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PC_10-15-08_Meeting_MinutesMEETING MINU'T'ES OF THE • FREDERICK COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION Held in the Board Room of the Frederick County Administration Building at 107 North Kent Street in Winchester, Virginia on October 15, 2008. PRESENT: June M. Wilmot, Chairman/Member at Large; Roger L. Thomas, Vice Chairman/Opequon District; Richard C. Ours, Opequon District; Gregory S. Kerr, Red Bud District; Gary R. Oates, Stonewall District; Richard Rockmart, Stonewall District, Lawrence R Ambrogi, Shawnee District; H. Paige Manuel, Shawnee District; Charles E. Triplett, Gainesboro District; George J. Kriz, Gainesboro District; Roderick Williams, Legal Counsel; and Gary Lofton, Board of Supervisors Liaison. ABSENT: Greg L. Unger, Back Creek District; Christopher M. Mohn, Red Bud District; and Cordell Watt, Back Creek District STAFF PRESENT: Eric R. LaNTencc, Planning Director; Mark R Cheran, Zoning & Subdivision Administrator; Michael T. Ruddy, Deputy Planning Director; John A. Bishop, Deputy Director - Transportation; Candice E. Perkins, Senior Planner; and Renee' S. Arlotta, Clerk. CALL TO ORDER & ADOPTION OF AGENDA • Chairman Wilmot called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commissioner Thomas stated that at the previous Planning Commission meeting on October 1, 2008, the Planning Comrission tabled the Shenandoah Mobile Company Conditional Use Permit (CUP) 409 -08 for 30 days. Commissioner Thomas stated that due to requirements, he would move to undo the motion to table and bring the CUP back for completion of the Planning Commission's discussion this evening. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Ours and passed by the following majority vote: YES (TO CONTINUE DISCUSSION) Ambrogi, Ruckman, Thomas, Ours, Kriz, Triplett, Kerr, Wilmot NO: Manuel ABSTAIN Oates (Note: Commissioners Mohn, Unger, and Watt were absent from the meeting.) Commissioner Kriz moved to adopt the October 15, 2008 Planning Commission Agenda for this evening's meeting. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Triplett and unanimously passed. • Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2356 Minutes of October 15, 2008 -z- • MINUTES Upon motion made by Commissioner Kriz and seconded by Commissioner Triplett, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the minutes of the August 20, 2008 meeting. COMMITTEE REPORTS Northeast Land Use Plan Committee — 10/10/08 Mtg. Commissioner Oates reported that the Northeast Land Use Plan Committee fiuther discussed the NELUP (Northeast Land Use Plan). He said there was some minor tweaking and the group felt it was appropriate to have the Planning Commission provide continents at their meeting of October 15, 2008. Commissioner Oates said the committee is hopeful the Board of Supervisors will review it shortly and give permission to take the plan before the citizens of Stonewall District for their review and continent. Rural Areas Working Group — 10/16/08 Mtg. Commissioner Manuel reported that the Rural Areas Working Group will be discussing the • transfer of development rights. Standing Comprehensive Policy Plan Committee Chairman Wilmot reported that the Standing Committee on the Comprehensive Policy Plan is working on revisions to the Comprehensive Policy Plan and is taking a look at the historic resources component, which is nearly complete. She said the committee gave their consent and has forwarded the document to Mr. Brent Kendrick for formatting. CITIZEN COMMENTS Chairman Wilmot called for public comments on any subject not on the Commission's agenda for this evening. No one came forward to speak. • Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2357 Minutes of October 15, 2008 -3- • PUBLIC HEARING Senseny Road Enhancement Grant Application — The Staff is seeking a recommendation from the Planning Commission to the Board of Supervisors to apply for Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Enhancement Grant Funds for bicycle and pedestrian paths along Senseny Road in the vicinity of the Senseny Road Elementary School. Action — Recommended Approval Deputy Director — Transportation, John A. Bishop, reported that this is the third consecutive year of building funds for this project which is bicycle and pedestrian improvements along Senseny Road in the vicinity of Senseny Road Elementary School. Mr. Bishop said two years ago, Frederick County's application was successful for $140,000 and last year, Frederick County was awarded $250,000. He said Frederick County has recently executed the agreement on the first $140,000 and depending on County finances in terms of matching funds, he was hopeful to begin engineering work in the near future. Chairman Wilmot called for public comments. No one canine forward to speak. Commissioner Kriz said as a representative from the Planning Commission to the Transportation Committee he wanted to state the Transportation Committee has reviewed this and acknowledged Mr. Bishop had done a good job with it. Commissioner Kriz moved that the Commission send it to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Kerr and unanimously passed. • (Note: Commissioners Unger, Mohn, and Watt were absent from the meeting.) PUBLIC MEETING Conditional Use Permit 409 -08 of Shenandoah Mobile Company for a commercial telecommunications facility at 1203 Redbud Road (Route 661). This property is identified with P.I.N. 55- A -129A in the Stonewall Magisterial District. (This is a continuation of discussion from the October 1, 2008 meeting.) Action — Recommended Approval