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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 27 2012 PC MinutesAlbemarle County Planning Commission November 27, 2012 The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, November 27, 2012, at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Lane Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. Members attending were Richard Randolph, Bruce Dotson, Ed Smith, Thomas Loach, Don Franco, Calvin Morris, Chair and Russell (Mac) Lafferty, Vice Chair, Julia Monteith, AICP, Senior Land Use Planner for the University of Virginia was present. Other officials present were Ron White, Housing Director; Elaine Echols, Principal Planner; Andy Sorrell, Senior Planner; Wayne Cilimberg, Director of Planning, Matt Weaver, Intern; Dan Mahone, Parks and Recreation Trails Planner; Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission; and Greg Kamptner, Deputy County Attorney. Call to Order and Establish Mr. Morris, Chair, called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and established a quorum. Other Matters Not Listed on the Agenda from the Public: Mr. Morris invited comment from the public on other matters not listed on the agenda. John Lowry, Chair of the Economic Development Authority, Chair of the Equalization Board, and Assistant Chief at the Redhill Precinct, spoke regarding the Comp Plan work. - He commended staff on the Comp Plan work and noted his comments were postponed from last week's meeting. - He was worried last week about Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population (ASAP). He did not want to see any last minute advocacy group show up and short circuit the public process. He felt a little bit better about that after last week. - There are a lot of competing interests in the County. He does not want to have special interest groups highjack the process. ACE is very worthy, but there are 744,000 acres in the county with 87,000 acres under conservation easements. Over two-thirds of the land in the county is under land use, which means little or no tax revenue. Where is the balance? The growth area is 5 percent of the county, which is 24,000 acres and where business and housing starts and is hoped to be. Where is the balance? That is partly for the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to decide, which he was worried about it. - He was very worried when he saw written into the Comp Plan update one million dollar minimum funding for ACE to be codified. He would like to have $400,000 or $500,000 for the Economic Development Authority, which is not written into the Comp Plan. There are competing interests for the dollars, which he did not *'' of think that was really fair. He hoped the Commission would have a balanced interest as they rewrite the Comp Plan. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 1 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES Charles Battig, M.D. spoke regarding concerns including sustainable population growth 4,,, in the Comp Plan review as noted in his letter addressed to the Albemarle County Planning Commission dated November 27, 2012 as shown in Attachment 1. In his letter he asked, "Please set your planning objectives broadly, and let our established system of legal redress sort things out on an individualized basis." (Attachment on file with the printed minutes in the office of the clerk.) M There being no further public comments, the meeting moved to the next item. Consent Agenda Proposed 2013 Planning Commission meeting schedule fin Mr. Cilimberg noted the anticipated Commiss for next year. The Commission makes the fi in January at the organizational meeting. scheduling and wanted to get an initial affirm ion meeting dates were listed in the memo decision regarding those meeting dates However, staff had to do some advance ation of the schedule. The most critical dates staff needs affirmation on are on the public hearing dates because staff was scheduling applications to run to those dates. The work session dates are there to work with. However, the Commission should be aware that they have in the past and he would expect for next year as well held the no schedule meeting dates as back-ups in case there is a need for any additional early in the year when they are still Commission to meet on one of those dates. meetings. working They can expect that need particularly on the Comp Plan. Staff may ask the Mr. Franco noted that he would be unable to attend the January 8 meeting. Mr. Morris pointed out his only concern is on the no scheduled meeting he was looking at January 22, February 19 and March 12. He was also looking at the schedule provided by Ms. Echols. For one Commissioner he would hope staff would feel comfortable on utilizing any one of those or all three of those dates for work sessions for the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is supposed to be going to the Board of Supervisors in March. Motion: Mr. Randolph moved and Mr. Smith seconded for approval of the proposed 2013 Planning Commission meeting schedule. The motion passed by a vote of 7:0. Mr. Morris noted that the proposed 2013 Planning Commission meeting schedule was approved. Work Sessions CPA-2013-00001 Comprehensive Plan Parks and Recreation, Housing & Community Facilities (Elaine Echols, Andy Sorrell) Mr. Morris noted the Commission would take each one of the three items, Housing; Parks & Public Greenways, Recreation, and Green Systems; and Other Community ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES Facilities as a separate item. Staff will give a briefing, the Commission will talk about it, %4fte open it up to the public, bring it back to discuss, answer all of the questions for that specific area, close, and move to the next item. Ms. Echols presented a PowerPoint presentation. The supporting information provided by staff on each individual topic was distributed to the Planning Commission as notes for review on the following topics: I. Housing II. Parks & Greenways III. Other Community Facilities Purpose of November 27t" Meeting • Allow for opportunity for public input • PC - Review & Discuss draft sections • PC - Provide direction on recommendations Meeting