Planning Commission Minutes 7-31-2025

Planning Commission Minutes 7-31-2025

TOWN OF RUTLAND PLANNING COMMISSION

MEETING MINUTES

 

DATE: July 31^st, 2025

LOCATION: Town Hall and a publicly accessible conference line

OPEN MEETING 6:30 P.M.

 

Commission Members Present: Chair Barbara Pulling, Dana Peterson, Howard Burgess, Andy McKane, Mary Beth Poli, and Norm Cohen,. All regular members are voting members for this meeting.

Members of the Public Present:  Mary Ashcroft, Shane Protivansky, Eric Dutil, Toni Dutil and Mike Rowe

Approval of the Agenda:

Mr. Peterson moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Cohen seconded the motion. Mr. Peterson corrected the agenda to approve the minutes of May 29^th and not May 8^th. Mr. Cohen seconded the amended motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Old Business: Pocket Park Phase 1 meeting

1. Reviewed the activities which would be part of phase 1, mainly clearing the land.
2. Mary Ashcroft, the Selectboard Chair, and Mike Rowe Town Rec Director were present to talk about this project.
3. Discussed including a boat launch area, and some of the planned features. Discussed the boat launch. There were opinions for and against it. Insurance liability will be research to follow up at a future meeting.
4. There are some additional details and resources needed before work begins, including help from our town tree warden and the Highway department. They will be contacted for follow-up.

Old Business: Wilk/Dutil subdivisions -ruling being questioned.

1. Reviewed the parcels related to the subdivision decision. The parties are requesting a corrected letter to reflect a different decision and designation of the number of parcels created.
2. There should have been 3 parcels, not 4 created due to North Grove and McKinley Avenue already creating a separate parcel. The parcel sizes and designations also need to be updated in the decision.
3. The due date given for the mylar to be recorded was incorrect. State statute allows up to 180 days. They are asking for this to be clarified as well in an updated subdivision approval letter.
4. There was discussion on the history of the subdivision approval from the March 2024 meeting.
5. After discussion, Mr. Peterson moved to approve a corrected subdivision mylar to reflect 3 parcels identified as A, B, and C with acreage of 24.9, 20.5 and 10.4 respectively contingent upon a new mylar submission. Mr. McKane seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
6. Additionally, Mr. Peterson moved to approve a corrected letter of decision issued by the Chair of the Planning Commission to reflect approval of the said subdivision of parcels in the previous motion. Mr. McKane seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Additionally, Mr. Peterson moved to authorize the Planning Commission Chair to review and sign the corrected mylar and issue the decision letter without necessarily holding another Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Cohen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
8. The Planning Commission unanimously agreed the original submission of the mylar was within the approved timeframe.

Approval of Minutes for May 29^th, 2025

Ms. Poli moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Cohen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Approval of Minutes for June 19^th, 2025:

Mr. McKane moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Cohen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Burgess abstained.

Approval of Minutes for July 10^th, 2025:

A quorum of members from this meeting are not present tonight. The approval is postponed.

Old Business: Subdivision Bylaw – Selectboard preference and next steps.

1. The town attorney met with the Selectboard recently and discussed this with them.
2. There are 4 items which need to be included by statute in new regulations.
3. Mary Ashcroft spoke to the group and relayed the Selectboard would like the Planning Commission to come up with new Subdivision bylaws.
4. Discussed hiring someone to help with the drafting process. There is support for this.

Announcements

Reminder of the Town Wide Celebration on August 23^rd.

Adjournment:

Mr. Cohen moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:23PM

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet

 

______________________________________       ____________

Barbara Pulling                                                           Date

Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair