HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 18 1993 PC Minutes5-18-93
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MAY 18, 1993
The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a public
hearing on Tuesday, May 18, 1993, Meeting Room 7, County
Office Building, Charlottesville, Virginia. Those members
present were: Mr. Phil Grimm, Chairman; Mr. William
Nitchmann; Mr. Tom Jenkins; Mr. Tom Blue; Ms. Ellen
Andersen; and Ms. Babs Huckle. Other officials present
were: Mr. David Benish, Chief of Community Development; Mr.
Bill Fritz, Senior Planner; Mr. Ron Keeler, Chief of
Planning; and Mr. Jim Bowling, Deputy County Attorney.
Absent: Commissioner Johnston.
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and
established that a quorum was present.
SDP-93-020 Wachter Site Plan Waiver Request - Proposal to
construct a fourth dwelling on 91.72 acres. Property,
described as Tax Map 101, Parcel 52, is located on the north
side of Rt. 708 approximately 1.5 miles west of Route 20 in
the Scottsville Magisterial District. This site is zoned
RA, Rural Areas and is not located within a designated
growth area (Rural Area IV).
and
SP-91-62 Barbara & Leo Wachter - Request for a gift, craft
and antique shop [10.2.2(36)] on 91.72 acres zoned RA, Rural
Areas, Property, described as Tax Map 101, Parcel 52, is
located on the north side of Rt. 708 approximately 1.5 miles
west of Rt. 20 in the Scottsville Magisterial District.
This site is not located in a designated growth area (Rural
Area IV).
Mr. Fritz presented the staff report. Staff was
recommending approval of both requests.
The applicant, Ms. Barbara Wachter, addressed the
Commission. She explained the dwelling would be occupied by
her elderly mother.
There being no public comment, the matter was placed before
the Commission.
MOTION: Mr. Nitchmann moved, seconded by Mr. Jenkins, that
the Wachter Site Plan Waiver Request be approved subject to
the following conditions:
1. A building permit shall not be
a. Health Department approval
b. Recordation of appropriate
ensure maintenance of 450' of sight
issued until:
is obtained;
sight easements to
distance.
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2. A Certificate of Occupancy will not be issued until the
following condition has been met:
a. Relocation of fence to obtain 450' of sight
distance.
The motion passed unanimously-
SP-91-62
In response to Mr. Blue's question as to why this could not
be allowed as a home occupation, Mr. Fritz explained that
the use will involve more traffic than normal residential
and "potentially" could involve the sale of items which are
not handcrafted on site. He stated this approach allows
the applicant more flexibility.
In response to Ms. Huckle's question, Mr. Fritz explained
that though the permit can be used by another owner in the
event the property is sold at some future time, the same
limitations would apply.
The applicant offered no additional comment.
There being no public comment, the matter was placed before
the Commission.
MOTION: Mr. Nitchmann moved, seconded by Mr. Blue, that
SP-91-62 be recommended to the Board of Supervisors for
approval subject to the following conditions:
1. Area devoted to the gift, craft and antique shop shall
not exceed 500 square feet and shall be located in the
structure proposed by SDP-93-020.
2. No auctions.
3. Building Official approval.
4. Relocation of fence to obtain 450' of sight distance.
5. Recordation of appropriate sight easements to ensure
maintenance of 450' of sight distance.
6. No outdoor storage or display.
The motion passed unanimously.
SP-93-16 and SDP-93-013 - Centel Cellular Monopole
Preliminary Site Plan - Proposal to construct an
approximately 80 foot high monopole for cellular telephones
on Bear Den Bountain. This proposal requires amendment of
SP-91-36. Property, described as Tax Map 74, parcel 23 is
located on the south side of Interstate 64 in the Samuel
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Miller Magisterial District. This site is zoned RA, Rural
Areas and is within the EC, Entrance Corridor Overlay
District. This site is not located within a designated
growth area (Rural Area III).
Mr. Fritz presented the staff report. Staff recommended
approval subject to conditions.
Several photographs were passed among the Commission showing
the site of the proposed building and tower from various
positions. The photograhs and the orientation of the
building were discussed briefly.
In response to Ms. Andersen's question, Mr. Keeler explained
the function and make-up of the Recreational Facilities
Authority.
The applicant was represented by Mr. Dick Gibson, attorney
for Centel. He explained that the proposal has received the
approval of the Preservation Authority and the Architectural
Review Board. He described the pole as "a monopole
facility, approximately 80 ft. in height." He stated the
pole will be painted any color that the ARB desires. He
explained that the pole will barely clear the tree tops and
will not be visible from I-64.
In response to Ms. Huckle's question regarding the placement
of a dish on the the pole, Mr. Gibson (and one of Centel's
engineers) explained that it is unlikely that a dish will
ever be placed on the pole, but if so, it would be
approximately 10 feet from the top. He indicated there were
no plans to increase the height of the tower in the future.
Given the fact that the tower will bearly clear the trees,
Mr. Blue asked what will happen when the trees grow. The
engineer stated that they have been advised that the trees
"probably won't grow much more." He explained that the
tower will clear the trees by 3 to 5 feet, and the antennae
will be mounted on top of the tower.
Mr. Jenkins asked if this pole would take care of future
needs. Mr. Gibson explained there is currently one other
site being contemplated. He added that he felt this pole
would cover the needs for Albemarle County for the
foreseeable future.
Ms. Andersen asked why companies cannot share towers. The
applicant explained there are no technological impediments,
but the main reason revolves around each company's desire to
provide the best coverage for their customers, i.e. a
location may serve the customers of one company well, but
not the other company. The applicant concluded: "From a
business standpoint, it is usually not advantageous to
occupy the same tower to provide the same coverage." He
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noted that the idea has been explored locally because towers
are a sensitive issue.
It was determined the applicant will be constructing the
family division road to the point where it turns off to the
site of the tower.
There being no public comment, the matter was placed before
the Commission.
SP-93-16
MOTION: Ms. Huckle moved, seconded by Mr. Blue, that
SP-93-16 be recommended to the Board of Supervisors for
approval subject to the following conditions:
1. Tower height shall not exceed 85 feet and shall be a
monopole.
2. Compliance with Section 5.1.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.
3. There shall be no lighting of the tower unless required
by a federal agency.
4. Development shall be in accord with the revised plat of
The Rocks initialled WDF dated 5/5/93.
5. Staff approval of additional antennae installation. No
administrative approval shall constitute or imply support
for or approval of, the location of additional tower,
antennae, etc., even if they may be part of the same network
or system as any antennae administratively approved under
this section.
The motion passed unanimously.
SDP-93-013 Centel Cellular Monopole Preliminary Site Plan
MOTION: Mr. Jenkins moved, seconded by Ms. Huckle, that
staff be granted administrative approval of the Centel
Cellular Monopole Preliminary Site Plan. The motion passed
unanimously.
CPA-93-03 Creation Within the Comprehensive Plan of the
"Rural Service Center" - Proposal to amend the Albemarle
County Comprehensive Plan to allow for the "Rural Service
Center" designation. The intent of this designation is to
recognize and support certain areas in the County as the
preferred location for providing services to the Rural Area.
This would be accomplished by permitting and encouraging a
greater variety of commercial, public, business and
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agricultural support activities and services to locate in
such Rural Service Centers.
Mr. Benish presented the staff report.
The Chairman invited public comment.
Mr. David Van Roijen, representing the Piedmont
Environmental Council, read a prepared statement expressing
Opposition to the proposed CPA. (See ATTACHMENT A.)
Ms. Mary Scott Birdsell expressed objection to the
Comprehensive Plan being amended piecemeal. She felt such
changes should be considered at the time of an overall Comp
Plan review and recommended that the proposed CPA not be
adopted at this time.
Mr. Tom Olivier, representing Citizens for Albemarle,
expressed opposition to the proposal in its current form.
(See ATTACHMENT B.)
Mr. George Clark, a Schuyler resident, expressed support for
the proposal.
There being no further public comment, the matter was placed
before the Commission.
Ms. Huckle: "I think it's a shame that these two issues
have gotten tied together like this. We all understand why
this thing was hammered out so quickly and what might be
perfectly acceptable and perfectly useful in the Schuyler
area, I can't see any excuse for covering the entire County
with things possibly like that, where the people have not
requested it and where it will disrupt people's lives and
building plans. It seems to me that we are creating one
problem in order to solve another one. There must be
another way that this can be handled. Certainly, it needs a
lot more discussion and lot more thought than we would be
able to give it if we were to make a decision tonight. I
think it should be discussed thoroughly by the public and
given a lot of publicity. Nobody knows about this; nobody
knows what could happen in their little rural crossroads if
this thing is passed. I would like to see it deferred until
it can be thoroughly discussed at the review of the
Comprehensive Plan."