Format • Staff presentation on each section ➢ Housing, ➢ Park & Rec. ➢ Other Community Facilities Public comment PC direction on topic areas General Format Three Main Parts: ➢ Existing Conditions ➢ Recommended Plan ➢ Performance Measures "Cheat Sheet" shows "what went where" After staffs presentation they would like to know: ➢ Did we go too far in our cuts? ➢ Are we missing something substantive? ➢ Inadvertent Omissions and Errors? Ms. Echols noted the first presentation was on Housing. Ron White, Housing Director, is present to answer questions. Housing Discussion Elaine Echols presented a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed the existing conditions and recommended goals, objectives, strategies and performance measures. (An overview of the Housing section suggested changes as summarized in the notes were provided as supporting information by staff.) Discussion took place on the topic of "Medi-Pods" and reporting on progress with affordable units. Ms. Echols said that the ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES strategy related to accessory units should be moved out of the "affordable housing" section because it relates to a number of other goals for housing. The Planning Commission held a discussion with staff. The Commissioners made the following comments or asked the following questions: • On page 9, provide greater clarification concerning the County's existing inventory of housing and land and projected needs. • Change the word, "builders" to "developers" in Strategy 4c, in terms of who to encourage to provide affordable housing using density bonuses. • Change Strategy 4e to say, "Amend the zoning ordinance to provide for greater opportunities to construct accessory units to diversify housing supply," and move this section out of the affordable housing section. Talk about the benefits of accessory units, what it can accomplish as well as mentioning granny pods as a form of housing for care givers. • Incorporate transportation into the discussion, specifically transportation in the definition of affordability and public transportation related to affordable housing. Transportation for affordable housing should be public transportation and needs greater prominence in the Master Planning efforts. • Look at the City's housing program and opportunities for the two localities to work together, as is done in the Parks section. Defer this discussion to get more information from subcommittee report at next week's joint meeting. Put the County in a more regional context — What is the City and UVA's commitment to affordable housing? Consider putting a broad goal earlier in the plan about regional relationships that would set the stage for this part. Provide an explanation on where the range of density came from on page 9. • Be more specific about the relationship of the growth management policy and housing location/types. • Reference the "State of Housing Report" completed in 2007 for the region. • Consider recommending changes to the zoning regulations for affordable housing to encourage and allow such things as density bonuses or having no parking requirement on -site for developments that are on a bus -line or allowing multi -family structures in single-family districts if the structure looks like other houses in the neighborhood. These changes would not just be in architectural design, but really in code changes that would help achieve density and affordability. Mr. Loach disagreed with doing away with the parking requirements since it was problematic. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 4 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES • Identify thresholds for when additional public transit is needed based on stress on existing roads. • Be consistent with the timing of performance measurements — 2015 or 2018? • New possible performance measures would be to monitor land supply, track the number of housing units approved by legislative action, track the number of units that have been proffered and how many have been built. A strategy could be to review the results of the above tracking on a regular basis considering adjustments based on such review. • Work on ways to ensure that affordable units continue to stay affordable. • Look into whether or how providing affordable housing has suffered from reductions in staff. • Clarify the affordable housing policy as it relates to cash proffers and conditions under which cash in lieu of units should be accepted. • Provide data on participants who have been part of the Homebuyer's Club who have successfully been able to purchase a home. • Emphasize the need for the Homebuyer's Club to be reinstated and the importance of having adequate staffing. • Make distinctions between strategies and performance measures. Having at least 15% affordable units in all new housing developments is a performance measure. Amending the zoning ordinance for more opportunities for accessory units is a strategy. The following comments came from the public: Charles Battig, M.D. commented that so much hangs on these meetings. Tonight he represents the public. He was a biased person in that view and was trying to represent some thoughts of the public. He thinks this is a problem in moving forward with these types of meetings. He had not heard a definition of what affordability is. What makes housing affordable and what is driving this. He asked what the Neighborhood Model has achieved, specifically clustering and what not. All regulations make housing more expensive. The more layers of regulations make property more expensive. He was glad the county was considering senior citizens. The public can make their own value choice. However, he questioned where the public was making their choice. They were designing a system for them, which may appeal to some but not others. The Planning Commission moved to the next topic. Parks and Recreation, Greenways and Green Systems Discussion Elaine Echols presented a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed the existing conditions and recommended goals, objectives, strategies and performance measures. (An overview of the Parks and Recreation, Greenways and Green Systems section ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 5 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES suggested changes as summarized in the notes were provided as supporting information by staff.) Dan Mahon, Parks and Recreation Trails Planner, was available to answer questions. The Planning Commission held a discussion with staff. The Commissioners made the following comments or asked the following questions: • Identify the joint work of the City and County for the Rivanna River corridor as a high priority. • Look at parks in the southern and western part of the county — more are needed there. Those will be discussed with upcoming meeting on Neighborhoods 4, 5, 6, and 7. • UVA grounds should be identified on the parks and greenways plan. • Rivanna River crossings are needed for cyclists and walkers, especially if they want to commute. • There needs to be connectivity between the southern and western parts of the County. • A better definition is needed for greenways, greenway trails, and paths in the beginning of the chapter. • Develop criteria for land offers in conjunction with the City. The City may have funds where the County does not and joint land acquisition may be possible. • Can we use the provisions of the TMDL process as leverage for acquiring easements? Check with Greg Harper. • Should parks and amenities be classified by the age group or the users? Or by special interest, like dog parks? • Providing bike racks and benches at parks should be in the recommendations; donated benches, bike racks, or trash receptacles can mitigate the cost for the County. Also, there should be trails within those parks. • Note that there is a need for walkable parks in the Development Areas. • Should the amenities provided by private entities (such as homeowners associations) be discussed? • Provide additional references to the different needs of specialized population, such as the elderly and young. Also, needs for dog parks and equestrian facilities. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 6 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES • Recommend that more work is needed with the public, including homeowners who might be living near a future greenway trails, about the value of greenways. • Continue to create plans for County parks even if the County does not have the funding to develop the parks in the near future. • Consider grade separated interchanges at the intersections of Route 29 & Hydraulic Road and Route 29 & Rio Road to help provide a pedestrian network to connect greenway trails. • Coordinate better with City to provide better bike/pedestrian access to the Ragged Mountain Natural Area. • Broaden the language for the Trail Advisory Committees to include City representatives and associated club representatives. The following comments came from the public: Ken Crawford was present on behalf of one of the mountain bike clubs mentioned by Mr. Lafferty, CAMBC (Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club). They are a non-profit organization whose mission is to advocate for mountain biking in the area. They provide support through their 300 plus members by volunteering with the Albemarle County Parks and Recreation on the trails. He was happy with the plan, but was present to discuss resolution and clarification for the recreation, the planning, and the access of this plan. They support all seven of the objectives and glad to hear about the bridge crossing for the Rivanna River. They support that access as well as a crossing on Route 29 for the retail corridor on Hydraulic Road and Route 29. They support bike access as well as access for the trail walkers, joggers, and runners. They also would like to have an access way to new trails or an easement granted for bikers for the Ragged Mountain area. They objected to the words "natural area" in the documentation and would like to see large parks, rural parks or wooded parks. Natural area has a negative connotation where it sounds like it is only going to be open to pedestrians and not bikers. Will Sanford, with the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club, asked to add to Mr. Crawford's comments. On strategy 1 d there is an opportunity to mention working with the City on Sugar Hollow. It would be a nice connection through the national park to Byron Park. He suggested adding CAMBC to the Greenway Trail Advisory Committee. He would like a clarification on page 33 on the class b - are these standards and greenway services specific to the greenways or all the trails in county parks considered greenways. He would like a discussion on the 4' to 5' wide width specification for a class b trail. That does not seem to provide enough variety for the different uses if every trail is specified to be 4' to 5' wide. There are reasons why they might want to have a 2' wide trail or a 6' wide trail corridor. He did not think the class b definition is wide enough and he encouraged that to be developed more. The Planning Commission took a break at 7:57 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 8:02 p.m. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES The Planning Commission moved to the next topic. Other Community Facilities Discussion In a PowerPoint presentation Andy Sorrell reviewed the Introduction to the Community Facility Standards section of the Plan as well as recommended standards for Police, Schools, Fire/Rescue, County Government, Solid Waste Management and Libraries. (An overview of the Community Facilities Section suggested changes, as summarized in the notes. was provided as supporting information by staff.) The Planning Commission held a discussion with staff. The Commissioners made the following comments or asked the following questions: • The introduction is very helpful. Bold and underline the paragraph on page 3 which speaks to the importance of efficiently using the Development Areas and the need for an increased commitment by the County for public infrastructure improvements and community facilities and services. • Add to the general community facilities section that regular dialogue should occur among the City, County and UVA to seek ways to optimize provision of facilities and services. • Define standards — are they really guidance? • Provide some text describing the current fiscal realities and what that means for community facilities. Some needs are currently not being met. • The term "bikers" should be replaced with the term, "cyclists". • In terms of format, consider placing the existing conditions for each community facility along with the objectives and strategies instead of in a standalone "Existing Conditions" section. • In general, the text of this entire section is very disjointed compared to the Housing and Parks sections. It is unbalanced. In some cases there is too much detail and in other places there does not seem to be enough. • Much of the detail is "programmatic" in nature. It is unvetted and should not be included. • Work on the consistency regarding the level of detail provided for each County Service. Consider an Appendix for the detail. • The entire process for review of the CIP should be redone. By the time the PC receives recommendations from staff, all the prioritization has been done and the public has not been part of the input. Consider a change in the way the CIP is developed. More involvement by the Planning Commission and public is needed. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 8 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES • Why are there detailed recommendations related to the Keene Landfill which are contrary to the comments provided by the Commission at their last meeting on the topic? There has been no public notification and this implies that the County has done a bait and switch. This section needs to be totally redone and text recommending the location and components of the public safety training facility need to be removed. Instead, the language should say, Objective 4: Evaluate the need for a County owned Public Safety Training Facility to provide for firearms and vehicle training to meet Department of Criminal Justice Service certifications as well as firefighting training, including burn buildings and hazardous materials training. Identify options for meeting training requirements, evaluate the benefits and liabilities of constructing a local facility and, if appropriate, consider future locations for these facilities in the County. The next time this topic comes up, neighbors to the Keene Landfill should be notified. • Regarding schools, in Objective 1, add a reference to the fact that schools serve as important community centers and help implement the Neighborhood Model. • Schools - Objective 5 is bureaucratic gobbledy-gook. This objective needs to be clear and usable, not just words on a page to make people feel good. Clarify what "parity" refers to. Programmatic aspects of schools should not be included in this section since it deals mostly with facilities standards. • Schools — Objective 12 — provide individual sites for schools rather than multi - school sites — needs more review. Not all PC members support this objective. • Schools — Objective 14 — further discussion is needed on the recommendations related to site grading. Consideration should be given to having a single school design that can be applied to any site rather than having architects draw up individual plans for specific sites. • Something should be provided on creating safe routes to school. This includes funding and how to identify who would be responsible for getting that funding. • Regarding Libraries, reword the text saying new technologies should be considered after the library in Crozet is built. Something about the wording is confusing. Regarding Libraries, use of "travel time" as a level of service objective may not be appropriate. Number of miles traveled might be more appropriate. Travel times may need to be amended if you are considering other transportation modes such as cycling. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 9 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES • Regarding County Government Buildings, consider referring to the McIntire Road County Office Building as COB -North and the Fifth Street County Office Building as COB -South. • Regarding Emergency Communications, add text pertaining to how the County, City, and UVA would respond to and support the community in a large scale emergency — hurricane, earthquake, etc. • Regarding Solid Waste Management, make sure that the correct terminology for household hazardous materials is used. • The section on Solid Waste Management needs more metrics or performance standards. • Consideration should be given to adding a library to serve the Village of Rivanna. Other comments related to Community Facilities • Reference somewhere needs to be made to the 2011 Citizen Survey and the value placed on the County's rural areas, growth management policy, and regulations that help to keep the rural areas rural. • Recommend making a coordinated effort between all county departments when searching for grant opportunities and writing grant applications, such as the Safe Routes to Schools grant. There were no comments from the public. Mr. Morris thanked staff for their work on this. Old Business Mr. Morris asked if there was any old business. There being none, the meeting proceeded. New Business Mr. Morris asked if there was any new business. • NEXT PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING WILL BE ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012 JOINT CITY/COUNTY WORKSESSION AT CITY HALL at 5:30 p.m. There being no further business, the meeting proceeded. Adjournment Mr. Lafferty moved and Mr. Franco seconded to adjourn to December 4, 2012, 5:30 p.m., at City Space, 100 Fifth Street NE, Charlottesville, Virginia. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 10 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES The motion passed unanimously by a vote of 7:0. With no further items, the meeting adjourned at 9:28 p.m. to Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. at the City Space, 100 Fifth Street NE, Charlottesville, Virginia. V. Wayne Cilifiiberg, Secretary (Recorded and transcribed by Sharon C. Taylor, Clerk to Planning Cvrfi"mission & Planning Boards) ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 11 NOVEMBER 27, 2012 - FINAL MINUTES