Simsbury, CT - Design Review Board Minutes

Emil Dahlquist, Chairman, called the Regular Meeting of the Design Review Board to order at timeMinute30Hour175:30 PM in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. The following members were present: Kevin Gray, William Gardner, Mark Naccarato, Richard Schoenhardt, Charles Stephenson, John Stewart and Alternate Anthony Drapelick. Also in attendance were Zoning Enforcement and Conservation Officer Howard Beach and Director of Planning Hiram Peck.

Chairman Dahlquist introduced Rita Bond, who is being considered by the Democratic Committee to serve as a replacement for the vacant Board alternate position previously held by Linda Kennedy. Ms. Bond stated that she trained at the New York Botanical Gardens and has been a landscape designer for over ten years. She has been involved with the Simsbury Garden Club and the design of the circle garden and playscape at the Simsbury Farms site.

Mr. Dahlquist referred to an e-mail from Dwight Merriam that was forwarded to all Board members. Attorney Merriam has been engaged to represent the Town in connection with the development of a PDD as well as to help guide the Town through the review process of the River Oaks application. The e-mail was in response to questions posed by Hiram Peck. Mr. Peck stated that Attorney Merriam has indicated that there are three procedural phases that will need to be addressed in connection with the review of the River Oaks application:

Mr. Peck stated that the Zoning Commission will have three possible actions: a) to adopt the PDD as proposed by the applicant; b) to amend the PDD as proposed and adopt the amended PDD; or c) to deny the request. Mr. Peck stated that the Zoning Commission is looking for input from the Design Review Board as well as environmental agencies prior to their hearing on the application, which is scheduled for dateYear2007Day24Month9September 24, 2007.

Without a PDD in place, it is felt that there will be no mechanism for the application to proceed forward within its current structure and the applicant could be asked to step back until such time as a PDD can be adopted and be put in place.

Mr. Peck indicated that he would forward copies of the PPD as proposed in the River Oaks application to the Board members for their review. In essence, he said, the applicant is proposing a new zone for mixed use development.

Mr. Peck also clarified for the Board members the statutory timeframe that is involved in hearing the application. The Zoning Commission must schedule a hearing within 65 days of receipt of an application. The River Oaks application was received on dateYear2007Day5Month6June 5, 2007 and the applicant was asked for an extension to dateYear2007Day24Month9September 24, 2007 so as to accommodate various vacation schedules. Upon opening a hearing, the Zoning Commission must then close the hearing within 35 days, although the applicant could feasibly extend this deadline if asked. Once the hearing is closed, the Zoning Commission will then have 65 more days in which to render its decision.

Mr. Drapelick asked about the requirements for a wetlands application. Mr. Peck explained that, under the proposed PDD (the approval of which is the first phase), the suggested procedure is that the wetlands application would be addressed in the second phase (site plan) and would be contingent upon the zone change first being approved.

Mr. Gardner asked when the Board could expect to see the actual design. Mr. Peck replied that the copy as submitted is on file in his office and may be reviewed there at any time, but actual duplication would not happen unless the PDD is approved and then the Board could expect to have copies immediately after the PDD’approval.

Mr. Stephenson asked to what extent the proposed PDD is site specific and Mr. Peck responded that it is currently very generalized, but the Commission may opt to make it more site specific.

Chairman Dahlquist asked Mr. Peck to address the current status of the existing PDD Working Group. Mr. Peck stated that the working group, upon advice of Special Counsel, has suspended all activity until a decision on the current application is made. If the application should be denied, the group will resume its efforts towards drafting the final language for a PDD.

Chairman Dahlquist indicated that the Board will tentatively be scheduling Special Meetings on August 14^th and August 28^th for purposes of internal discussions only so as to reach a consensus on recommendations to be made to the Zoning Commission prior to its September 24^th meeting.

Chairman Dahlquist provided the Board with two hand outs: a copy of the proposed 2007 Plan of Development section entitled “A Future by Design” as well as excerpts from the Board’s design guidelines entitled “District-Specific Guidelines”. He asked the Board to use both documents when considering the current application as well as a guideline for evaluating future projects.

He also indicated that the Planning Commission is looking for input from the Design Review Board prior to their public hearing on the final draft of the revised Plan of Development. Chairman Dahlquist noted that the River Oaks application would fall under the purvey of the 1994 Plan of Development which is currently in place, but Mr. Stephenson added that the processes as described in the revised draft can still be used for the analysis process. Chairman Dahlquist stated that the documents should be used as guidelines for the Board when grappling with what is an appropriate element for a given area. He asked the Board to review the information and use it in preparing their comments relative to the PDD proposal.

Mr. Schoenhardt made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 10, 2007 meeting. Mr. Gray seconded the motion. A correction to show Kevin Gray as Secretary was requested. The motion to approve the minutes as amended passed 6-0 (Mr. Stewart abstained).