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centreville planning commission meeting minutes

Minutes December 13, 2021 · 5 page(s)

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Centreville Planning Commission
December 13,2021
7:00 p.m.
MINUTES
The December 13,2027 Centreville Planning Commission meeting was called to order atl:00 p.m.by Darren Brown,
Chair, in the Liberty Building, second floor meeting room. The following members and staff were present: Darren
Brown, Chair; Kara Voight, Vice Chair; Pat Fox, Secretary; Sandy Downes, Patricia Cipriano, Tim Z:uella, and Mitchell
Delaney, Members; Nancy Emerick, Alternate Member; Steven K. Kline, Town Council President; Steve Walls, Town
Manager; Charles 'Chip' Koogle, Interim Town Manager; Clifford 'Kip' Matthews, Director of Public Works; Sharon
VanEmburgh, Town Auorney; Chris Jakubiak, Town Planner; and Betly Jean Hall, Administrative Assistant.
Council President Kline swore in the new Planning Commission member, Mitchell Delaney.
Review of Minutes from Previous Meetings
a.
Ms. Voight moved to approve the Septemb er 15, 2021 Planning Commission meeting minutes as amended. Mr.
Zuella seconded the motion, which passed with 6 ayes, 0 noes, and 1 abstention.
b.
Ms. Voight moved to approve the October 6,2021Planning Commission work session minutes as submitted. Ms.
Fox seconded the motion, which passed with 5 Ayes, 0 noes, and 2 abstentions.
Citizen's Comments
a Mary Margaret Goodwin, North Commerce Street provided comments.
Appearances
a. Major Subdivision Application - Concept, Carter Farm, 408 Chesterfield Avenue; Green Development, Inc.
Mr. Jakubiak gave an overview of the Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Growth Allocation for the
Carter Farm to include:
.
The PUD allows the underlying zoning standards to be somewhat modified.
.
The PIID is proposed to be overlayed on top of the existing Traditional Neighborhood Development
(TND) Zone.
o
At this step in the process, the Planning Commission must establish findings and provide guidance to the
Town Council.
.
Only after the Council has received the Planning Commission's findings and holds a public meeting will
they act to make any type of approval.
.
The next step is to come before the Planning Commission with subdivision plats and site plans.
.
The Planning Commission will review and discuss open space, commercial development and site plans,
circulation, ownership of facilities, maintenance of private infrastructure, and water and sewer utilities
availability. These will be discussed to the degree at which the project implements the purpose of the
PUD, which is about creating environments in very sensitive areas. The Planning Commission will then
forward their findings to the Town Council.
o
Growth Allocation is the process by which the Critical Area Designation of land is changed. In the case
of Carter Farm, it is changing the property currently designated as a Limited Development Area (LDA) to
an Intensely Developed Area (IDA).
.
The next step in Growth Allocation is for the Planning Commission to hold a public hearing, deliberate
on any comments received during the hearing and then make a decision of whether the Growth Allocation
would be supported or not. That recommendation would then be forwarded to the Town Council.
o
Awarding a Growth Allocation is a decision made by both the Town and the State (Critical Area
Commission). The Developer must work with the State to move the Growth Allocation all the way
through the process ofapprovals.
Ernie Sota, Green Development, Inc. provided the following comments:
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.
The Developers believe their plan conforms with the Town's Community Plan and Development
Standards and, from information that the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Trust gathered in 2016, also
meets the requirements of the Growth Allocation.
.
There have been meetings between the Critical Area Commission staff and the Developer, one of which
was recently on site to view the wetlands and answer questions about the trail and buffer zone
management.
.
Similar developments and agri-hoods have garnered significant media attention which has helped stir
investment in the communities.
o
It is a conservation community that will promote neighborliness and very pedestrian friendly.
o
There are two trail systems, one on the perimeter that is within the buffer zone, and another trail that is
designed to connect with the expansion of the Town trail system.
r
There are a variety of housing types. TND kind of homes, pocket neighborhoods, a l2-foot wide paved
woonerf living street running through the community that can support the weight of fire trucks, delivery
trucks, etc. Parcel three includes a multi-family building.
o
A commercial area is included in the development. The commercial buildings have been moved a little
closer to the street to meet the rear parking requirement and encourage pedestrian activity to the
development.
.
The Carter Farm home is proposed to be restored.
r
The homes will meet the EPA's Water Sense program for water conservation. These homes will have as
minimal an impact as possible on the Town's water treatment system.
a Mr. Jakubiak stated the private operation and maintenance of water and sewer services is something that
is unique with this particular proposal. There is a public street which heads into the development and
bends hard to the right, towards the Board of Education properly.
