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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/12/25 PC Packet Planning Commission Agenda Monday, May 12, 2025 6:00 p.m. Council Chambers 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Review and Approval of Minutes a. March 10, 2025 meeting minutes 4. Public Hearing (NA) 5. New Business- Discussions a. Introduction of New Members b. Review New Planning Commission Handbooks c. MacGill Park Letter- Manager Day 6. Old Business (NA) 7. Staff Report (NA) 8. Commissioner Comments 9. Reminder of Next Meeting a. June 9, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. 10. Adjournment Town of Pulaski Planning Commission Municipal Building, Council Chambers March 10, 2025 Present: Van Taylor, AJ Schrantz, Kevin Meyer, Terry Hale Absent: Jeremy Clark Guests: Kevin Conner, SHAH Development & Steve Simonis, Balzer & Associates Staff: Olivia Hale, Clerk of Council Call to Order Chairman Meyer called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. The roll was taken by Ms. Hale and a quorum was determined with four members present at the time of the roll call. Review and Approval of Minutes Chairman Meyer called for a review of the January 13, 2025 minutes and asked for a motion to adopt. The motion was made by Mr. Taylor and seconded by Mr. Schrantz. The motion passed unanimously. Public Hearing No public hearings were scheduled. New Business a. SHAH Development: 177 Acres Steve Simonis with Balzer & Associates reported he, along with Kevin Conner with SHAH Development, met with Manager Day and Town Council to review the project process and what they would like to see. He presented the current zoning map and what the proposed zoning would be for the 177 acres, making most of the property an R3 and leaving a portion on Memorial Drive and a portion of Lee Highway designated B2. Mr. Simonis reported 18.3 acres would be zoned commercial, 72 acres of the whole property would remain as open space or parkland, and 13 acres would be dedicated as right-of-way and streets, in the townhome area, there’d be about 102 townhomes and 187 single-family lots in the remainder of the parcel. With the layout, and Mr. Conner’s help from the construction standpoint the goal of this project is to develop cost-efficient homes that are reasonably priced and to do that they are looking at how roads would sit with the topography to minimize cut field, using existing infrastructure that’s there, using low points for stormwater management, and four road connection points; one off of Lee Highway, three on Pepper’s Ferry, and commercial access on Pepper’s Ferry, and all streets would be built to VDOT and town standards with curb and gutter and sidewalks on one of side of the street. The townhomes would be individual townhomes for rent or for sale with a common parking lot, there would not be garages attached to the townhomes, and all parking requirements would meet town code. The project would happen within phases, phase one being 34 lots with 289 residential units. Mr. Simonis reported while trying to figure out what zoning district fits best within the parcel, R3 allows them to do the townhomes within that by right but it also allows single family homes and with all of their lots in the R1 and R2 size threshold, with a 10,000 square foot minimum, they have their lot sizes down to 70 square feet and the R1 and R2 zoning requires a 100-foot lot width. Chairman Meyer asked how far along SHAH and the town are with deciding about moving forward with the project. Mr. Conner reported there are still contractual discussions being held and conceptual topics being worked out but it is looking positive and as soon as contracts are signed they would apply for rezoning. Vice-Chairman Schrantz asked if there had be physical surveys of the site. Mr. Simonis reported everything they have done so far has been done by using GIS. Vice-Chairman Schrantz commented saying the parcel is very challenging, there is a lot of shale within a foot of going deep and it runs a lot of rock and stormwater is a concern of the area with runoff and marshy areas. Chairman Meyer asked if the entire tract is served from the water tank at the end of the parcel and how does the water get to that tank. Ms. Hale stated the water tank should serve the entire parcel but not sure what route it takes. Chairman Meyer stated he hoped there would not be any trouble with the infrastructure to service the property. Chairman Meyer also addressed his concern if the homes are not selling, another developer coming in and purchasing the land and building an apartment complex that just meets code, he stated he doesn’t expect any kind of guarantee that SHAH will build every house because it’s not feasible. Mr. Conner stated he believes there are some performance guarantees within the contracts but he would check. Chairman Meyer commented for some way for the town to control unplanned explosions of any particular type of housing that wasn’t anticipated was his thought. Chairman Meyer also stated he noticed when you take the property with the house on it, on Lee Highway, to rezone that from RO to B2, and asked would there be a contiguous property that’s B2, if not, that would be spot zoning. Mr. Taylor asked if the