Mr. Benish clarifed: "This action does not put any
designation on the map. What you're doing is putting text
in the Plan that allows this to be implemented in the
future. So this will not designate the Schuyler service
center or any other center. That will be a separate review
which the Commission and Board will decide either on an
incremental basis or on a full review of the Plan. It's
yours and the Board's decision as to when you put that in
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place. The process being proposed is to put this option
into the Plan, and then it's your discretion as to when and
where you implement the option.""
Mr. Blue recalled that this had been the specific request of
the Commission, i.e. "that we didn't want to mix these
things up." He added: "But isn't it true --we might as well
be up front about this --the impetus for this was staff's
response to try to prevent a spot zoning in Schuyler."
Mr. Benish: "It came up as an option to the Board's request
for staff to look at the review for a Growth Area
designation in the Schuyler area."
Noting that some members of the public seem to be "in the
dark" about this issue, Mr. Nitchmann asked Mr. Benish to
expand upon the Board's direction to the staff. Mr.
Nitchmann noted that there had been considerable newspaper
coverage about the issue.
Mr. Keeler explained the concept had been generated by a
request for a public garage, but with the requested changes
to conditions of approval, the Zoning Administrator had
determined the use would then be a truck terminal, which is
only permitted in industrial areas and is not permitted in
the rural areas. (Truck terminals are permitted only in
industrial districts.) The option was to put industrial
zoning on the Zoning Map with no guidelines in the
Comprehensive Plan, or to seek an amendment to the Plan to
resolve issues of this nature. Mr. Benish continued: "So
the Board referred the matter back to the Planning
Commission to evaluate a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to
review this general Schuyler area for its appropriateness as
a growth area. We reviewed that request and determined,
based on some of the characteristics down there, it had
limited potential for a classic growth area, i.e. a village,
a community or other urban designation. However, we did
identify a need and, we felt, merit for some type of
provision that would allow the existing use and uses related
to the existing economic activity to occur. That's
essentially the quarry and activities related to the
Schuyler community in Nelson County and the trucking
company."
Noting that the quarry and industrial usage had been in
existence for many years before the existence of the
Comprehensive Plan, Ms. Huckle asked why the area couldn't
be rezoned to Industrial. She asked: "Why do we have to
endanger every crossroads in the County?"
Mr. Benish explained that the Board had not favored that
option and had asked staff to find an alternative to what
they considered to be "spot zoning."
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Ms. Huckle acknowledged that "spot zoning" was a bad word,
but wondered if it might not be more appropriate in this
case. She felt that often "we do things which seem harmless
at the time, like this theater thing,...and then it comes
back to haunt us."
Ms. Andersen: "I feel with the Comprehensive Plan review
coming up, it certainly would behoove us to discuss this one
more time. It certainly wouldn't hurt. The language of the
text is very broad and sweeping and because it is so broad
there would be a lot of implications and scenarios that
people could think of that could be discussed. It's been my
experience that in cases where broad changes are discussed,
the general public has trouble envisioning the specifics of
what those changes are and frequently, where they do not
thing of a specific instance where it might effect them
directly, they do not come out for the public hearing.
Therefore, I would like to give the public one more
opportunity to discuss this and I think the time to do it is
in the general Comprehensive Plan Review."
Ms. Huckle agreed more specifics were needed.
Mr. Blue: "I don't think it's any less specific than a lot
of things we already have in the Comprehensive Plan. I have
no problem with waiting until the regular Comprehensive Plan
update...if we think we will get more public participation
and there is no rush on this, other than one person who
would like to see it passed soon for obvious reasons. ... I
personally don't see anything wrong with it. I do not think
that it opens up the County to a lot of things that it is
not already open to, but I see nothing wrong with delaying
it until the Comprehensive Plan update."
Ms. Huckle felt it gives people false expectations.
Expressing concern that 60 jobs are at stake, Mr. Nitchmann
asked Mr. Bowling: "Is there anything that can give them
the opportunity to run their business in a profitable
productive manner until such time as this thing is settled?
