DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD December 18, 2007 7:00 PM CAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTER ASSEMBLY ROOM 321 PARK STREET MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Charles Copp, Chair; Barry Hörst, Vice Chair; Al Ray, Ron Alderman, Bill Barney, Michael von Ouhl and Ryan Morse. ALTERNATE BOARD MEMBER PRESENT: Eugene Rowley. OTHERS PRESENT: Dan Monks, Zoning Administrator; Jeff Goldstone, BMA Architects; Gary Corey, Centerline Architects; Jim Secor; Jason Dolmetsch; Ben Sadler; Jim Beckler, SVC; and Robyn Baker, Recording Secretary. Copp called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 1. Minutes of December 18, 2007. Von Ouhl moved and Hörst seconded approval of the minutes of December 4, 2007 with the correction of the location to the Bennington Town Office Conference Room. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Interested Persons - Appeal Rights - Reading of witness' oath Monks read the witness oath. 3. Disclosure of Ex parte Communications and Conflicts of Interest None. 4. Alternates - Voting Assignments The regular Board members present were all voting. 5. Applejack Real Estate, 190 North Street, the applicant is seeking design plan approval for changes to the façade of 190 North Street (the Taylor's Garage building). The ARP and HPC have reviewed this matter and both recommend their approval. Goldstone presented the project to the Board. He explained that the 35 parking places were approved last month. They are intending to keep the building façade substantially the same. They are removing the steel window systems due to deterioration, replacing them with wood windows with aluminum cladding. They will be dark steel, bronze colored. The front of the building and to the north side will remain as is. They are replacing the store front glass windows with tempered glass. They are raising the sills about 4" with existing materials. They are restoring the leaded glass windows above the windows. The second floor will remain as is. They are proposing two new entrances to the south side, a rear entrance for staff, and a main entrance in the place of a current window. They will be cleaning and pointing the current finishes. There is currently an overhead door with original access to the garage. The curb cut will be closed off, and they are proposing to replace the overhead door with a wall of windows. It will no longer be an operable door. Barney asked why they are raising the elevation, and Goldstone explained that the VA requires the property to be above the flood plain. Alderman asked, and Monks explained that the HPC has granted their approval of the plan. The Taylor's Garage sign will remain, and perhaps be weather protected. Hörst moved approval. Von Ouhl seconded. The motion passed unanimously. 6. Southern Vermont College, 982 Mansion Drive, the applicant is seeking development plan approval for a new 125 student dormitory on the Southern Vermont Campus. Jim Secor, Gary Corey, Jason Dolmetsch, and Ben Sadler presented the project to the Board. Secor oriented the site plan. He explained that they plan to dredge, and clean the manmade pond, and extend the lower parking lot, and put in a 30,000 square foot dorm complex. Because they are putting the parking area near gym, there will be a small extension for handicapped access. They will be interlinking the pathway and another walkway to lead back into the dorms. This is a clustered development for the campus. They are also looking at sewer upgrades. There are some problems with infiltration on the main sewer main. They have begun an infrastructure upgrade program. They know that there are storm water issues with campus. Previous projects have not required a storm water permit, because they are always under the requirements. They plan to install a new retention basin. The project should result in a 15-20% overall decrease of the offsite runoff. They will bring everything else into full compliance during the new construction. They will be landscaping around both parking areas. They have also proposed new illumination for the entire campus, up the roadway, into the main campus, along the roadway. Secor asked the Board's patience with the overall upgrade to the entire lighting system. The campus agreed to remove spotlights that were installed a few years ago, as they are institutional floodlights. They will be replaced with cutoff fixtures to meet security requirements. The school would like to phase the lighting upgrades in over five years. The new dorm area would be done during the dormitory phase. They plan to maintain a lot of existing vegetation to screen the project. The project includes analysis of existing on site wells. Within the next five years, they plan to install a water tower for the town. They will use municipal water for fire protection. The dorms will have sprinkler systems. They will install a hard surface back to the pond area for pumper truck access. Ray asked about minimum lighting temperatures, and Secor and Corey agreed to research. Copp asked about the new tennis complex. Secor noted that is outside this location. Copp asked if they would add directions to all plans. The planned small dorms were never constructed and have been removed from the project. One above ground propane tank will be buried, and all will be fixed as part of this application. The proposed lighting will be mounted at 15 feet maximum. Copp asked about increased ADA parking. Gary Corey explained that they plan to tie in walkways for pedestrian access to the educational facility. They will be building these into the hillside to keep the building height down. These will accommodate 100-120 beds. They are still working through exact inside layouts. These will be small house units. The building will be about 2 1/2 stories, set down into the hillside. There is fairly heavy vegetation. Colors and materials will be earth tone colors, with a natural cedar entrance. The windows will be red or black. The roofing will be brown. Siding will be decided with the first cost estimates, their first choice is wood. They plan to use dark tones, so that it doesn't look like a housing project on the hillside. Corey was unsure about electric service, maybe a low temperature boiler, and perhaps solar panels. They are trying to be environmentally sensitive, and keep energy costs down. Copp asked for a physical scale. He explained that he doesn't want the glass room to light up as a beacon. Corey explained that there will be recessed lighting in the lounges. The light fixtures will be 16 feet mounting height from grade. Von Ouhl moved approval as presented. Ray seconded. The motion passed unanimously. 7. Other Business As there was no other business, Hörst moved to adjourn at 7:40. Morse seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Robyn Baker Minutes Secretary