parkland is driven by the topography as to why they aren’t building on those parcels. Mr. Conner stated that’s mostly the reason. Vice-Chairman Schrantz asked what the floor plans look like for the single-family homes. Mr. Conner stated it is 1,500 square-foot home, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom. They are not looking to building 2,500-3,000 square-foot homes but if a buyer wants to add additional square-footage for a garage, that can be done. Discussions took place regarding additional amenities that the home owner would like to add during their building process but SHAH would like to keep these homes at the affordable level, and discussion also took place regarding the floor plans for the townhomes on Fifth Street. Vice-Chairman Schrantz stated his concerns with the intersection on Memorial Drive and Pepper’s Ferry as that is already a busy intersection, he’d like to see a VDOT study completed and also a study completed at the crossover point from Lee Highway into the development. Mr. Taylor questioned why Phase 3 is not being connected to Phase 2 with a road. Mr. Simonis stated the topography was the factor and also the factor for not connecting Phase 1 and Phase 6 as well. Chairman Meyer asked if there were ideas for the commercial property. Mr. Conner stated there were no ideas, just empty property for someone to purchase. Chairman Meyer suggested having a small emergency response substation in the new development area, as having it there would give the residents in that area more comfort with additional homes being built. Mr. Taylor asked what drove the rezoning of the park space to R3 instead of civic or agriculture zoning. Mr. Simonis stated they thought it’d be good for stormwater management regulations. Vice-Chairman Schrantz asked what the storm water management looked like. Mr. Simonis stated based on the existing topography, it would be a dry basin that fills up during a storm and drained out within 24 hours and any channel improvements, ditch improvements, or storm sewer improvements downstream of it to get to an adequate channel would be part of their analysis during the site plan stage. Vice-Chairman Schrantz asked if it will have central post boxes for mail. Mr. Conner stated it is a USPS requirement to have central gang mail boxes. Old Business a. Un-table Discussion of Proposed Changes to the Zoning Ordinance- ‘Nursing Home’ clean-up The commissioners unanimously agreed to the leave the topic tabled. Other Business No other business was discussed. Staff Report No staff report was discussed. Commissioner Comments No commissioner comments were mentioned. Adjournment The motion was made by Mr. Hale and seconded by Mr. Schrantz to adjourn the meeting at 6:52 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. Town of Pulaski 42 1st St NW Pulaski, Virginia 24301 Pulaski Mayor and Town Council September 28th, 2023 42 1st St NW Pulaski, VA 24301 Re: MacGill Park Dear Mayor and Council Members, I write to you all on behalf of the entire Planning Commission. We have identified what we believe an oversight for MacGill Park in the 2023 Town of Pulaski Comprehensive Plan. Somehow MacGill Park was left out of the Open Space and Recreation designation in the Future Land Use map. MacGill Park was discussed to keep an open space/recreation area in our meetings, discussions, and exercises with the New River Valley Regional Commission (NRVRC). This is because it is the only available open space park in the Northeast side of town, which houses a large part of our residential community. We have been made aware that Town staff is looking to develop MacGill Park, but we unanimously disagree with that action. Taking away open space in our town would only have a negative impact to our community and do the opposite of what we promote as a town and our overarching goal as defined in our Comprehensive Plan – to make the Town an attractive place to live, work, play, and shop. Specifically, it goes against policy 1.1.13 in the Future Land Use section of the Comprehensive Plan which states: “Reserve sites for future parks and recreational or community gathering spaces”. Our vision for MacGill Park is to see future investment into this open space by updating and improving the amenities currently offered at the park. Some ideas offered are an official dog park area, playground, basketball court, baseball field, multi-use football/soccer field, walking paths, gazebos, and a pollinator garden for butterflies and bees. With dozens of acres at the Town’s disposal, the ideas are endless. Community input and funding could even be explored to help bring MacGill Park back to life and better than before. In summary, the Planning Commission would like to encourage Town Council to keep MacGill Park as a park/open space and recreational asset for the town and pursue all needed legal aspects to identify that space as such. This aligns with the desires and intent of all the members of the Planning Commission. If needed, the Planning Commission will get the Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use map corrected to reflect this designation if Town Council and staff deems necessary. Thank you all for your time. Sincerely, Anthony J. “AJ” Schrantz Vice Chair, Planning Commission