Mr. Bowling responded: "That's hard for me to answer off
the top of my head because I don't have the procedural
history of Schuyler Enterprises in front of me and I've lost
track of it at the moment. This is not a case where the
Zoning Administrator has made a decision and the applicant
still has time to appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals and
if he doesn't like what the Board of Zoning Appeals does,
then appeal to the Circuit Court. We're past that mode, I
believe. The Zoning Administrator has determined that this
is a trucking terminal; it is not a public garage. ... One
of the ways staff is trying to solve this, for better or
worse, is by having a rural service center and key it into
the Schuyler area because the Schuyler area is, frankly, an
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anomaly. It's zoned RA, but if you go down there you know
it is not rolling fields and farmland, etc."
Mr. Keeler explained two aspects of spot zoning: "One is
that it serves the proprietary interests of the property
owner, and the second part of that phrase, not the general
public interest. It doesn't necessarily mean simply a spot
on the map."
Me. Blue: "The only way that we could actually correct the
problem that we have in Schuyler, is to get this CPA passed
and then, assuming the applicant will come forward and ask
for a designation at that point. But Ms. Huckle and Ms.
Andersen have reasonable objecttions if once we pass the
CPA, it may give rise to people wanting to do it in areas
that we don't consider appropriate. The only way that we
find that out is to have a public hearing at the review of
the Comprehensive Plan. I agree with Mr. Nitchmann; I wish
there were a way we could solve this one problem. I said
right from the beginning, when this thing first came to us,
it wasn't a growth area, it is not an industrial area, it is
an existing use. Why couldn't it just stay as a
non -conforming existing use and take off that restriction we
have on the number of vehicles, or at least increase it? We
saw fit not to do that --or the majority of the Commission
and the Board did."
Mr. Nitchmann asked if there were any way to request that
the Board re-evaluate this specific issue. He stated that
though he supports the Rural Service Center, whether at this
time or some future date, he has questions, e.g. "How big
can it get?" "What all can it include?" He asked if there
were not some reasonable way to address the Schuyler issue
with the laws that are currently in place?"
Bowling: "One thing you can do is come up with a definition
just for Schuyler. Staff went beyond just Schuyler with the
Comprehensive Plan designation Rural Service Center, but
certainly it is possible to come up with something in the
Comprehensive Plan fine tuned for Schuyler."
Ms. Huckle noted that the Schuyler area, because of the
long-time existence of the quarry, has been industrial for
many years.
Mr. Bowling cautioned that rezoning RA to Industrial, with
no public utilities, can raise "a host of other problems."
Mr. Keeler pointed out that no application for industrial
zoning has ever been reviewed. He agreed there may be other
ways to address the Schuyler situation.
Mr. Blue noted that the discussion was getting off the
subject of Rural Service Centers in general.
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Mr. Benish pointed out that staff feels the Rural Service
Center has merit "county -wide" though the concept had grown
out of a request from the Board to study the Schuyler area.
Though staff had felt that this idea should be reviewed in
the Comprehensive Plan review process, that had not been the
Board's direction to staff.
Mr. Nitchmann again asked if there were not some way to give
some type of "temporary use permit" to allow this business
(Schuyler Enterprises) to work within the bounds of the law
until the Rural Service Center concept can receive all the
public scrutiny and input it should.
Mr. Blue recalled that an attempt had been made to
accommodate the business by amending the special use permit
to increase the number of trucks allowed at the site, but
that had not worked.
Mr. Nitchmann felt that it had not been realized at that
time (by those who voted it down) that this would "turn
around and become what it is today." He felt there may have
been a different outcome if that had been the case. He
summarized: "Today, we have a business that employs 60
individuals, that wants to continue to operate, that has an
excellent site for it, has more space than is required, will
decrease the usage of parking (trucks) in other areas around
the County --which is a safety hazard in my opinion --and we
have this before us today. We'd think, in all our wisdom,
we could come up with some way to solve this dilemma."
Ms. Huckle brought up Mr. Bowling's earlier suggestion that
something could be fine-tuned just for Schuyler, rather than
putting something in place that would effect the whole
County. (Mr. Benish interjected that this proposal would not
apply to the entire county.) Ms. Huckle felt this was "the
first step on the slippery slope." She asked: "What could
be done to fine tune it?"
Mr. Bowling replied: "Put Schuyler in front of it --Schuyler
Rural Service Center. That needs more thought than you
could resolve tonight."
Mr. Keeler offered: "You could just ask us to come back
with two paragraphs that describe the Schuyler growth area
and I suppose we could do that. We were attempting, here,
to take a larger viewpoint in the event an issue like this
comes up again." He noted that Covesville has a large fruit
packing business which could desire trucking at some future
time. He pointed out that there are isolated industries
around the county. I guess it is just a question of how you
do it. Do you do each one individually with a couple of
paragraphs or do you create a class for those and discuss
whether or not to designate them as they come up?"
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Mr. Benish: "If this goes forward, we're going to give you
something for Schyuler as the Board has asked for. What
this does is lay out the parameters by which we would write
that and you would review it. If you want to just disgard
this now and just evaluate Schuyler, I suppose we could do
that but it doesn't seem to me to be rational planning just
to build one and then come back with the standards in the
future."
Mr. Grimm agreed that would be poor planning. He continued:
"I think we have something here which does represent
rational planning. It is an attempt to show how certain
areas, yet undefined in the county, could possibly be used
as service centers in the future, depending on the demand
that might be there, what is brought before us to consider,
with the Commission and the Board having the right and the
duty to decide whether or not those applied -for permits are
appropriate in those given locations. I'm in favor of this
particular CPA because I think that it would be a way in
which to approach the subject and to provide a means by
which the Schuyler area can be designated as a rural service
center without changing it to an industrial zone. We don't
want to make industrial zones in the rural area. What we're
saying here, on the contrary 'Define, as needed, limited
areas in the rural sections of the county, where service
centers could be beneficial to the public.' That will take
a lot of debate."
Ms. Huckle: "Phil, you said you didn't want to see
industrial uses in the rural areas. This is an industrial
use and if it gets approved under this plan, then any other
industrial use could be approved under this plan." She
suggested: "How about if we tailor something to this
specific area and then we discuss the rest of this --the
county -wide proposal --during the review of the Comprehensive
Plan when we have more people involved."
Mr. Benish: "I think that's a legitimate recommendation you
can make to the Board. You can recommend the procedure by
which to implement this in the Plan. You could say, off the
top of my head, 'On the basis of this format, move forward
with the Schuyler growth area as a pilot, as a test. Do not
implement or consider implementation of this and re-evaluate
this during the Comprehensive Plan review.' If that's the
way you feel comfortable with moving forward with this
concept, I think you could give that direction to the Board
of Supervisors as to how to implement this."
Mr. Blue: "On the other hand, we could go ahead and vote on
it tonight and perhaps recommend approval, and each rural
crossroads, that some of the people here tonight are worried
about, have to come to us for approval. I disagree that we
are going to have industrial areas everywhere else. This
was an existing use and if there is another existing use,
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then maybe it will have to apply. But when somebody comes
in and wants an industrial use at a rural service center, we
have probably the obligation, not just the opportunity, to
recommend against it."
Ms. Andersen: "We are about to pass a very broad piece of
text and it is my opinion that the thousands of people that
could participate in the conversation are not represented.
We are going to do this for 60 people. The 60 people do
warrant consideration, but there are thousands of people who
have not entered into this discussion and don't even know
that it exists."
Mr. Blue noted that this probably would not effect many
people.
Ms. Andersen felt there should still be the opportunity for
participation. "Whether it effects them or not is their
decision; it is not our decision to say whether or not it
effects them."
Mr. Blue stressed: "Whether or not this is passed as a
Comprehensive Plan Amendment nothing is going to change
without further review by the Planning Commission and Board
of Supervisors. There will be no rural crossroads that will
become a rural service center just because this CPA is
passed."
Ms. Andersen felt the time to become a part of the
conversation is now, before it is "too late --after the
fact."
Mr. Nitchmann noted that his experience on the Commission
has shown that public attention will not be drawn to this
issue until it is passed on to the Board of Supervisors. It
is at that time press coverage will draw attention to the
matter. Then the Board can hold the work sessions and
public hearings on the matter.
Referring to the proposal presented by staff, Mr. Nitchmann
commented: "I have gone over this thing. The Rural service
Center does not promote growth; it does not promote central
services; it does not promote automatic designation of a
crossroads; it does not promote industrial growth. It does,
however, limit the size of the facilities; it does specify
accessibility; it does recognize the need for centralized
activities in certain areas of the County and, I think,
would direct individuals who so desire to have businesses
within the rural area to look towards this type of
designation and put their businesses within that, knowing
that if they tried to put it outside those areas, they will
have difficulty getting it approved by this Commission. I
do not believe it promotes any more uses than are already
permitted here other than those that were designated in
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letter 'c'. To address the PEC comment that 'it lacks
standards,' there are a lot of standards that have been
placed in here."
