Planning Commission Minutes 5-11-2023
Planning Commission Minutes 5-11-2023
TOWN OF RUTLAND PLANNING COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
DATE: May 11th, 2023
LOCATION: Town Hall and a publicly accessible conference line
OPEN MEETING 6:30 P.M.
Commission Members Present: Chair Barbara Pulling, Dana Peterson, Jerry Stearns, Howard Burgess, Sherman Hunter, Andy McKane, Mary Beth Poli, and Norman Cohen.
Members of the Public Present: Bridgette Remington, Fred Nicholson, Christopher Howland, Daniel Brett, Theresa Kulig, Jack Kulig, Charles Hemenway, Julie McKenna, Richard Bateman, Hester Bateman, Stephanie Cornell, Marty Wasserman, Mary Wasserman, Esther Swett, Dan Swett, Ed Skwira, Nancy Morlino, Mary Reed, Lisa Swett, Kristen Nugent, Mirando Clemson, Amy Maygar, Shelley Dumas, Steve Dardeck, Select Board Member Kurt Hathaway, Town Police Chief Ed Dumas
Approval of the Agenda:
Mr. Hunter moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Stearns seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Public Comment on Draft Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance
The Planning Commission rules for participation were reviewed prior to the start of public comment.
Copies of the draft ordinance were made available to attendees.
Members of the public present discussed their concerns with the Planning Commission. Town Police Chief Ed Dumas was not aware of any issues specifically related to STRs.
Discussed first responders having access to the occupancy information for a STR property. There is not an effective way to relay the information and may not have any effect on response even if they did.
Residents representing a Fire District discussed their concerns with STR over taxing the water system. There are several of these systems in the Town.
Some participants felt the ordinance was close to zoning.
There was concern about the cost of an employee to manage this program. There is no need or plan to add additional staff to manage this program. A vendor would likely be hired, but at a cost of approximately $3000.
Discussed the possible impact of property use as a STR on the assessment. Howard Burgess, a recent Town Lister, was asked about this. Mr. Burgess said it is a possibility. There have been cases in other municipalities where this has happened. After some further discussion, this would be the case even if there was no ordinance.
A resident from Burlington was present and gave feedback on their recent experience with enacting STR regulations in their city and offered to help in the future.
The Commission asked if anyone in attendance would be willing to participate in a small group to help form an ordinance. There was some interest, but no specific meetings were planned at this time.
Comments received from the Town Attorney on the draft were received just before the meeting and they have not been fully reviewed yet.
There was further discussion on regulating water and sewer usage as well as neighborhood covenant enforcement. Those are not included in the ordinance and outside the scope of the regulations.
Most of the public left at the conclusion of this discussion.
Old Business: Review comments from the public on the draft STR ordinance
- Discussed the nature of the request from the Select Board to work on the ordinance. There is no timeline to complete the work.
- Reviewed the feedback received from the Town Attorney. Several of the suggestions will reduce the overall length of the draft. A new draft will be created based on this feedback for discussion at a future meeting.
- Discussed some of the objections heard tonight. These will be used in future discussions. A consistent one was the amount of regulation. It is not inconsistent with other ordinances already in effect.
- Discussed the requirement for inspection. We recently received feedback from the VT Division of Fire Safety. Their recommendations will be used in future drafts.
Old Business: Review draft Subdivision Ordinance
- A list of the substantive changes made to the ordinance has been created. This will be used as part of the public notice. The draft ordinance will be sent to the Town Attorney for his review.
Old Business: Update on the Energy Committee
- Planning tables and demonstrations at the Town Wide Celebration.
- A meeting of the joint committees with the Select Board committee was requested.
A question was asked on our vendor ordinance, it a yard sale required a permit. If it is located on the person’s property only then it does not. Asked if the ice cream truck driving around requires one, and it does.
Approval of Minutes April 20th, 2023:
Mr. Peterson moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Hunter seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Stearns and Ms. Poli abstained from the vote.
Adjournment:
Mr. Peterson moved to adjourn. Mr. Hunter seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:38PM.
Respectfully Submitted, Bill Sweet
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Barbara Pulling – Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair