SPECIAL MEETING
Chairman McCann continued the Public Hearing record from the June 25, 2002, Public Hearing of the Town Plan of Conservation and Development to allow correspondence received after the Public Hearing to be read into the record (see attached Exhibits A and B). Commissioner Evans read the exhibits into the record.
There was no public participation.
ITEM: New Business
Planning and Zoning Commission's Town Plan of Conservation and Development
Chairman McCann suggested that the discussion of the Town Plan draft begin by addressing the comments received at the Public Hearing. EDC had noted that the roles of the EDC and the Redevelopment Agency seemed to be reversed (page 12, last two major bullets). Commissioners agreed to combine the two items, thus leaving the individual roles up to EDC and the Redevelopment Agency to determine.
Utilities expansion (sewer and water) into the "preservation" areas was discussed. It was noted by several people at the public hearing that withholding utilities in preservation areas is not an acceptable means of controlling growth. Appearance of rural character is the intention; and that appearance is maintained when the homes are set far back from the existing street. After discussion, commissioners agreed to modify the Land Use Plan explanatory text to emphasize buffers/open space along existing street frontage rather than discouraging utilities extension and interior streets.
The Land Use Map was discussed. A primary dilemma in creating the map is that people tend to focus in on individual properties and transfer the "general" future land use boundaries to their specific properties. That is not the function of the map, which is a general policy guide rather than a property-by-property designation of future land uses (that is the Zoning Map's function). It was agreed that the map should contain text only, instead of graphical representations of future land use areas. The areas currently shown as Mature Residential will be eliminated: the Sullivan Avenue area between 4-corners and Route 74 is included in the "Traditional Town Center" designation, and the Oakland Street corridor should have the same designation as all other residential.
In response to a comment at the Public Hearing about the use of visual enhancements in a street right-of-way to slow traffic down (first major bullet under Action No. 5 (bottom page 9), Commissioners agreed to modify the action item to be a general statement about exploring the use of traffic calming techniques.
After reviewing the Public Hearing comments, Commissioners reviewed their own previously compiled comments. Commissioner Larsen' comments were addressed. Action No. 1, Regulations Revisions, includes a recommendation to allow flexibility on meeting yard requirements in residential developments in order to achieve design objectives; it was agreed that this would be modified to "review yard requirements." Action No. 2 includes an item for business attraction that includes recommendations for the EDC. Commissioners modified the action item to be more suggestive and less directive, and to eliminate reviewing tax records for delinquency.
The recommendation for mandatory pre-application conferences for commercial and industrial site plan applications was discussed. It was agreed that pre-application conferences should be encouraged, not required; and initial concept plans could be required for developments exceeding a certain size or located in specific areas.
Commissioner Evans noted that her comments had been incorporated into the latest draft, but still had questions regarding the State's Conservation and Development Policies Plan. Banach briefly reviewed the State's procedures for preparing and using their Plan, noting that it is just now entering an update phase. A statement regarding consistency with the State plan is now a statutory requirement for a municipal plan.
Chairman McCann
Action No. 3, Enhance Developers
The On-Going Consideration-
The remainder of Chairman McCann's comments, generally editing items, will also be incorporated into the final plan.
Commissioners agreed to remove the 6th major bullet under Action No. 4: On an annual basis, submit a summary report to the Town Council indicating the status of protection/preservation efforts and future initiatives. This is an Open Space Task Force item.
Motion to adopt the Town Plan of Conservation and Development as revised was made by Commissioner Kennedy, seconded by Commissioner Choate. The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
ITEM: Minutes
The minutes from 4/9/02 and 6/25/02 were approved by consensus of the Commission.
ITEM: Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m. was made by Commissioner Kennedy, seconded by Commissioner Evans. The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
Respectfully Submitted,
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Kelli Holmes
Recording Secretary
