Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout2016_tcwsmin0912 Council Work Session September 12, 2016 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor David S. Butler presiding. Council Members Present: Kelly Burk, Thomas Dunn, Suzanne Fox, R. Bruce Gemmill, Katie Sheldon Hammler, Marty Martinez and Mayor Butler. Council Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Town Attorney Barbara Notar, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Director of Planning and Zoning Susan Berry Hill, Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning Brian Boucher, Chief of Police Vanessa Grigsby, IT Project Manager John Callahan and Paralegal Carmen Smith. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Items for Discussion a. Text Amendment—Downtown Residential Parking Brian Boucher gave a brief presentation on the proposed text amendment. Key Points: • Would apply to the H-1 Overlay District • Parking can be purchased; however, fee does not guarantee a particular parking space nor pay for the cost of providing one. • Developers feel that the requirement for onsite parking adds too much to the cost of development. • Developers argue that removal of the requirement for onsite parking will spur quality residential development and provide "feet on the street" for the economy. • Recent changes to parking code downtown have impacted parking. o Increased Parking in Lieu fee o Deleted the ability to count the county's garage as parking o Additional Residential Permit Parking zones • Staff would like Council to: o Direct staff to conduct a comprehensive examination of downtown parking issues. o Develop a plan to address future parking needs for all uses. Council Comments/Questions: • Dunn: Stated that parking in lieu has not worked. Further, he commented that the Council needs to find out what the county's plans are for the government center since it will affect parking downtown. He stated he is hesitant to dictate private owners parking. He questioned whether office space can be reverted to residential without legislative approval. Boucher: Stated that the ordinance states if the lot is very small, under a certain size, you can pay in lieu; however, any lot that falls outside 1 Page Council Work Session September 12, 2016 that size will have to provide parking either onsite or somewhere within 300 feet. • Gemmill: Stated he favors a comprehensive approach to downtown parking. • Burk: Questioned whether the buildings were originally single family homes converted to commercial but when converting back, they will no longer be single family homes. Boucher: Stated most of these conversions will most likely be converted to mixed use. • Martinez: Stated that trying to help one property owner may have negative side effects for others. He stated his feeling that the parking in lieu fee needs to be raised. • Hammler: Stated Council needs to see if there are any other projects that may be affected if it takes too long to look at the parking from a comprehensive standpoint. She noted that parking use is changing for different uses and this is an opportunity to update parking requirements to reflect more modern uses. • Fox: Requested clarification on what the residential parking requirement is as opposed to the commercial parking requirement. Boucher: Stated that for single family detached, it is different than for apartments. He stated that it is based on the number of bedrooms. • Fox: Confirmed that the Planning Commission deferred action. Boucher: Stated the Planning Commission preferred a comprehensive plan rather addressing parking piecemeal. • Butler: Expressed his opinion that commercial uses require a certain amount of parking and if that amount is greater than what a residential use would require, there is no reason to request additional parking. Boucher: Stated that residential uses downtown have been concerned about having adequate parking as shown by the number of permit parking zones that have been created and the concern is that if additional residential is created, people will expect to have a place nearby to park their vehicle. • Butler: Noted that the parking in lieu fee feels more like a fine than a payment because it does not actually provide any additional parking. He questioned the length of a comprehensive parking assessment. Berry Hill: Stated that the goal is to complete the recently initiated amendments by the end of the year so that this could be undertaken next year. • Dunn: Suggested a temporary amendment to allow conversion as long as additional spaces, over what is already provided, are not needed. Boucher: Stated that staff can look at this option. • Martinez: Stated that in other localities, residents could claim an on- street spot after 6 p.m. • Hammler: Noted that Mr. Ash had offered to allow his parking lot to be used after hours and requested that staff get a letter of intent to that effect. 