Town of Buchanan Planning Commission
Meeting Minutes
Monday, February 6, 2017 at 7:00 pm
Planning Commission Members Present:
John Mays
Jim Kidd
Meade Stull
Della Hylton
Bernadette Dawson
Council Members:
Vice Mayor Jamie Manspile
Jane Kneisley
Staff:
Mary Zirkle
Harry Gleason
Chairwoman Della Hylton called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and asked for a motion to approve the Agenda as printed. The motion was made by Jim Kidd, seconded by John Mays and approved. Next Della asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the January 3rd meeting. Jim made a motion to approve these, which was seconded by John. Bernadette Dawson noted the3:00pm times shown of the meeting were incorrect. The change was noted then the minutes were approved.
Chairwoman Hylton opened the Public Hearing for the Buchanan Flea Market at 7:02 pm. Zoning Administrator Mary Zirkle provided an overview of the proposal from the staff report.
In April 2016 the Planning Commission approved the Flea Market with conditions. The current request includes three options for days of the week to be open, from most restrictive to least restrictive. Mary pointed out the applicant Tim Young and Wally Mutterspaugh would address the request with the change in hours and activities.
Tim Young stated the proposal was the same as before except he based his proposal on Jim Kidd’s suggestion they expand hours to seven days a week. He continued they would like to open the Flea Marketon Friday Saturday, Sunday and Mondays with the option to set up on Thursdays with the option down the road to go to seven days a week. They would like to open from 6:30 am until dark so they can be open when town activities such as Cruise Ins are taking place. They would like the option to host other events such as periodic car shows, antique engine and tractor shows and farm implement auctions. Della asked if tractor pulls would damage the agricultural field. Tim said this wouldbe little lawn mowers not large tractors in the area where there is currently a depression in the land from when they made bricks. Tim added they may not even have a tractor show, it was for just in case someone wanted to do this. He continued they were asking for this now so they do not have to return.
Jim stated he did not see other events listed. Mary stated she was not sure how to draft the condition to capture other events pointing out this item is listed on page one for the Planning Commission and Town Council to discuss. Della asked Tim if hehad decided where they will be moving the port-a-johns so they are not visible from Main Street. Tim stated they will be moved and screened and maybe have a roof over them so they are not visible. Tim said they may raise the lower portion of the screening to avoid flood water, however, if the water reaches that point it is a major flood. Della asked if anyone in the audience has any questions; there were no questions. Bernadette asked about people setting up on Thursday evenings instead of lining up. Tim explained people were coming from as far as Lewisburg, WV to set up and they would like to set their tables and tents up the night before to alleviate previous problems of people arriving too early in the morning and parking along Main Street. Bernadette said that sounds fine, however, clarifying the issue is to alleviate any problems from future land owners. Tim clarified stating vendors will drop off their equipment and will not spend the night on the property; they will leave and return the next day when the Flea Market opens. Chairwoman Hylton looked out to the audience and asked again if there were any public questions. There was no response from the audience. Della closed the Public Hearing at 7:14 pm.
Jim Kidd motioned to approve allowing the Flea Market to be open seven days a week while including conditions 9 through 11. Meade Stull asked for clarification on condition 10 about “vehicle equipment” that read: “New Condition #10: No vehicles, vehicle engines or vehicle equipment may be auctioned or sold or stored. This special use request does not permit or include “Vehicle Sales” or “motor vehicle dealerships”, neither of which are currently permissible in the Agriculture zoning district.”He asked if this included items like hubcaps. Tim said he was basing his proposal on what happens at Stuarts Draft and he suggested the phrasing include “automobiles”. Mary clarified the phrase as drafted was to eliminate anything not farmrelated or antiqueauto related. Jim said “no vehicles may be auctioned or stored”. Bernadette said that this needs to be clarified. Tim said car shows have swap meets and suggested that no titled vehicles may be sold; he does not want to have a used car lot. Tim said he would like a car corral; people would rent a space and place a “for sale” sign on the car as this is a private sale, not through him. Jim suggested to cut the sentence off after the word “auctioned”. Tim said that no automobiles can be sold. If he rents a space and someone places a sign in the window, he is not selling cars. Mary stated it is up to the Planning Commission. Jim said he is fine with stopping after the word “auction”. Tim said if there is an auction they will not sell cars. Tim suggested no automobile sales and auctions, Jims suggested stating “cars and trucks”. Meade suggested that equipment should not be brought in more than two days prior to an auction.
