BENNINGTON SELECT BOARD MEETING BENNINGTON FIRE FACILITY MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM - 3RD FLOOR 130 RIVER STREET BENNINGTON, VERMONT 05201 MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2004 MINUTES BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Sharyn Brush-Chair; Joseph Krawczyk, Jr.-Vice-Chair; Lodie Colvin; Michael Lochner; Scott Creedy and Ronal Hall. ALSO PRESENT: Stuart Hurd-Town Manager; Dan Monks; Barry Horst; Peter VanHeut; Charles Putney; Keith Martin; Andrew McKeever-Bennington Banner and Nancy Lively-Recording Secretary. At 7:00 P.M., Sharyn Brush called the meeting to order. 1. MINUTES - JANUARY 10, 2004 MINUTES - JANUARY 12, 2004 MINUTES - JANUARY 17, 2004 Lodie Colvin moved and Joseph Krawczyk, Jr. seconded to approve the Minutes of January 10, 2004 as submitted. The motion carried unanimously. Lodie Colvin moved and Michael Lochner seconded to approve the Minutes of January 12, 2004 as submitted. The motion carried with Joseph Krawczyk, Jr. abstaining. Michael Lochner moved and Joseph Krawczyk, Jr. seconded to approve the Minutes of January 17, 2004 as submitted. The motion carried unanimously. 2. WARRANTS The warrants were circulated for signatures. 3. CITIZENS None. 4. SIGN ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WARNING Mr. Hurd stated that the Town of Woodford has submitted a Resolution for Vote at Town Meeting March 1, 2004 concerning the National Forest Petition that they have requested we add to our ballot. Ronal Hall moved and Joseph Krawczyk, Jr. seconded that the Woodford Resolution concerning the National Forest Petition be presented at the Bennington Town Meeting on March 1, 2004 under Other Business. The motion carried unanimously. Michael Lochner moved and Lodie Colvin seconded to accept the Warning, Town of Bennington, 2004 Annual Town Meeting as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 6. 2004 LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATIONS The following 2004 Liquor License Renewal Applications were circulated for signatures: 1. American Legion Post #13 2. Bennington Club 3. Charlie's Mobil & More 4. Eagle, Fraternal Order of, Aerie #1861 5. Hannaford Food & Drug Store 6. Price Chopper #171 7. TPW Enterprises, Inc. 7. MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Hurd presented the Chris Denio proposal to name a private drive Nathan Drive for approval. Neither the Planning Commission or Development Review Board have any objections. Lodie Colvin moved and Michael Lochner seconded to accept the private drive name "Nathan Drive"and authorize its addition to the Town's records for listing and E911. The motion carried with Scott Creedy abstaining. Mr. Hurd requested that the Board attend the February 7, 2004 meeting of the Center for Restorative Justice/Community Justice Task Force. The Department of Corrections is seeking additional grant applicants to create restorative justice programs in the community that are "much more aggressive". Bennington is presently "ahead of the curve with their restorative justice programs", and this would "take it to the next level". Mr. Hurd has some concerns about this step, as does Mr. Krawczyk. 5. 7:15 P.M. - PUBLIC HEARING - ZONING BYLAW Ms. Brush stated that the Board will not be addressing any Big Box, Bijur or Johnson Control issues this evening. The Planning Commission has warned two public hearings on February 12, 2004 and February 18, 2004, respectively, for Big Box discussion. Mr. Monks explained that the Select Board had expressed concerns regarding the new Zoning Bylaw at the November 15, 2003 Select Board/Planning Commission joint meeting. Two areas of concern are not part of tonight's hearing - the Economic Impact Study and Multiple Structure for "Big Box" developments and the industrial zoning of the Bijur parcel. The following are concerns of the Board: Agricultural Overlay: * Overlay is too restrictive and presents a significant problem. * Protection is already covered in Section 8.4 Preservation of the Rural Character. * People have purchased land on the lower slopes of Mt. Anthony with the intent of building their homes based on the previous changes that were made to the forest line. The overlay would take away these property rights and is unnecessary. Mr. Putney read a letter of support from the Whipstock Hill Preservation Society, Inc. for the proposed Zoning Bylaw, and especially, the Agricultural District Overlay in the West End. Ronal Hall moved and Lodie Colvin seconded to exclude the Agricultural Overlay section from the Zoning Bylaw change. The vote was three in favor and three opposed. No action was taken and the Agricultural Overlay section remains in the Zoning Bylaw at this time. Car Sales in the OA District: Ronal Hall moved and Michael Lochner seconded to adopt the Planning Commission proposal of added language to OA District, Section 4.9 amended as follows: D) Change "30,000" to "20,000". The motion carried unanimously. Urban Mixed Use District: The following are concerns of the Board: * All structures (new and old) should include retail uses. * The two story minimum on a retail building is a waste of money and a waste of space. * Two story requirement is more appropriate south of Leonard Street. * Less restriction will allow development to occur. Ronal Hall moved and Michael Lochner seconded to adopt the Planning Commission proposal of the Urban Mixed Use District amended as follows: 1. Retail usage allowed throughout the District. 