with Conditions Commissioner Oates said he would abstain from all discussion and voting on this application, due to a possible conflict of interest. Commissioner Ruckman asked if the applicants had contacted representatives from other possible collocation sites. In particular, Commissioner Ruckman asked if the applicants had contacted the School Board about collocating at the Millbrook High School site. He also mentioned a 130 -foot tall berm at Clearbrook Quarry and some M1 -zoned property near Omps Trucking with tall transmission towers. Chairman Ruckman referred to the coverage map and said it appeared the proposed additional coverage was focused towards the Snowden Bridge area rather than the Route 7 corridor; he asked about the possibility of moving the proposed site to avoid the Agricultural and Forestal District. • Commissioner Thomas inquired if there was any prohibition about putting commercial telecommunications towers in Agricultural and Forestal Districts. Zoning and Subdivision Administrator, Mark R. Cheran, replied that both he and the County Attorney researched this question from the previous meeting. He Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2358 Minutes of October 15, 2008 -4- • said when the Board of Supervisors established the Agricultural and Forestal Districts, under State Code they had the option of restricting certain uses; however, telecommunications facilities were not restricted as a use at that time. Mr. Lynn Kerner, a consultant for Shentel, said no contact was made with the School Board for the Millbrook High School site because the evaluation they conducted for that particular site determined it would not provide the signal coverage objective they sought. Mr. Kerner said their proposed site will provide capacity coverage to the surrounding areas out by the water treatment plant, the site behind Schrock Tours, and sites near the Target store exit. Commissioner Ruckman believed that placing a telecommunications facility within an Agricultural and Forestal District was contrary to the intent of the District. Commissioner Ruckman questioned why the County would allow towers within the District when other infrastructure, such as water and sewer lines and power lines were prohibited; he said even Route 37 was re- routed to miss this Agricultural and Forestal District. He said if the proposed tower location was moved only slightly, it would be outside of the Agricultural and Forestal District. In addition, Commissioner Ruckman reiterated the staff's continents and conclusions that this request was not in conformance with the Comprehensive Policy Plan and the associated impacts could not be mitigated. Furthermore, staff had said that Frederick County traditionally has a higher expectation for land use actions with regard to properties located in scenic Rural Areas, along Scenic Byways, and adjacent to Developmentally Sensitive Areas (DSAs); these performance standards are to ensure that scenic areas and properties of significant historic value are not negatively impacted. Commissioner Ruckman noted that VDOT is requiring a commercial entrance. He added that the Historic Resources Advisory Board (HRAB) commented that the benefits, in terns of additional coverage levels, did not warrant the cost of the proposed tower's impact on the viewshed. is Commissioner Ruckman made a motion to recommend denial of CUP 409 -08 of Shenandoah Mobile Company and Commissioner Kriz seconded the motion. This motion failed, however, by the following vote: YES (TO REC. DENIAL) Ruckman, Kriz NO: Ambrogi, Manuel, Wilmot, Thomas, Ours, Triplett, Kerr ABSTAIN Oates (Note: Commissioners Unger, Watt, and Mohn were absent from the meeting.) A new motion was made by Commissioner Thomas to recommend approval of CUP #09 -08 of Shenandoah Mobile Company with conditions as recommended by the staff. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Triplett and passed by a majority vote. BE IT RESOLVED, that the Frederick County Planning Commission does hereby recommend approval of Conditional Use Permit 409 -08 of Shenandoah Mobile Company for a commercial telecommunications facility at 1203 Redbud Road (Route 661) with the following conditions:' • 1. All review agency comments and requirements shall be complied with at all times. 2. The tower shall be available for collocating personal wireless service providers. Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2359 Minutes of October 15, 2008 -5- 3. A minor site plan shall be approved by Frederick County. • 4. The tower shall be removed by the applicant or property owner within 12 months of abandonment of operation. 5. In the event a telecommunications tower is not erected within 12 months of the approval of this conditional use permit (CUP), the CUP will be deemed invalid. 