1 February 2006 | Approved: 1 March 2006
Chairman John McClelland called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. In attendance were Commissioners Darrell Anderson, Bob Evans and Bud O’Connor. Also in attendance were town residents Bob Booher, Georgette Cole, John Hutchinson, Bruce Rothrock and David Stopak.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes for December and January were approved.
HPC Questionnaire
David Stopak presented the results of the HPC survey. A total of 84 surveys were returned. He felt the survey showed a consensus in Town that it is important for new construction “to reflect the scale and character of that neighborhood.” The HPC was surprised to find that 65% of respondents were willing to have limits placed on their home. Bob Booher presented some examples of written comments from the questionnaires: defining the problems; what is important about the character of the Town; what is scale; big new houses are ok but huge additions are not ok; and lower the height restriction to 25 feet. David said that the intermingling of houses and trees was very important. The top three issues were scale, character and what should be done. He feels that the PC and TC should get together and discuss next steps and possibly pull in Charlie Challstrom. John pointed out that the next steps could be folded into a Master Plan committee.
This led into a discussion of the Master Plan revision. John stated that the last time the PC spent a lot of time updating the 1995 Master Plan the TC didn’t move on it. David said that other large issues came up at that time that didn’t allow the TC to focus on it. However, most of the changes are there and the major items missing are the Commercial Corner, the field and surrounding areas (annexations, etc.)
David asked to discuss the HPC’s review of building permits. He stated that applicants are feeling like they’ve already got PC approval before the HPC completes their review. That makes the HPC less able to encourage open-mindedness with applicants. John pointed out that the PC does not approve permits without HPC review but examines the application to see if it passes the applicable ordinances. He expressed concern about the potential postponement of permit application reviews and reinforced the PCs support of the advisory capacity of the HPC.
407 Acorn
Darrell Anderson reported that Bill Roberts has determined that there is no basis for the resident’s claim that Johnson Alley does not belong to the Town. Bruce Rothrock stated that the Town attorney’s opinion is not conclusive, it is just his opinion. John said that Bill Roberts has not yet written a formal statement for the Town as intended but that he maintains that the burden of proof is on the resident. Darrell stated that the TC wants the PC’s recommendation for action. The Commissioners pointed out that a list was already submitted to the TC last month. Bob Evans read the list (attachment A) and moved that the PC recommend that the 407 Acorn Lane issue be added to the list of other non-compliant properties. John seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Bruce said that a boundary survey needs to be done. John stated that he has requested the TC have a boundary survey done and twice he has been turned down. Bruce stated that the Town attorney has not completed his job and that a boundary survey needs to be done.
Municipal Infractions
Darrell reported that the TC passed an implementation of the Municipal Infractions Ordinance. All owners on the list of non-compliant properties will get a letter notifying them that they are out of compliance with Town ordinances. Some of the owners will have to become compliant within 18 months but others will be notified that they will have to become compliant if/when they remodel or rebuild the non-compliant part of their property.
Master Plan Revision
The Master Plan revision was divided among the commissioners for initial review as follows: Bob Evans – Section 3; Darrell Anderson- Sections 5 & 6; Bud O’Connor- Sections 1&2; Peggy Ebner – Sections 8, 9 & 10; John McClelland – Sections 4 & 7.
Building Permits
The following building permits were discussed and voted on by the Planning Commission:
- 352 Ridge Road – Deck complies with Article 7, Section 3.23 and Section 9 approved unanimously.
Missy Yachup – Secretary
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.