2. Two story minimum requirement for new structures south of Leonard Street only. 3. Change 40' maximum height limitation to 60' maximum height limitation. Mr. Hurd commented that the two story requirement allows the flexibility of hiding air handling units when second story usage is not desired, and thus, eliminating the Northside Drive look from coming to Ben Mont Avenue. The motion carried with Scott Creedy opposed. Planned Commercial District: Mr. VanHeut sited Section 3.8 (B)(2)(D) on parking in front of the building and 3.7 (D)(6) of the industrial zone, and stated that it isn't feasible or practical to bring an entire massive building up to the streetscape. All services going to the building in the back would create some safety issues with the pedestrian traffic created from forcing them to park in the back. Other towns, such as Williston, now have long narrow sides of buildings perpendicular to the streetscape, and are much less aesthetically friendly that the large sprawling store front as a backdrop to a parking lot. Parking in the back is applicable to the smaller stores but not the large. Mr. VanHeut also noted the ambiguity of "unusual site condition" and questioned it's application concerning parking. It was his suggestion that there be separate requirements for Big Box operations and smaller businesses. Mr. Monks stated that the intent of the setback was to create a consistent streetscape, and Mr. Lochner pointed out that there is still at least the 35' setback requirement. Ronal Hall moved and Scott Creedy seconded to delete the Planning Commission proposal of the Section 3.8 (B)(2)(D) parking issue until the Board discusses it further with the Big Box issues. The motion carried unanimously. Ms. Colvin referred to Section 4.14 Surface Water Protection and suggested that the Lake Paran setback for building remain at 200' and move the septic back to 500'. This would protect the water and still allow the homeowners to "see the lake". Ronal Hall moved and Michael Lochner seconded to leave the building setback from Lake Paran at 200'. The motion carried unanimously. Ms. Colvin referred to Section 6.3 Review Standards - Building and Site Design Outside the Urban Core, and questioned the necessity of the verbiage "avoiding adverse impacts on scenic resources". Also Section D, where it states that all large reflective surfaces such as roofs and glass should be avoided should be changed to minimized to limit the restrictions. Mr. Monks noted that these are only imposed on commercial buildings and not residential. Flagpole Height: Ronal Hall moved and Michael Lochner seconded to change the maximum flagpole height to 40'. The motion carried unanimously. College Use Issues: Ronal Hall moved and Lodie Colvin seconded to approve the Planning Commission proposal of the College Use Issues as submitted. The motion carried unanimously. Accessory Structures - Conversion to Dwelling: The Planning Commission does not recommend allowing an unattached accessory structure to be converted to a dwelling unit. The potential for problems resulting from two or more single family dwellings on a single lot is too great. The Board concurred. Residential Accessory Structures: The Planning Commission recommends that residential accessory structures (sheds) remain subject to Zoning permits. The Board concurred. Historic Preservation Commission Comments: The Planning Commission recommends retention of the requirement that the Development Review Board consider comments submitted by the Historic Preservation Commission. The Board concurred. POS District - Height Restriction: The height restriction in the POS District will accommodate the proposed ice facility. RR District - Building Coverage: The Planning Commission believes the proposed standard of 10% building coverage for lots without municipal water or sewer and 15% building coverage for lots with water or sewer is appropriate. The Board concurred. Mr. Martin had the photometrics done on a service station that has 4 - 400 watt lights under a 24' x 24' canopy. This is the same setup as the Mobil station on Main Street and the Mobil station on Ben Mont Avenue, and it is Mr. Martin's opinion that they are adequately lit. The result of the photometrics was an average candle power per square foot of 56 - ten times greater than the proposed bylaw requirement. He doesn't believe that the proposed bylaw requirement would provide sufficient lighting. Mr. Monks stated that the bylaw standard was from the National Engineering Standard, and suggested that the varying results are probably because the light wasn't measured at the correct spot. Mr. Krawczyk will also let the Town know the results of any lighting standard adjustments that may be done at the State level. Mr. Creedy questioned if it would be appropriate to put mitigation requirements in the Bylaw, and Mr. Monks stated that impact fees for infrastructure would be a major change that would start with the Town Plan. Mr. Creedy stated that "there is no mechanism" to help North Bennington to build traffic calming devices, and Mr. Monks responded that North Bennington is a separate planning jurisdiction. The environmental commission can, however, help them. Ronal Hall moved and Lodie Colvin seconded to continue the Public Hearing - Zoning Bylaw until February 9, 2004. The motion carried unanimously. 8. OTHER BUSINESS None. 9. EXECUTIVE SESSION A. REAL ESTATE At 8:30 P.M., Ronal Hall moved and Scott Creedy seconded to go into Executive Session to discuss Real Estate. The motion carried unanimously. Respectively submitted, Nancy H. Lively