He also stated there is a proposed public street that heads south, back towards Chesterfield Avenue. The
streets, where the bulk of the houses front, are private, nalrow streets called Woonerfs, that are 2O-foot
rights-of-way and within the right-of-way is a road/sidewalk surface and water/sewer facilities.
Typically, the facilities in the street would be owned and maintained by the Town but that is not the case
with this proposal and the responsibility would rest with the homeowners themselves organized as a
Homeowners Association or some other entity. What does that look like and do they have the financial
where with all to do that? The applicant must persuade the Town Council that they will in fact have those
standards in place. The Critical Area Commission, in its letter to the Town on Growth Allocation, wanted
to see some assurances that these issues would be addressed, presumably before they would approve
Growth Allocations.
a Ms. VanEmburgh stated she envisions in the Development Rights and Responsibilities document that the
Town would build in protections that the homeowners association continue to maintain as private and the
Town would want some level of funding or collection but have a default mechanism so the Town can hire
a contractor to make necessary repairs and the ability to access it as a lien against the properfy. This
would be collectable in the same manner as real estate taxes if for some reason the funding falls through
or they are not capitalized properly.
a Mr. Matthews stated a twelve-foot-wide road does not leave enough room on the shoulder or right-of-way
to safely make repairs. The woonerfs do not meet the standards that are required to receive Highway
User Funds which is another reason they should remain private.
a Mr. Sota's understanding from the Fire Marshal is that they will require the 20-foot right-of-way to
remain free of any trees.
a Mr. Sota stated household trash collection could be handled by a privately hired contractor or residents
could carry it out to the public street for collection by the Town's contractor. The former option is more
likely.
a Ms. Voight stated if there is a possibility that golf carts would be a possibility of this development it
would be encouraged that there would be some type of interconnectivity between the private streets. It is
also encouraged to add language into any HOA that indicates the limits of golf cart use to very specific
areas of the site itself. Also, there is to be no vehicular traffic on the trail.
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r
Ms. Fox questioned if golf carts are tagged by the Motor Vehicle Administration, can they travel on
public roadways. Mr. Matthews responded, only if the speed limit of the road that they are traveling on
does not exceed 35 miles per hour.
.
Mr. Sota stated the commercial center of the development is envisioned as a connection between the farm
and the community. There would be a farm stand for food the farm is producing that would be available
to both residents, who would be part of a Community Support Agricultural Arrangement, but also supply
food to the general public. There is no easement or access by the public to the farm for safety reasons.
o
Mr. Kline stated the Town Council has not made a commitment to the expansion of wastewater treatment
capacity. Is there a potential to phase the sewer and water allocation systems, or is this all or nothing?
o
Mr. Sota stated they are anticipating developing parcel 1,{ (8 units), 1B (25 units) and 34 (12 units)
concurrently as the first phase of the development. Then parcel 2 andthenthe remainder of parcel 3. The
commercial statute requires a percentage of the homes to be under construction. There has not been a
market feasibility study completed yet for the commercial aspect of the development. What is being
shown currently is what is allowed by statute and eventually what will be built will be dependent on
market studies and financing. He stated they prefer to know that there are enough allocations to do the
entire job and hopefully the Town can resolve that. The timeframe for total buildout is at 3 years.
o
Mr. Jakubiak stated he understands from the developer that the HOA will maintain the right-of-way area
between the road surface and the individual property lines.
o
Mr. Sota stated the existing farmhouse area is being considered as a separate parcel because it could be
anything from a private residence again up to a restaurant. The market will determine that.
o
Mr. Sota stated homes in the development are planned to be 1400 - 2200 square feet with a price range of
$400,000 plus or minus. The four commercial buildings in the center of the properLy areproposed to be
2800 square feet each.
o
Mr. Jakubiak points out that most, if not all, of the single family detached structures are located on one of
the side lot lines. What is being proposed is to shift each building to one side of the lot and by doing that,
free up space for a small side yard. The PUD provides flexibility to allow this configuration.
o
Mr. Sota states that small fences are envisioned dividing the front yard area of the lots.
.
The developer has allowed for a perimeter behind each of the lot lines for maintenance access because
there is a lot of space beyond the lots in the buffer zone. This area is designated to be planted in a native
species, such as a tall fescue or something that is easily identifiable, so that the residents are not intruding
into the buffer zone.
o
Mr. Brown stated the commercial buildings within the development are much too close to Chesterfield
Avenue and do not fit the character of Chesterfield Avenue.
o
Mr. Sota stated reversing the commercial layout, moving the pitched roof buildings to Chesterfield
frontage, and lowering the height of the buildings should diminish the scale and be more appropriate with
the existing streetscape.
r
Ms. Voight stated none of this is granted by right. The Planning Commission has the ability to determine
the location, size, massing, etc. of the commercial buildings and stated it needs to be reworked. She
suggests pushing the commercial portion back into the open space placing the impact into the new
community, minimizing the impact on the existing community.