2IPage Council Work Session September 12, 2016 Mike McLister: Stated that parking becomes a larger fee in the development process and that is why there are not a lot of projects being done downtown. He stated that there can be come compromise to allow development. b. Joint Task Force Police/Sheriff Efficiencies Kaj Dentler stated last year Council initiated a joint task force with the county sheriffs office. He stated that the task force met in early February and will have another meeting this month. He noted that there is only one remaining policy point for Council decision— school resource officers. Key Points: • The town officers will be able to use the county's new firing range. • The town would like to tap into the county's dispatch system—but will require more detailed conversations. • The town will receive office space in the Sheriffs office on Sycolin Road so the current space at the Leesburg Executive Airport can be rented for approximately$38,000. This is temporary until the Sheriffs office needs the space. • Council will have to make a decision as to whether the town will continue to provide School Resource Officers for the town's middle and high schools, of which the county pays 70%. • The County Administrator will put 100% coverage in his budget to be ready for whatever the Council decides. Council Comments/Questions: • Fox: Questioned whether anyone had considered using the county space on Harrison Street that is currently vacant. Dentler: Stated that the Sheriff is not willing to give up any space because there is concern that expansion will require more space. Grigsby: Indicated that the property on Harrison Street is owned by Loudoun Water. • Hammier: Stated she is looking forward to getting direction from Council. • Martinez: Questioned whether this discussion includes the officer for Douglass Community Center. Dentler: Stated that the county is already paying 100% for that program because Council asked the County to do that. • Burk: Stated that the Loudoun Water building should be considered for expansion plans. Dentler: Stated if Loudoun Water was willing to lease it, there would be a cost to the town. He noted that when Chief Price was here, they looked at the site. He was concerned that there was not sufficient parking and would require the depai lment to be split to two locations. 3 Page Council Work Session September 12, 2016 • Burk: Questioned whether the Leesburg Police position that School Resource Officers for Leesburg schools remain Leesburg police officers has changed. Grigsby: Stated it is a valuable part of the community policing program. • Gemmill: Stated he is thrilled about sharing the firing range and the county's computer assisted dispatch system has a lot of promise. • Dunn: Stated that the county should not request any money for participating in the dispatch system because they get town taxpayer money. He stated that town residents have an equal share in anything they purchase. He expressed confusion about how there would not be communication between Sheriff's office SROs and town police. He requested that council authorize asking for the county to pay for this. • Butler: Questioned what the SROs do during the summer. Grigsby: Stated that several run the youth camps and cover the summer schools but the remainder will go on the street. • Butler: Questioned whether the $550,000 is gross or net. He asked for clarification. Dentler: Clarified that is the 30% cost for the SROs. • Dunn: Stated that in the summer, the SROs are primarily doing school related functions and do minimal work on the street. • Hammier: Asked for an update on how the Sheriff's deputy at Douglass is working. She stated that there is an expectation that communication will occur between the Sheriff's office and the town police. 2. Additions to Future Council Meetings Dunn: Asked for clarification from Council on the communications system. There was consensus from Council to ask the County to pay 100 percent for participation in the communication system. Mr. Dentler stated that the county has given a lot; however, the only real direction that the Council needs to give is on the SRO program, which does not need to be done tonight but will need to be done as part of the budget. Burk: Asked Council to consider writing a letter to the Board of Supervisors to initiate discussion about changing the bus routes to reflect the opening of the new Walmart. There was Council consensus to put this on the work session for the next meeting. Burk: Requested an easy to access report to allow citizens to see how council voted. There was consensus for an information on memo on how staff would accomplish this. 4IPage Council Work Session September 12, 2016 Martinez: Stated he may be late to tomorrow night's meeting. Hammler: Stated that Ms. Beijan would like to address Council further on fluoride and its negative health impacts. There was not consensus to address this topic. Fox: Requested a discussion on a master plan for Mervin Jackson Park. There was consensus for a work session on this topic. Butler: Asked that initiation of a town code amendment for automated parking payments be put on the agenda for tomorrow night's meeting. There was consensus for this. Butler: Asked for an information memo on extending the turn lane on Rt. 15 north prior to Frances Hazel Reid and Smartt's Mill. There was consensus for an information item. Butler: Asked for an information memo on no through trucks north of the schools on Rt. 15. There was consensus for an information item. Butler: Asked for a waiver of fees for the Old Stone Church event. There was consensus for this to go on tomorrow night's agenda. Butler: Requested that Mekaki Felder be allowed to be an honorary Council member for tomorrow night's meeting. There was consensus to allow this. 3. Adjournment On a .tion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Dunn, the meeti a. adji'urned at 9:39 p.m. . IAV Jerk of '•unc. 2011 tcwsmin0'12 5IPage