Planning Commission Minutes 9-12-2024

Planning Commission Minutes 9-12-2024

TOWN OF RUTLAND PLANNING COMMISSION

MEETING MINUTES

 

DATE: September 12^th, 2024

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, Sherman Hunter, Andy McKane, Mary Beth Poli, Norm Cohen and Jim Hall.

Members of the Public Present:  Ted and Theo Hubbard

Approval of the Agenda:

Mr. McKane moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Hunter seconded the motion. The agenda was amended to include approving minutes from the August 1^st meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

New Business: Ted and Theo Hubbard Subdivision

1. Ted and Theo Hubbard were present and provided a new plat based on the discussion from the previous meeting. This was reviewed by the Commission and all required components are now included.
2. Everything is complete and ready for a public hearing and approval.
3. The public hearing will be warned for the October 3^rd Planning Commission meeting.

New Business: Review of the Streets and Sidewalks Ordinance

1. Most members did not have the chance to review this prior to the meeting.
2. Discussed postponing the discussion. Mr. Peterson moved to table the review until a future meeting. Mr. Hunter seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
3. The planned date will be October 3^rd.

Old Business: Review Draft River Corridor Ordinance

1. Reviewed the draft of the new regulation.
2. Some specifics of development requirements for new and existing work were reviewed in detail.
3. Commission members were encouraged to review the full document and a more in depth discussion will be planned for October 24^th.

Old Business: Sub Division by laws

1. The Town Attorney has finished his review of the draft sent to him.
2. His review included a full update to the language, since our original document was 40 years old, and included many aspects that did not align with current state statute.
3. Appointing a specific person as an Administrative Officer was also recommended.
4. Copies of the updates and recommendations will be made available to members so this can be discussed at a future meeting.

Old Business: Act 181, Legislative update to Act 250

1. The Select Board has asked the Commission to review this legislation to make suggestions based on updated requirements and exemptions.
2. A preliminary review started, but the information is substantial.

Reviewed the list of tasks before the Planning Commission.

1. Streets and sidewalks ordinance, river corridor regulations, sub division bylaws, and Act 181.
2. Discussed how to organize this in order of importance and a timeline to complete these tasks.
3. Discussed the process by which the Select Board makes requests of or assigns tasks to the group.
4. After an extensive discussion, Mr. Peterson moved to charge the Chair of the Planning Commission to ask the Select Board to tell us what they expect us to do regarding Act 181 and by when. Mr. McKane seconded the motion.  The motion passed 5 – 0.

Announcements

Reviewed topics from the recent Select Board meeting.

Updated on the progress for the pocket park. There was a federal and state review of archeological significance at the site.  The federal result was that there has been too much activity there which would leave little significance left to find. GMP will get its license, and the feds took the site we want out of their relicensing process. GMP is open to the town taking over the property. Further discussion with GMP is needed to move forward.

Approval of Minutes August 1^st, 2024:

Mr. Burgess moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Hunter seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. McKane and Mr. Peterson abstained.

 

Approval of Minutes August 22^nd, 2024:

Mr. Peterson moved to approve the minutes. Mr. McKane seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hunter and Mr. Cohen abstained.

Adjournment:

Mr. McKane moved to adjourn. Mr. Hunter seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:41 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet

 

______________________________________       ____________

Barbara Pulling                                                           Date

Rutland Town Planning Commission Chair