Referring to an earlier comment that this would make no
difference, Ms. Huckle quoted the fourth paragraph of page 1
of the staff report, with the paragraph ending : "Location
of a use within a Rural Service Center, consistent with the
allowable uses as outlined, should be considered a favorable
factor during the review of a special use permit and
rezoning." She concluded: "So it does make a difference."
Mr. Blue responded: "It does; I'll concede that. It gives
it a little more standing. But I have always felt the
reason you have a Commission and a Board of Supervisors is
to treat things individually ---to make special
considerations. If there was no give and take, the County
Executive would write a law and say "This is it,' and he
would administer it and there would be no reason for having
a Board or a Commission. Therefore, I don't think a
precedent is all that important. You consider each one
individually."
Mr. Keeler commented: "Mr. Blue said it would give it more
standing. It would actually give it standing if it was a
rezoning. A use that is not permitted in the rural areas
zone and it is permitted in the Zoning Ordinance elsewhere,
then definitely the Statement of Intent for that particular
zoning district restricts it to growth areas. So, right
now, the way the Zoning Ordinance is constructed, truck
terminals are restricted to growth areas and it has no
standing in a rural zone."
Mr. Blue: "What I'm saying is, once the CPA is passed, it
does not necessarily mean you have to pass each application
for a rural service center. But Ms. Huckle is right, it
does give it more reason to pass. But if there is no rural
service center available, you've got no other choice."
In answer to Mr. Jenkins question as to whether or not the
item would be passed on to the Board if the Commission took
no action on it, Mr. Benish explained: "I believe that you
could defer it for further information before you take
action." He added that the Board had requested that this
item be back to them by March but he did not know if they
would feel compelled to act on this proposal.
Mr. Bowling pointed out that the Board had sent the item to
the Commission because it wanted to receive Commission
comments. He added that the Board might not like this plan
at all and decide to look at Schuyler as a growth area.
Mr. Blue was in favor of taking action on the proposal. He
noted that there had been no specific comments about, or
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suggested modifications to, A,B,C,D, and E. In the absence
of such comments, he stated he was prepared to make a motion
for approval and "see what happens."
Ms. Huckle asked if he would support a motion to fine-tune
the proposal to Schuyler and delay action on the rural
service center concept until the review of the Comprehensive
Plan.
Mr. Blue responded that he would have supported such an
alternative earlier in the meeting, but he had changed his
mind after hearing the Chairman's comments.
Mr. Grimm felt it had been the Board's intention that the
Commission comment on the Rural Service Center concept as
soon as possible.
Mr. Jenkins suggested that there should be some statement in
the proposal which "addresses the remoteness from existing
facilities." He felt these areas, by definition, would be
remote from existing facilities. (Mr. Nitchmann suggested
the addition of the following at the end of the first
sentence of paragraph A: "...those areas, and are
considered remote from existing available services."
Mr. Blue asked for staff's recommendation as to how to
proceed at this point.
Mr. Benish replied that he felt some legitimate issues had
been raised by the public and he felt Mr. Jenkins' comment
regarding remoteness was legitimate. He felt there was some
fine-tuning which could be done to address these concerns.
However, he noted that staff could spend a lot of time
fine-tuning a concept which the Board may not "buy into at
all." He summarized: "Maybe this is an incremental
approach. If this service area is a concept worth pursuing,
we can look at some of the issues which come up in
subsequent public hearings and fine tune those to address
some of the concerns."
Mr. Nitchmann: "I've tried to categorize this in terms of
what it does and what it does not do. I think it does have
specifics which do limit what can go on in a rural service
center. (I think we could spend a lot of time trying to
amend A through E) but I think overall it is a good initial
first step to define a rural service center and I would like
to see it move foward because there are jobs and the
well-being of families at stake in this particular area. It
dismays me that we have to be voting on this because of
that; I wish that wasn't hanging on to this, but it is."
MOTION: Mr. Nitchmann moved that CPA-93-03 to amend the
Comprehensive Plan to allow for the Rural Service Center
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designation be recommended to the Board of Supervisors for
approval as presented by staff.
Mr. Blue seconded the motion.
Discussion:
Referring to Mr.Nitchmann's comments that 1160 jobs are at
stake," Ms. Andersen asked for an explanation of Schuyler
Enterprises present situation.
Mr. Nitchmann explained that, according to his
understanding, the business is presently operating as a
"garage" but has more trucks than it can legally park there
even though it has adquate facilities and appropriate area
to park the trucks. The area has been industrial for many,
many years and presently the truckers must either drive
their trucks home or park them at various spots all over the
County (e.g. Stone Robinson School, 29 North, 29 South, 250
West). This creates additional safety hazard on the roads.
Mr. Nitchmann felt that moving this on to the Board will
invite more public input, and allow more fine-tuning of the
document. He saw no advantage to be gained by postponing
this until the review of the Comprehensive Plan. He felt it
could get all the review that is required now.
Ms. Huckle expressed concern about the use of the phrase
"encourage certain businesses," in the Goal. She felt there
was a great deal of difference between "permit" and
"encourage." She felt consideration had to be given to
people who have chosen to live in the Rural Areas because
they are rural and have been managing to function very well
with services as they currently exist.
Mr. Nitchmann indicated his interpretation of "encourage"
was different than Ms. Huckle's, i.e. "We don't what you to
move 5 or 10 miles up the road and put this thing, we would
'encourage' you to put it within this area that has been
designated as a rural service center area." Mr. Grimm
agreed with Mr. Nitchmann's interpretation.
Mr. Nitchmann stated his motion stood as presented.
Ms. Huckle admitted that she would not favor the proposal
any more even if the word "encourage" were changed to
"permit."
Ms. Andersen stated that though she was not opposed to the
proposal, she would not support the motion because she felt
it should be reviewed along with the general Comp Plan
review "where more people can be part of the conversation."
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Mr. Jenkins: "It's been quite a while that we have been
going through this Schuyler thing and it's not like this is
a new document. It's new from the time that staff has
brought it to us, but it is something that has been in the
process for the best part of a year. Everybody here would
probably write it slightly differently. It bothers me that
we have the kind of interests groups that we have come say
they are against it and, yet, the Board of Supervisors has
asked us to try to come up with a vehicle other than just
saying we are going to approve that spot for the use that it
has. I am probably more in favor of that than I am in
approving this, in light of the dialogue that we have had.
If we had a motion to say, 'OK, right here in Schuyler we
are going to allow this use of up to 30 trucks or whatever
the number is and address this someplace down the road, I'd
probably go home tonight a little more comfortable than I
am. It
Ms. Huckle suggested that Mr. Jenkins vote against the
motion and then offer an alternative motion as he described.
Mr. Jenkins replied that he had a problem with voting
against the motion because he felt a lot of effort had gone
into the idea and it is a document which has been generated
over the last several months.
Mr. Blue: "I concur with what Tom said, exactly."
VOTE: The motion for approval of CPA-93-03 failed to pass
(3:3) with Commissioners Grimm, Blue and Nitchmann voting in
favor and Commissioners Huckle, Andersen and Jenkins voting
against.
MOTION: Ms. Huckle moved that CPA-93-03 be "sent back to
the staff and be fine-tuned to address the question of
Schuyler Enterprises in a Rural Service Area and the further
discussion of the Rural Service Area throughout the rest of
the County to be taken up during the review of the
Comprehensive Plan." (This motion was later withdrawn.)
Mr. Keeler asked: "In other words, you want David to
present you with a Village designation for the Schuyler
area, because that is all that is available, or to create
some language particular to Schuyler. But the Service Area
is not in the Plan so we can't bring it to you as a Service
Area . "
Mr. Nitchmann stated he could support a motion "to change
CPA-93-03 to Creation within the Comprehensive Plan of the
Schuyler Rural Service Center." He asked if that was a
possibility.
Mr. Benish: "You have to create the Service Center before
you can designate it. That's what this does. What we're
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doing, I think, is what you're telling me to do right now.
You just don't like the way we've given it to you."
Mr. Bowling again confirmed that it could be fine-tuned to
fit the situation that exists in Schuyler only, if that is
the Commission's desire.
Mr. Blue felt that was "ridiculous."
Mr. Benish: "Let me see if this addresses what you are
trying to get at. Could you advise the Board to move
forward on a specific service center profile, based on the
concept before you today, but do not apply this to any other
area until the review of the Comprehensive Plan where this
whole concept can be re -considered." He explained: "What
that would do for me is that I could take this concept and
then draft what the Schuyler Service Center area would look
like and submit that to you or the Board but with the
condition that you would not apply this in any other part of
the County until you went through the full review of the
Comprehensive Plan. The problem I'm having is fine-tuning.
This is the tuning instrument. This is what tells me how to
draft the service center."
Mr. Bowling stated he could advise staff as to how to
fine-tune the document so that it would only work in
Schuyler, if that was the desire.
Mr. Nitchmann: "But that is not the point of this whole
thing. It is to be a planning tool and to be applicable to,
hopefully, more than one area so that we can plan on certain
types of growth in the the Rural Area."
Ms. Huckle stated that was what the review of the
Comprehensive Plan was for.
Mr. Benish: "We have to create this district before we can
designate it on the map. The only other alternative is to
designate it as a Village and I suppose you could designate
it as a Village without any residential area."
Ms. Huckle suggested that Mr. Bowling meet with staff to
develop some wording that would be more acceptable to the
Commission. Mr. Bowling felt that would be difficult since
the Commission was evenly divided on the issue.
Mr. Keeler: "I guess the question is, under any
circumstances is this going to get resolved as an amendment
to the Comprehensive Plan? If that's not the case, then I
think that leaves Schuyler Enterprises in a position to make
an application for Industrial zoning. I don't think they've
done that before. We'll Just review it in that mode."
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17
Noting that the motion for approval had ended in a tie vote
resulting in the matter being passed to the Board with no
definitive recommendation, Mr. Nitchmann asked if it could
be sent to the Board with Mr. Benish's statement as a
prologue. He did not see any reason for it to come back to
the
Commission. He noted that the Board would have the
Commission's minutes and could read the Commission and staff
comments.
Ms. Huckle withdrew her motion. There had been no second.
Ms. Grimm: "I don't know what else to do this evening,
other than to leave the vote as it and allow it to move on
to the Board of Supervisors, as is, with the comments made
by David. I hate to do that, but we are in a situation
where we cannot come to a solution that everybody can agree
on."
Mr. Nitchmann asked if Mr. Benish would make sure that his
comments were clear in the minutes.
Mr. Benish: "I'm going to let Deloris read what I said,
because I want to make sure --I assume that is the consensus
of the Commission." He stated that the minutes would be
forwarded with the staff report, but he had no plan to make
any addition to the staff report.
An attempt was made to determine if it was the consensus of
the Commission to agree with Mr. Benish's statement. He
explained his statement was "essentially my offer of a way
to address several of the concerns and still allow public
comment on the concept, but would essentially allow us to
pursue a pilot--Schuyler--and that could be a test case."
Ms. Huckle indicated her support.
There was no negative comment to Mr. Benish's statement.
Mr. Bowling suggested a motion would clarify the
Commission's position.
MOTION: Mr. Nitchmann moved that "the statement that was
put forth by David Benish be specifically included as a
prologue to the minutes regarding the discussion on
CPA-93-03."
Ms. Huckle seconded the motion.
Discussion:
Mr. Blue: "I still feel that we're trying to do something
that we shouldn't be doing. I happen to agree with the
Rural Service Center objectives and goals as they are
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18
written with, perhaps, some minor changes. I don't disagree
with them; I think there are other places they could be
applied and I think we are going to have a chance to accept
or reject them as they come up. I'd rather have it go on
like that. I don't really object to that motion, but it
seems to me it is not necessary."
Mr. Nitchmann felt the purpose of the motion was to "bring
emphasis to the statements, so they will stand out clearly
to the Board."
Mr. Benish: "Right now you have no recommendation to amend
this into the Comprehensive Plan. All you've done is made a
motion as to an offer of a way, a suggestion to the Board as
to how to proceed."
Mr. Bowling: "Your recommendation is 'No,because it has
been defeated.
VOTE: The motion passed, (5:1) with Commissioner Blue
casting the dissenting vote.
MISCELLANEOUS
Outdoor Theater - Ms. Huckle wondered why this had been
approved with ancillary uses (e.g. seminars), when the
Commission had recommended that there be no ancillary uses.
Mr. Keeler explained that there had been some changes to the
conditions at the Board level. He also noted that the
defintion of the use restricts it to a "local historical
drama" and it is not necessary that that be restated in the
conditions.
Ms. Huckle was of the impression that the staff report which
went to the Board had "left out some of these things." Mr.
Keeler responded: "No it did not. The staff report that
went to the Board was the same staff report that went to you
and the conditions that went to the Board were the
conditions that you recommended." He explained that any
changes which were made subsequent to the Commission's
review were done at the direction of the Board in an effort
to resolve issues of conflict between the applicant and
opponents."
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at
9:35 p.m.
DB