykes seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
b. Amend Section 7.3, Nonconforming Characteristics of Use, to provide guidance on
when a site is required to correct existing non-conforming characteristics.
The board briefly discussed feeling comfortable with 30 percent.
c. Amend Section 3.8.5.1.a to modify cultural resource documentation requirement for
special use permit applicants.
d. Amend Section 3.13.3.d to make reference to the traffic impact study requirements in
the street standards document.
e. Delete reference to the Design Standards manual in Section 6.2 and list this section as
“reserved for future codification”
f. Amend Section 6.11.7.3 to remove the sentence requiring site lighting to be
extinguished when a business is closed.
g. Amend Section 7.5.2.1 to clarify that non-conforming residential lots are buildable.
MOTION: Ms. Frazier moved to recommend approval of 7b-7g. Mr. Czar seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
ITEM #8: Adjourn
MOTION: Ms. Helfrich moved to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. Ms. Morris seconded.
VOTE: Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret A. Hauth
Secretary