I
Mr. Jakubiak stated while traveling out of town heading west, coming around the soft bend, the
farmhouse is what is seen. With the proposed massing, it is an urban scale massing that would dominate
the view because the eye would draw to the materiality and structure of the building. He suggested
working with the architect to see if they could realrange the commercial buildings in a way that is context
sensitive so it looks like a cluster of homes that belong on Chesterfield Avenue but are businesses. Then
the Carter Farm house is located within a small community of clustered buildings that fit and have a
relationship with each other. Right now, they put forth an urban aesthetic right in the middle of a historic
rural entryway into a historic town.
o
Mr' Sota stated the farm would be managed by a professional farmer chosen by the HOA who would
make sure they were engaging in the right practices and producing the kind of crops they want. The
absolute worst case is that it would be just open space but the whole idea is to maintain the agri-hood.
o
Summary of findings on the PUD:
o
Private water/sewer advise of Town staff be followed and utilities under private roadways should be
privately owned.
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r
The HOA needs to be guaranteed to be financially viable in the long term.
.
The Town needs prearranged mechanisms in place to make repairs and be compensated by the HOA
appropriately.
.
The Planning Commission prefers the roads in Parcel 3B to be public.
o
Add signs to the Corsica Trail prohibiting motorized vehicles.
r The applicant needs to rework the commercial design along Chesterfield Avenue to better fit the
character ofthat road.
.
The applicant should provide more programmatic detail about open space uses.
r Make every effort to widen the turn arounds at the end of woonerfs to allow wider turning radius for
vehicles.
o
Sufficient assurances should be received from the applicant that the maintenance of open space and
infrastructure can be maintained properly through the HOA.
Mr. Brown made a motion to forward the Planning Commission's findings and recommendations to the Town
Council as detailed along with the staff memo prepared by Chris Jakubiak, Town Planner dated December 3,
2021. Ms. Fox seconded the motion, which passed with 6 ayes, 0 noes and 1 abstention.
a Mr. Jakubiak stated the properly is 46.8 acres and 40.38 acres of that would be changed to IDA through
the Growth Allocation. This allocation is necessary for this project to move forward in this fashion. The
development could not develop in this fashion in the LDA.
a The findings in Mr. Jakubiak's memo address the specific standards for creating an IDA so that the actual
findings of fact that the Town Council will adopt will look like the summary beginning on page 10. Each
of the items addresses subsections of the Zoning Ordinance. The project does not fail to meet any of
these standards. Some of the standards are not applicable.
a Mr. Kline stated the plans, as they currently exist, do not enhance habitat value as required by the
additional standards per Section 170-31.6D(l) and suggests some type of native grass pollinator habitat in
the buffer area. Some specifics about invasive species control within the buffer area, pollinator habitat
and upland grassland habitat within the green space and subsequent monitoring and maintenance of that
would be beneficial. Mr. Kline also stated there is probably a phragmites problem at the shoreline of this
property to the extent that this plan should reflect some invasive control.
a Mr. Kline requested the Developer assist the Town with getting notices out to the public to attend a
meeting to review this proposal. Mr. Sota agreed to assist with this.
a By consensus, the Planning Commission agrees to hold a public hearing at the next Planning Commission
meeting on Growth Allocation.
a By consensus, the Planning Commission agreed to include Section I 70-3 I .6D( 1 ) as a condition of
Growth Allocation and added as #5.
Citizen Comment
a Steve Layden, Windsor Avenue and Tim McCluskey, Watson Road provided comments
Council Member Report
Mr. Kline stated the Town Council sent a letter to the County Planning Commission on their Comprehensive Plan related
to the intersection of Rt. 213 & 301 and trying to require the connection to public water and sewer through annexation of
those four parcels to integrate growth not in the Town boundaries. The preliminary engineering report for the wastewater
treatment plant was forwarded to the Maryland Department of the Environment and he suggested everyone take a look at
it on the Town's website.
Adiournrncnl
There being no further business, Ms. Voight moved to adjourn the December 13,2021Planning Commission meeting.
Ms. Fox seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Page 4 of 5

Respectfully submitted,
4.mlQ"'"-//o/L
Betly Jean Hall
Administrative Assistant
Action Items
.
Approved the September 15,2021Planning Commission meeting minutes as amended.
.
Approved the October 6,2021 Planning Commission work session minutes as submitted.
.
Forwarded the Planning Commission's findings and recommendations to the Town Council as detailed along
with the staff memo prepared by Chris Jakubiak, Town Planner dated December 3 , 2021 .
Page 5 of5