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Adjourned Meeting
April 24, 2001
6:00 p.m.
Meeting Convened. An Adjourned Meeting of the York County
Board of Supervisors was called to order at 6:07 p.m., Tuesday, April
24, 2001, in the Meeting Room, Yorktown Library, by Chairman James S.
Burgett.
Attendance. The following members of the Board of
Supervisors were present: Walter C. Zaremba, Sheila S. Noll, Donald E.
Wiggins, James S. Burgett, and H. R. Ashe.
Also in attendance were James O. McReynolds, County Administrator;
and James E. Barnett, County Attorney.
JOINT MEETING WITH YORK COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Planning Commissioners Present: Spencer W. Semmes, Chairman;
Robert E. Beil, Jr.; Robert D. Heavner; Michael H. Hendricks; Thomas G.
Shepperd; and Ann F. White.
Chairman Burgett stated it was important that the Board of
Supervisors periodically meet with the Planning Commission to discuss
ideas for the community, and they wished to cover the following areas
this evening:
· WCI (Marinas) Text Amendment · Comprehensive Plan (Chesapeake
Bay Act) Amendments · Yorktown Historic District and Architectural
Guidelines · Zoning Ordinance Review
Mr. J. Mark Carter, Planning and Zoning Manager/Zoning
Administrator, discussed the need for the Planning Commission to make
its recommendation on the WCI text amendment no later than May 9 for the
Board of Supervisors to consider action on June 5. He stated that
tomorrow night the Planning Commission would be considering some amended
text that would require a permit for any eating facility in a marina.
Mrs. Noll asked if the Planning Commission could decide to take no
action.
Mr. Carter indicated it could.
Chairman Burgett stated he would like the Planning Commission to
give the Board something. The application has been around for 90 days,
and the Board needs to take action. If amendments are needed to the
Planning Commission recommendation, the Board can make them.
Mr. Wiggins indicated he would also like to receive a
recommendation from the Planning Com-mission on this controversial
issue.
Mr. Barnett reminded the Board that non-action is deemed
"approval".
Chairman Burgett noted there needs to be a recommendation and
action by the Board because the County doesn't want to end up with the
original plan for the Dare Marina.
Mr. Wiggins asked how the Dare Marina stood with its permits.
Mr. Carter stated staff was still waiting for clarification of the
VDOT comments on the plans regarding the size of the eating facility.
Mr. McReynolds indicated he had talked with John Hudgins who found
out that VDOT is now waiting on some information back from the
applicant, and the applicant is aware that the County is waiting for the
information.
Discussion followed concerning how the number of parking spaces
for such a facility are determined.
Mrs. White noted she was constantly getting mail from residents of
Seaford concerning the location of the restaurant on the property, and
she had also heard that the Dare Marina had purchased additional
property around the marina.
Mr. Carter explained the location of the restaurant on the
building plans.
Mr. Zaremba asked if there was a standard set of criteria that
must be met in order for the Board of Supervisors to grant a use permit.
Mr. Barnett stated the assumption is that no one is entitled to a
use permit unless they can convince the Board that it makes sense. For
different kinds of uses in different zones, there are performance
measures that must be met.
Mr. Zaremba indicated the Board should be able to get the County
ordinance amended before very long so that it can be used subsequent to
the Dare Marina issue.
Mr. Barnett stated this is what Mr. Carter is working on at
present. The Planning Commission asked that staff beef up the draft
ordinance to incorporate precise criteria and guidelines on sizing a
restaurant at a marina, lighting requirements, and requiring a use
permit.
Mrs. Noll asked if proffers could be used.
Mr. Barnett stated a use permit can be issued with reasonable
conditions, but not proffers.
Mr. Semmes indicated the conditions could be tailored for a
specific district.
Mr. Carter noted staff was working toward some basic standards so
that through the use permit process the Board of Supervisors would have
the ability to tailor conditions above and beyond to address unique
characteristics of the location.
Mr. Ashe suggested a committee be established consisting of three
marina operators and three residents to evaluate the criteria before it
comes to the Planning Commission or the Board.
Chairman Burgett indicated that had been done; five citizens and
four marina owners had been recommended.
Mr. Carter stated that once a redraft was developed for the
Planning Commission next week, he would take the liberty to meet with
those recommended marina operators and citizens, get their feedback, and
pass it along to the Planning Commission, if there is time before the
Planning Commission makes its report to the Board, or at least to the
Board by the time it needs to make a decision.
Mr. Ashe asked if the Board could give the Planning Commission
more time.
Chairman Burgett indicated the Board did not have to act
immediately, but the Planning Commission did have a time limit.
Discussion followed.
Mr. Ashe stated the important thing to him was that input be
received from the people who are the most impacted by this development.
He reiterated his question about whether or not a committee had been
appointed.
Mr. Shepperd stated at the last Planning Commission meeting the
Commission addressed the issue of having a subcommittee to look at this
amendment. The point brought out at the meeting was that the County
already has a staff, and the Planning Commission represents the
community.
