6 January 2004 | Approved: 2 March 2004
Chairman John McClelland called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Commissioners Darrell Anderson, Peggy Ebner, John McClelland, Bud O’Connor and alternate Jim Leng. Also in attendance was Town resident David Neumann.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes for December were approved as corrected.
Annexation of Oakmont Property
George Young, owner of property located at the intersection of Oakmont Ave. and Oakmont Rd., sent a letter to John Compton inquiring if the Town would be interested in annexing his property into Washington Grove. The Commissioners discussed the possibility of a CSX right-of-way and whether that would provide a tax benefit to the town. As the Planning Commission could not identify any other potential benefits to the Town, but many disadvantages, they concluded that they don’t think it is a good idea at this time.
Ordinance Revision
The Commissioners discussed the ordinance revisions recommending changes to the maximum floor area ratio in the Schedule of Standards. Bud O’Connor reiterated his concern that the Town would be regulating the amount of second story space a resident could add to her house. Darrell Anderson said that he thought that was what the Council was trying to accomplish with this ordinance change and that the Council supported it. Bud O’Connor suggested a compromise by allowing open porches to not be included in the calculation of floor area ratio. The Commissioners agreed and sent the suggested change back to the Council.
David Neumann reported from the Historic Preservation Commission some ordinance issues regarding Building Permit submissions. He pointed out that in our current ordinances it doesn’t specify that building plans be submitted with an application. He also stated that the HPC would like for exterior architectural details such as siding and windows be specified on the submitted plans. The Commissioners considered that the ordinances should specify that plans be submitted with an application but that in many cases, at the time that the plans are submitted, decisions regarding exterior details may not have been made.
Report from Town Council
Darrell Anderson reported that the Council was wondering if the Planning Commission still supported the hiring of an Enforcement Officer to enforce building codes in Town. The Commissioners restated their support for the position and that the Council should start hiring procedures.
Missy Yachup – Secretary
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.