MINUTES OF THE
September 19, 2002
Planning & Zoning Commission
Members present: John Atwood, Chairman, and member John White, Chris Brownawell,
and Linda Cheezum.
Members Absent: Dan Swann.
Staff Present: Tom Hamilton, Town Planner, Mike Kenney, Current Planner, and
Stacie Sauca, Planning Secretary.
Mr. Atwood called the meeting of the Planning &
Zoning Commission to order at 1:00 p.m. The first
item on the agenda was the approval of the August 15th minutes.
Upon motion of Mr. Brownawell, seconded by Mrs. Cheezum the Commission voted
4-0 to approve the August minutes.
The first item on the agenda was the Two Oaks PUD
application from Passyn & Passyn. Mr. Atwood explained that the Passyn’s
have withdrawn their application and will not be heard at today’s meeting.
The next item on the agenda was the Town Engineer
requesting sketch plan approval for an 18,000 square foot one-story addition
to the public works building. The property is located on the west end of Glenwood Avenue (672 Glenwood Avenue).
Mr. Gruber, Assistant Town Engineer, explained that this project includes the
expansion of the Public Works building almost doubling the size of the garage
facility. The existing facility has become cramped and they are storing various
pieces of equipment, materials, trash trucks, snow plows outside. He stated
that there would not be a need for an increased parking area. The expansion
is adding to the rear of the structure placing the buildings closer to Flood Avenue. Mr. Gruber explained
that the proposed buildings would be pre-engineered buildings which would be
constructed in two (2) phases. The landscaping requirements for the site meet
and exceed the Town of Easton’s regulations.
Storm Water Management will be provided using the existing containment. The
Commission briefly discussed the fact that this site may not be the most appropriate
site for a Public Works facility as it is located on waterfront property and
in located within the Critical Area. Mr. Gruber stated that at this time the
Town has no plans of selling the property or relocating the Public Works facility.
Upon motion of Mr. White, seconded by Mr. Brownawell the Commission voted 4-0
to approve the sketch site plan presented this date.
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September 19, 2002
The next item on the agenda was “Lakelands” Cherrywood
Development, LLC requesting PUD (Planned Unit Development) sketch subdivision
of 125 residential lots. The units are divided into 46 townhouse units, 67
villa units and 12 single family lots. This property is located on the east
side of Route 50 just south of the Police Barracks and South Beechwood subdivision.
Mr. Jim Dean, Developer for Cherrywood and Joe Stevens explained that this property
was recently annexed with an A-1 zoning classification. It was the developers
intent at the time of annexation to build a project similar to the one proposed
and the Town Council was shown a similar site plan. The project is planned
on the front portion of the site which is presently an agricultural field.
The rear portion of the site is forested and includes wetlands. The developer
plans to preserve the majority of the wooded area. Access to the project is
proposed from Route 50 however no details or design has been submitted. The
staff suggested that they work with state highway to design the connection with
Route 50 leaving adequate room to eventually construct an overpass at this location.
Kevin Shearon of McCrone representing the applicant
indicated that state highway was only requiring a right-in right-out access
with route 50 at this time. The staff recommended that the site plan should
not be approved until it was determined how much land was necessary for ultimate
Rt. 50 intersection. The access to the project is to be from the east side
collector and they have agreed to provide right-of-way and construct the road
which falls within their project. They have also reserved a right-of-way across
their site to the Police Barracks property to accommodate a connection up to
South Beechwood. The applicants indicated they would
work with the owner of the Holly’s Subdivision to obtain access to holly drive
but that the town would have to deal with the state to obtain permission to
cross the Police Barracks site and the National Guard property, this access
was suggested by the staff to provide South Beechwood residents an access to
the connector.
Mr. White stated that he was not pleased with the architecture as it was all
the same throughout the project and he would rather see a mix of architecture
types. He also wanted to see the rear building elevations as that is what will
be visible from the public streets. Mr. White also addressed the landscaping
berms along the highway frontage; he wanted the berms not be one continuous
height.
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September 19, 2002
Mr. Atwood was concerned with the traffic impacts and would like to see signalization
at the entrance. Mr. Ken Schmede with the Traffic Group explained that at this
time the State Highway has no intention
of signalizing that area. Mr. White was concerned with the backs of the units
facing the entrance road. He would like to see the site plan reconfigured so
that when entering the site you do not see the rear of the units. The Commission
was in agreement that they would like to see the elevation/architecture proposed
for the rear of the units. Mr. White also explained that he would like to see
a mix in the units adding a little more diversity to the subdivision.
The next item was from staff concerning an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance
to allow multiple flag displays. Mr. Dariel Park with Railway Market explained
that he would like to be able to display multiple flags on his store frontage.
There being no further business the meeting
was adjourned at 3:05 p.m. by motion of Mr. White, seconded by Mr. Brownawell.
Respectfully submitted,
Stacie M. Sauca
Planning Secretary