Further discussion ensued concerning an appointed committee to
review the marina text amendment as well as ways to delay recommendation
and action on the text amendment.
Mr. Ashe stated he felt the Board needed to set a time table to
get a committee going. If the Planning Commission needs more time, the
Board needs to make that happen.
Chairman Burgett stated he would still like to see something come
back from the Planning Commission on this amendment. He indicated his
constituents want an answer. The Board and staff have been trying to get
the citizens to participate; there are a lot of people who do not show
up at the Planning Commission hearings but do come to the Board
meetings. He stated staff was addressing citizen input at the same time
with the Planning Commission work, and adjustments can be made at the
Board level. Chairman Burgett asked the Board for a consensus as to how
to proceed on this issue.
Mr. Zaremba stated he would like to see a first draft come before
the Board as soon as possible, and he didn't see the issue as being that
big of a task. He stated he had a mixed opinion on the citizen
committee, indicating he was not sure it was needed at the Board level.
Mr. Zaremba stated what will happen is that there will be citizens on
both sides, and the question will be whether or not there can be any
compromise.
Mr. Wiggins noted he understood Chairman Burgett's position in
that he, too, had four or five marinas coming up in his district. If the
Board sets new guidelines that would cover the second plan, Mr. Wiggins
stated he felt the Board would wind up in court. He stated the Board
needed to get a committee set up and have them reporting to the Planning
Commission.
Mrs. Noll also indicated she tended to agree with Mr. Wiggins and
Mr. Ashe, stating she would prefer that the amendment not be made
piecemeal. She stated she would like to have a great deal of input on
this issue.
Mr. Semmes stated the Planning Commission would do whatever the
Board charged it to do. He stated the Commission would get the amendment
out in 90 days if the Board wants it. A special meeting could be held to
give the issue more time. Mr. Semmes volunteered to sit on the
committee. He stated that ideally he would like an extra 30 days.
Mr. Beil stated he would like to get something out to the Board
for its input and suggestions. If the Board wants it adjusted, that is
the Board's prerogative; and the calendar can start again.
Discussion followed regarding the establishment of a committee to
review the marina amendment that would consist of Commission members,
citizens, and marina owners.
By consensus it was agreed that the committee would be established
on May 2 at the Planning Commission meeting.
Mr. Carter then addressed the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area
Comprehensive Plan amendments, stating York County was one of the first
localities to get its plan approved back in 1993 subject to the County
incorporating provisions dealing with possible sources of ground-water
contamination and a remediation strategy; shoreline erosion and
streambed erosion; and appropriate density of docks and piers and public
and private water access facilities. He indicated these conditions were
not satisfactorily met when the Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1999,
and staff has been working to develop and coordinate acceptable
amendments before the June 30, 2001, deadline. The Planning Commission
will consider the amendments on May 2 and conduct a public hearing on
them on May 9. Mr. Carter next addressed the Yorktown Historic District
and Architectural Design Guidelines, stating the Planning Commission was
currently reviewing a proposed Yorktown Historic District Zoning
Ordinance text amendment as well as the accompanying proposed
architectural guidelines. The Planning Commission has conducted one work
session on the proposals and an information session for the benefit of
Yorktown residents, but the proposals are now on hold until the
Commission has an opportunity to clear some of the other issues on its
schedule. He stated this was another topic on which the Board of
Supervisors might wish to establish a review committee.
Discussion followed on the input received from the informational
meeting held for residents.
Mr. Zaremba noted that he and other Board members had received
calls from Mr. J. R. O'Hara, a long-time resident in Yorktown,
indicating a citizens committee meeting was scheduled for this coming
Thursday at 4:00 p.m. in the East Room of York Hall to discuss the
location of the pier and the Historic District Architectural Guidelines
as well as other resident concerns.
At this time the Board and Planning Commission discussed other
topics of concern, and future action, some of them being:
Accessory apartments
Gasoline/convenience stores in the General Business District
Development lighting
Signage
Tattoo parlors
Shortage of personnel in the Planning Division
Site plan approval timing
Route 17 improvements
Mr. Semmes asked if there was a schedule for when the Planning
Commission would be getting back to its work on the Zoning Ordinance
amendments.
Mr. Carter stated it was a top priority once it gets through the
marina and Chesapeake Bay Act amendments. He indicated that as an
interim measure there will probably be recommendations for some
housekeeping amendments. He suggested that the Planning Commission and
Board of Supervisors set a goal of considering housekeeping amendments
to the Zoning Ordinance once a year as the Board does with other policy
reviews.
Meeting Adjourned. At 7:37 p.m. Chairman Burgett declared
the meeting adjourned to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 25, 2001, in the
East Room, York Hall, for the purpose of conducting a closed meeting for
the purpose of interviewing candidates for the position of County
Administrator.
_____________________________
_______________________________
James O. McReynolds, Clerk
James S. Burgett, Chairman
York County Board of Supervisors
York County Board of Supervisors
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