Planning Commission Minutes 10/23/2018

PLANNING COMMISSION-REGULAR MEETING

SUBJECT TO VOTE OF APPROVAL

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2018

SIMSBURY TOWN OFFICES-MAIN MEETING ROOM-7:00 PM

933 HOPMEADOW STREET, SIMSBURY, CONNECTICUT

I.             CALL TO ORDER- Meeting was called to order at 7:00pm.

1.            Pledge of Allegiance

II.            ROLL CALL

Present: William Rice, Alan Needham, Erin Leavitt-Smith, Holly Beum, Elizabeth Burt (Alternate promoted to full member)

Absent: Craig MacCormac, David Blume, Gary Lungarini, Richard Cortes

Staff Present: Robin Newton (Code Compliance Officer)

III.           APPROVAL OF MINUTES of the October 9, 2018 regular meeting

A correction was made to line 11 of the meeting minutes. It should state that Richard Cortes was promoted from an alternate to a full member for the meeting.

Corrections were made to lines 55 and 56. Instead of the “exception of 7 G 1 J”, it should read that section 7 should be amended to state “full visual screening is to be provided for additional areas of off-street parking”

Motion: A motion was made to approve the minutes (with the above two corrections) by Alan Needham at 7:06pm.  William Rice, Holly Beum, and Erin Leavitt-Smith were in favor of the proposed motion. Elizabeth Burt and Alan Needham abstained because they were not present for the meeting.  The motion passed.

IV.          OLD BUSINESS

1.            Public Hearings

a.            None

2.            Applications

a.  Chairman Rice made a motion to amend the agenda and add application #18-01 (seconded by Erin Leavitt-Smith). The motion passed unanimously.

3.            Referrals

a.  CGS 8-3a Referral to the Zoning Commission for Zoning Commission Application #18-58  of Mark Greenberg, Agent; Betty Fiora, Owner; for a Zone Change from R-40 to B-3 on the property located on the northerly side of Albany Turnpike on the border of Simsbury and Canton (shown as Assessor’s Map A20, Block 503, Lot 002-A). Zone R-40. (public hearing scheduled for 11/19/2019)

Phillip Doyle, Land Planner and a representative for Betty Fiora (also present) discussed a property owned by Fiora that has approximately 4600 feet of perimeter abutted to commercial property. He stated that, from a land use point of view, it should appropriately be zoned as B3.

Doyle stated that from an economic standpoint, the property makes more sense for commercial zoning rather than for residential use.

He also mentioned the access to the property would be in the town of Canton if the property was used for commercial purpose; whereas, if it were used for residential purposes, then the access would be near Bushy Hill Lane. This would cause excessive traffic in the Bushy Hill Lane area.

Commissioners Needham, Leavitt-Smith and Beum asked how this would impact the homes in the area.  They were all concerned with homes having to overlook the potential businesses.  Rich Correia (a commercial broker who was present for the meeting) stated that “any project would be done tastefully and include nature and a walkway.”

Doyle also stated that there would be adequate “buffering” between the properties and the existing homes.  The DOT and Zoning Commission would be involved in the process to ensure that the existing homes and traffic would be taken into consideration prior to any development.

Commissioner Needham stated that, in his his opinion, when it comes to the balance between homeowners and commercial development/tax revenue, he is on the side of commercial development. He also stated that the proposition is in line with the POCD.

Commissioner Leavitt-Smith suggested that a positive referral be made, considering the Zone Change is in line with the 2017 POCD. Rice seconded the motion in favor.

Commissioner Burt requested to amend the motion in order to discuss the needs of the current homeowners.  Chairman Rice stated that buffering of the property and respect for the homeowners was already considered in the minutes.

Erin Leavitt-Smith withdrew the motion to be re-worded.

Needham stated we should re-word and give a positive referral and made a motion. Rice seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion to pass application #18-58 was done unanimously.

b.            CGS-8-3a Referral to the Zoning Commission for Zoning Commission Application #18-59 of Joel D. Weisman and Gerald Roismen, Agents; 241-245 Hopmeadow Street, LLC, Owner; for Zone Change from I-2 to B-3 on the property located at 241-245 Hopmeadow Street (Assessors Map F16, Block 116, Lot 003B). (Public hearing scheduled for 12/03/2018)

Commissioner Needham suggested tabling Application #18-59 until the applicant can be present. Chairman Rice agreed.

Chairman Rice made a motion to move #18-59 to the November 13, 2018 meeting so the applicant can be present to support their application.  Needham seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

V.            NEW BUSINESS

1.            Receipt of New Applications

a.            None

VI.          GENERAL COMMISSION BUSINESS

  1.  Subdivision Regulations

                a. Discuss potential revisions to Subdivision Regulations

Chairman Rice made a motion to set the public hearing for Application #18-01 for the Planning Commission meeting on December 11, 2018.

The motion passed unanimously.

2.            Robin Newtown discussed the FOI meeting on Monday October 29, 2018, which will be held in the library. She also addressed the Planning Commission meeting dates for 2018.

3.            Commissioner Needham made a request for larger paper Zoning maps to be hung in the meeting room for applicants and board members to reference.

VII.         ADJOURNMENT

Motion was made by Chairman Rice to adjourn the meeting at 7:50 pm. The motion passed unanimously.