6. A certified Virginia engineer shall provide verification that the tower is designed and will be constructed in a manner that, should the tower collapse for any reason, the collapsed tower will be contained in an area around the tower, with a radius equal to or less than the setback, measured from the center line of the base of the tower. The majority vote was: YES (TO REC. APPROVAL) Ambrogi, Manuel, Wilmot, Thomas, Ours, Triplett, Kerr NO: Ruckman, Kriz ABSTAIN Oates (Note: Commissioners Unger, Watt, and Mohn were absent from the meeting.) Chairman Wilmot announced she had received two items to be placed in the official record, an email communication from Ms. Trudi Dixon, dated October 14, 2008, and a communication from Wharton, Aldhizer, & Weaver, Attorneys at Law, dated October 10, 2008. Upon motion made by Commissioner Thomas, seconded by Commissioner Ours, and unanimously passed, the two communications were made a part of the official record. COMMISSION DISCUSSION A proposed amendment to the Frederick County Code, Chapter 165, Zoning Ordinance, Article IV, Supplementary Use Regulations, Section 165 -35, Nuisances, to regulate intensity and placement of outdoor lighting. Senior Planner, Candice E. Perkins, stated the proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance will add new outdoor lighting standards. Ms. Perkins said over the past few years, outdoor lighting within the County has become an issue. She said there are no existing standards within the ordinance to regulate the intensity or placement of outdoor lighting. Ms. Perkins said the Development Review and Regulations Subcommittee (DRRS) reviewed this amendment proposal at their June and August meetings. She said revisions to the proposed text were made to include concerns and comments of the DRRS, the Planning Commission, and the County Attorney. Ms. Perkins provided a brief overview of the text, which included draft standards for both non- residential and residential uses, maximum height for lighting fixtures, shielding requirements, and requirements for photometric plans. She said there are intensity maximums for commercial and multi - family uses and new Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2360 Minutes of October 15, 2008 • definitions that correspond to the lighting standards have been drafted. Ms. Perkins said this item is being presented to the Planning Commission for discussion and all comments will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors. Commission members believed the staff had done a very good job with the draft ordinance amendment. There were no issues raised or comments to be forwarded. The Planning Commission believed the draft ordinance was ready to be sent forward to the Board of Supervisors. UPDATE OF THE TRANSPORTATION SECTION OF THE FREDERICK COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE POLICY PLAN Deputy Director - Transportation, John A. Bishop, said the goal is to greatly enhance the existing transportation plan in a number of ways. Mr. Bishop said a Frederick County Master Transportation Plan is planned to be created and excerpts will be pulled from the Master Plan for the transportation section of the Comprehensive Policy Plan. Mr. Bishop provided the Commission with an outline of the planned content for the update. Commissioner Thomas referred to the design standards for urban, rural, and industrial areas and he asked staff if there would be separate design standards with criteria for 18- wheeler access or possibly updates to the average daily trip generation when the majority of the traffic is tractor - trailer versus vehicles. Commissioner Thomas thought maintaining a Level of C Service at intersections was affected not only by the • zoning of the surrounding area, but by the vehicle types using those particular intersections. He was interested in knowing whether this issue would be considered under the design standards or surface transportation sections of the plan. Commissioner Thomas suggested a category "D" under surface transportation for tractor - trailers. Mr. Bishop said he expected to deal with tractor- trailer access criteria under design standards. He said that care will need to be taken, however, because VDOT standards will have to be considered. Mr. Bishop said the basic intent of having the design standards for the urban, rural, and industrial areas is to address issues staff has observed in the existing industrial areas and also to incorporate the new urbanist principles desired. He said tractor - trailers would be considered under the freight movement section; however, it could also be incorporated into the outline under surface transportation. Mr. Bishop welcomed everyone to contact him directly with any additional comments and suggestions. STEPHENS CITY JOINT COUNTY/TOWN LAND USE COMMITTEE UPDATE Deputy Planning Director, Michael T. Ruddy, thanked the Planning Commission for the opportunity to provide an update on the status of the recently initiated Stephens City Joint Land Use Plan Update. Mr. Ruddy said on September 25, 2008, Frederick County and the Town of Stephens City Joint Land Use Committee met to discuss the evaluation of the Joint Future Land Use Plan approved by the County and Town in 2003. He said initial discussions focused on land use designations, locations and definitions, and transportation is improvements. Mr. Ruddy said it was the goal of the Committee to endorse changes to the Joint Land Use Plan which are consistent with the intent of the original plan, the Joint Annexation Agreement, the increased growth of the community since the original plan was approved, and changes that are positive enhancements to the future Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2361 Minutes of October 15, 2008 -7- growth and development of the community. Mr. Ruddy said at this time, staff is working on the updated land use • map and several additions and clarifications to the text of the Plan; he said this is being done in conjunction with the Town's staff. Mr. Ruddy said it is the intent of the Joint Land Use Committee to present a recommendation to the respective governing bodies, the Town Council, and the Board of Supervisors which could be incorporated into the Comprehensive Policy Plans of each community. Mr. Ruddy proceeded to give an overview of the Plan, emphasizing the transportation and land use sections. Commissioner Manuel asked about the land use designations on several parcels. Mr. Ruddy said there is much more intensive residential land uses to the north of the Town than was originally anticipated, but it seemed to fit in with the area, assuming the impacts are truly addressed. Commissioner Manuel also asked about the proposed round- about. Deputy Director - Transportation, John Bishop, came forward to respond to the round- about questions. Mr. Bishop said the round -about is proposed because it creates a smoother traffic flow, it allows fewer conflict points, and provides better capacity. Commissioner Thomas commented that children from Stephens City attend Frederick County schools; he asked if it would be appropriate to request that Stephens City consider adding to their application packages a proffer to the Frederick County School System at the same dollar value Frederick County uses. Mr. Ruddy thought it could be incorporated within the Joint Land Use Plan Update and could also help to satisfy any concerns with putting additional residential units beyond what was originally intended. Mr. Ruddy said the Joint Annexation Agreement specifies commitments that need to be made by everyone when entertaining development requests. • ROUTE 11 NORTH EAST FREDERICK LAND USE PLAN UPDATE EFFORT Deputy Director Michael T. Ruddy, stated that over the past several months, the CPPS's Community Area Plan Subcommittee, in conjunction with the Frederick County Transportation Committee and others, has been meeting in an effort to review and update the North East Frederick Land Use Plan. He said the group's initial efforts have attempted to identify and understand a variety of important issues, both current and future, and promote a coordinated approach to addressing the future of this rapidly evolving part of the County. Mr. Ruddy said the North East Frederick Land Use Plan provides the County with the opportunity to proactively refine the plan for this growing area of the community and provide guidance to those looking to implement the County's long range plan. Mr. Ruddy proceeded with his presentation which included a summary of the effort to date and an overview of the land use plan and map update. Mr. Ruddy focused his discussion on transportation, land use, community facilities, and developmentally sensitive areas. Commissioner Oates compared the existing Land Use Plan to the revised one and noted that the residential component has been reduced by a few hundred acres and the commercial element has only increased about 183 acres; however, the industrial areas increased by 1,600 acres, which doesn't include the mining area at the quarry. Commissioner Oates said the committee is attempting to define what is appropriate for the OM (Office Manufacturing) District and the M1 (Industrial Limited) District. In addition, be said an area has been identified for M2 (Industrial General) District and another area has been identified for warehousing for distribution centers. Commissioner Oates noted that much of the consideration of the M2 and warehousing areas was based on sewer and water availability. He said these are outlying areas where it would be difficult to serve a • commercial component, but for a low water and sewer user, particularly distribution, capacity could still be obtained. He considered this as an evolving industrial plan. Frederick County Planning Commission Vage 2562 Minutes of October 15, 2008 0 FREDERICK COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION BYLAWS ANNUAL REVIEW Planning Director, Eric R. Lawrence, stated that in conformance with the adopted Planning Commission Bylaws, each Fall the Commission should conduct an annual review of the Planning Commission Bylaws. Mr. Lawrence believed it was appropriate for the Commission to initiate the annual review of both the Bylaws and the Roles and Responsibilities documents at this evening's meeting. Mr. Lawrence proceeded to point out a couple items for the Commission to consider, for example: clarification of committee name structure, meeting management and process, and time limits for presentations. Commissioners expressed their concern about applicants bringing in new information to the meeting that was not submitted with the agenda; when this occurs, a public discussion is held and then the Commission tables the item. Commission members believed the application should not be placed on the agenda, if the information is not complete; Commissioners believed this issue needed to be enforced. They also expressed concern about the 90 -day mandate; they wanted to make sure the bylaws won't encourage applicants to continually update their application to where the 90 days pass and the application goes straight to the Board of Supervisors without providing the Planning Commission an opportunity to address the matter. A Commissioner suggested there may be some way to delay the start of the 90 -day clock until the Planning Department receives a completed application which is sufficient to bring to the Planning Commission for presentation. Mr. Lawrence said he would take the Commission's continents to the Bylaws Committee for some deliberation on how to structure and prioritize these items and he will bring the results back for the • Commission's consideration within the next month. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion made by Commissioner Kri zand seconded by Commissioner Ours, the meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. by a unanimous vote. Respectfully submitted, J M Wilmot, Chairman Eric wrence, Secretary 0 Frederick County Planning Commission Page 2363 Minutes of October 15, 2008