Mary asked the group if they settled on how many days the applicant may be open. Tim asked if they can be open seven days a week. After discussion the group agreed that auction equipment may be brought in more than two days before an auction and must be removed no later than two days following an auction. Vice Mayor Jamie Manspile spoke up from the audience and said farm equipment will take several days to set up.
Della suggested the group vote on each item in conditions one by one. Jim motioned to be open 7 days a week, which was seconded by John Mays and approved. Next Della brought up hours of operation from 6:30 am until dark. Bernadette pointed out this was already covered. Next Della brought up the condition for set up for an auction. Meade said that the term should be clarified to read “no more than two days”. Tim said he wants all items removed by Sunday. Bernadette motioned that equipment may be brought in for auctions three days before auction and removed no later than three days after auction. The group voted and approved the motion. Tim told the group that auctions would only take place once a month or every two months. They would take place on Saturdays while the Flea Market is going on. Della brought up condition 10 and read the proposal. Meade suggested that “automobiles may be stored or sold”. Jim motioned that cars or trucks may not be auctioned. Meade seconded the motion and it passed. Next Della read condition 11 with Bernadette making a motion that farm equipment may be brought three days in advance of the auction and must be removed by three days following the auction. John seconded the motion and it passed. Della thanked everyone for their work on this and wished Tim and Wally luck with their endeavors.
At 7:45 pm Della asked if anyone in the audience wanted to bring anything up to the Planning Commission. Frank Smusz resident of20th Street stated that a Farm Use vehicle has been parked for several weeks along the street in his subdivision and said it needs to be moved. Jim said he had looked into the situation and believed the vehicle may be parked in the right of way; he thought that vehicles had to be repaired in the back yard or in a garage. Mr. Smusz stated that the family has enclosed their garage so it can no longer be usedfor vehicles at 53 20th Street. He wants to know why they cannot park in the garage. Next Mr. Smusz complained about a property owner parking vehicles on Newtown Road on their property and he thinks they should have to move it so he can see around the corner as he drives. Mary said she will have VDOT look into the situation. Next Mr. Smusz asked what keeps this kid [53 20th St.] from driving the vehicle for non-farm use. Mary pointed out this is a Sheriff’s Department requirement. Mr. Smusz said there are subdivision restrictions and he does not think he should be responsible for filing a civil case. Bernadette asked if the town has any regulations for this and Mary confirmed there is not. Jim moved the group should address vehicle repair behind the homes or in garages. Councilwoman Jane Kneisley said Boyd Street suffers similar problems with unsightly issues including abandoned cars adding that this is a problem throughout Town and encourages the Planning Commission to address this issue and forward it to Town Council. Jim asked Mary to pull something together to address this issue. Mary said she has been investigating inoperable vehicles as well as nuisance problems. Mary followed that the Town and County do not have codes to regulate this problem, only if a person dumps garbage on another person’s property. Della asked Mary to put these items on the Marchmeeting agenda. Mary said that inoperable vehicles is easier, however, nuisance items are trickier.
Mr. Smusz said he asked VDOT to place a stop sign at the intersection of Newtown Road and Spottswood and is disappointed that it was placed on Spottswood. Della asked Mary to investigate why the sign was placed where it is.
Della asked if there were any additional items. Vice Mayor Jamie Manspile said the Town needs to address derelict houses. Bernadette said this will be addressed in the maintenance ordinances. Bernadette pointed out the group discussed this item a few months ago when they talked about Christmas in April. Jamie said that there are several problem homes along the entrance corridor. Della asked if there were any additional comments.With no comments, the group moved on to the Comprehensive Plan.
Mary moved to the draft chapters from the Green Infrastructure Center addressing Natural Resources (Chapter 5) and Recreation and Tourism (Chapter 10). The documents show the work of the University of Virginia students. They may be used to guide the Commission’s goals and action strategies for making these things happen in the future.
Moving to Chapter 5 Mary asked if this was the amount of material they expected, too much or too little. Jim said there is a lot of good information but the presentation weakens the information. Jim asked about adding a good drainage map and how the rate of water for wells was derived. Mary told them some of the information comes from the Health Department. Jim thinks the paragraph about ground water recharge should be a goal then asked about the maps. Mary said she will update the flood maps. Jim feels the urban forest section does not flow. Meade looked online for the Comprehensive Plan of Fincastle and found it was much shorter than Buchanan’s, asking how much detail each chapter would go into. Mary pointed out that this information was more in depth due to the grant. She continued that the Commission will decide how much depth to go in, and whether they want larger chapters or summaries at the beginning and supplemental information in the back as was previously agreed to. Bernadette said she found the information quite significant and the information is important especially if someone wants to come into Buchanan for development to be aware of the impacts. Bernadette believes we need to be concerned about infiltration due to problems in the past. Jim feels the material is important but does not flow from topic to topic. Jim offered to edit the text by cutting and pasting. Della asked the group if they wish to hold off until next month to finalize this chapter. Jim asked if there are any economies of scale once the town surpasses the suggested 40% idealtree coverage. Della asked Harry how many more trees the Town needs to plant and he answered it is dependent on how the Town wishes to reach this goal. Bernadette said this information is important so that future groups have an understanding because the document is an educational document. The group agreed that should Jim wish to edit the document they supported this offer. Bernadette offered to enter the information on the computer if Jim gets her his revisions. Jim asked about the reference in the document to the town’s inadequate storm water drainage due to age and size. Meade pointed out much of the development occurred before people considered development of storm drainage systems. Della asked the group to continue reviewing this chapter during the month before the next meeting.
Mary moved on to the topic of recreation and tourism in the draft Chapter 10. Commissioners noted several grammatical errors. Several in the group commented on the importance of the entrance corridor in forming visitor’s impressions of the community to determine if they will actually venture into downtown. The group agreed the entrances need improvements to give better impressions of the community. Bernadette added that the group needs to add the recent recognition by Travel and Leisure magazine with the Fodor’s listing. Bernadette suggested that several of these items should be considered for the Town’s website. Meade said he is concerned that there is a lack of flow because the document is being written by several individuals and groups. John said the text should expand on the proximity of the Town to the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as the proximity to the new State Park at Natural Bridge; these are both important to encouraging tourism. Harry suggested the Plan should recognize the benefit of tourism to the Town’s economy because of the jobs and tax revenues generated. He also stated that activities to promote and improve tourism benefit residents throughout the Town, improvements to the gateway, improvements to downtown, and to the park all improve the quality of life for residents. Della pointed out that Mary held public meetings to gather public input when the group started the comprehensive plan. Bernadette suggested the group revisit the results from earlier meetings to establish future projects. Mary said she would forward the results.
Tim Young added that he agrees with Harry’s comments about the shops. He added the biggest complaint he hears is that there needs to be more antique shops to attract visitors because antiques and traveling on the river are the top attractions to the Town. Jim pointed out that when Fodor’s made their award notice there were more antique shops; Jane Kneisley agreed and said a few have closed. Tim added he believes that the Town’s location between two exit ramps is a great advantage to the community. Harry said that the existing comprehensive plan provides for two nodes of commercial activity – an auto-oriented district near Blue Ridge Farm Center to Dollar General with land to develop and the downtown focused on pedestrian-oriented shopping. He continued that downtown needs complementary pedestrian-oriented businesses such as the antiques, arts and restaurants. He added that visitors who travel along the Upper James River Blueway not only travel the river but they patronize the restaurants, inns and shops; the community needs to capitalize on this and enhance the pedestrian nature of downtown and stop demolishing structures for parking lots,damaging downtown’s complementary uses and marketability. Tim agreed stating that more shops are needed and that it is hard for shops to survive if they rely on local traffic only. He continued that the successful shops are niche shops and many who fail in their business efforts do so because they have a bad model. Bernadette added that individuals who wish to open a shop need to plan ahead and be ready and committed to the long haul. Tim said the local residents do not support the local businesses. Bernadette said the Town is becoming a destination, however, businesses need to be prepared to succeed offering good products, service and modernization such as accepting credit cards. John said Twin River Outfitters is a destination business and that others like Blue Ridge Farm Center are destinations. Jane added that several of the vacancies are due to the property owners so the buildings unfortunately remain vacant. Tim said he works vending businesses and that all of the towns in the region are suffering the same issues. Meade added that many people in the community work in Roanoke and shop for basics there. Bernadette suggested that the two choices are that the Town can take advantage of tourism, or, promote the shopping local and shopping local is not working because people shop for basics outside of the community. Meade said the challenge is how we could change people’s attitudes. Bernadette said we need to do it one person at a time and that is being done but it takes a long time; once it is established it will spread. Jane suggested we need to advertise Buchanan’s high quality of life to attract new residents and shoppers. Della suggested that we need to promote that Buchanan is not far to drive. Jim suggested that Buchanan needs increase its promotion as the gateway and is disappointed that the County has chosen to take this title from the Town as it promotes the exit 150 improvements. Jane pointed out that she likes the beginning steps the community has made by leasing the billboard on Main Street across the river that the beautiful images of the Town help improve that entrance and should be expanded to which Bernadette agreed.