 Oh, Mr. Everybody's here. 630 call the meeting to order. Welcome to our meeting of the Winooski DRB. We've got a pretty light agenda tonight. So hopefully we won't be here super late. I'm Kevin Lumpkin. I'm the chair of the DRB. We have the full board plus two alternates here tonight. Vice chair Matt Basowitz, Secretary Harlan Miller members, David Weisberger, Aaron Gayette, Elsie Goodrich and Caitlin Hayes are all with us tonight. First item on the agenda is changes to the agenda. Anybody have any changes to the agenda. Seeing none. Next item on the agenda is public comment. Every public meeting in Vermont is required to have a public comment section. It's for raising concerns, aside from what's on the normal agenda, things you want us as the DRB to know. Never had a public comment before, but tonight could be the first one. Anybody want to make a public comment. Doug Weston's here. We can't promote him, can we? Our former chair, Doug Weston is in the attendees list. That's exciting. That's a different Doug, actually. Oh, okay. Johnson was our former chair. Never mind. No public comment. We're going to move on to approve previous meeting minutes. They are posted online through the agenda center. Feel free to look at them. Any comments, corrections, concerns with the former meeting minutes. I'm going to entertain a motion to approve them. Motion by David second by Harland all in favor signify by raising your hand or raising your virtual hand with a little moat. All opposed. All abstaining. Matt abstaining because he wasn't here. It looks like the motion carries with one abstention. The previous meeting minutes are approved. We have a public hearing about our only substantive agenda item for the evening, which is a public hearing for conditional use slash dimensional waiver request at 113 North Street. I believe we have some applicants here. Do we only have applicants here? Do we also have a joiner slash neighbors. So the applicant is here. Sarah Roberts is here and Chantal is an adjacent property owner who is here as well. I'm not sure whether they're interested in speaking or just listening, but they will. If you are interested in speaking for the members of the public that are here, you can use the raise hand feature or indicate in the chat that you're interested in providing comments and we can unmute you at the appropriate time. But while Sarah is coming over, I can just do a quick introduction here on the on the project. I'm going to go up as a conditional use and dimensional waiver. The reason it shows up as a conditional use is because this is a pre existing non conforming lot and also a pre existing non conforming structure. And as such a dimensional waiver can be granted, but it has to go through the conditional use process. I have before you a memo from me outlining both the conditional use and the standards that this project. The standard of the conditional use for this project and then also a waiver memo outlined outlining the standards of the waiver. So this is a property located at 113 North Street. It is in our residential a zoning district which has a minimum lot size of 75 feet of frontage 100 feet of depth and 10,000 square feet of area. So this property is about feet wide, about 125 feet deep and about 775 hundred square feet so it's, it is a non conforming lot in that regard. The setbacks for this property is are also based on the residential a zoning district it's 15 feet for the side and rear yards and 20 feet for the yards back it has a 40% lot coverage maximum. The standards the house that's already developed on the property is within those side yard setbacks so it's a non conforming structure as well, which is what's necessitating the waiver. The proposal as is that was provided by the applicant included in the agenda packet tonight is basically, and I'll let Sarah talk here as well but in essence what we have as an existing house. The access currently is through the front door on the house the side of the house that fronts on the North Street. So they're looking to install a another door on the side and also to basically put a porch a roof over that doorway and some stairs to get to the door. That new area will will further encroach into the side yard setback, but will still remain a little over 10 feet from the property line. So this is consistent with the residential be in residential C zoning districts, which are just south of this property and just to the west of this property. So I provided a zoning map to show kind of the mix of zoning districts in this area for the context of whether it's consistent with adjacent properties and a similar similar context so that's what you have before you tonight is just the encroachment into that side yard setback for the purpose of constructing this, this porch and side door so with that I will end my introduction and allow the applicant to as well. Can I just just jump in before you start just know that by speaking you are swearing or affirming that what you say is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth under the pains of penalties perjury normally do a swearing in thing if we were in person but we don't do that over zoom it's just just to be clear to do it this way. That applies to any adjoiners slash neighbors who want to speak as well, just so everyone knows, we normally allow the applicant to present their project and then anyone else who is present who wants to make comments raise concerns, feel free to type in the chat raise your hand, let us know that you'd like to do that and we'll elevate you as a presenter so you're here with us in this little Brady bunch format and we'll hear from you then. So, take it away. Thank you. So I think that Eric's description was pretty accurate. We want to have our home have two ways that we can enter and exit so an additional entrance beyond what we have right now which is the front door. We are hoping to have this through the side door where which will connect the driveway to the home, and the only portion that will extend beyond the footprint of the house that is there currently is a porch, just so that we can get in the door, basically, that'll be covered so that to protect from snow and weather. Well, it'll kind of currently there's a driveway, and then an area of grass and then the side of the house so the porch will will cover a small area of the of the grass. Is there anything something about a new walkway as well for a new walkway. This is Chris, by the way, Chris Ramos, no plans for a new walkway there will be steps going up to the landing that goes to the door from both the both ends of the that porch landing. But no additional walkway it'll sort of just be connected to the existing driveway is the plan. The project will actually eliminate an existing walkway based on the provided. So it'll just be there. There's currently a walkway from the sidewalk at North, North Street and then one off the driveway that leads to the front door. The site plan shows that dry the walkway from the driveway being removed, and also a section of pavement in the back being removed so while the property exceeds the, the maximum lot coverage currently by about 5%. This will actually, they will be adding some new areas but they will be reducing the square footage in other areas to bring the to to bring the lot coverage down below what it currently is so they will be reducing that level of non conformity as well. So we've got a fence along the south side neck just to the south of the driveway. We do we've got a I think a three foot chain link fence. Actually it's not chain link and then part chain link and then part three foot. Yeah, with fence. And I believe that is much of us on our property with neighbors property or if it's right in between on the property line. So I just started to jump in. I can, I have every all the agenda materials I can bring up on my screen as well if you want to see any of those specifically. Just take I'm just seeing the fence on the diagrams wanted to ask about it. Other questions from folks on the DRB mute myself. Did you consider any other locations for the second entry. I see that the driveway seems to curve around the back of the house. Would it have been feasible to put something at the back there. The initial consideration was through the back of the house. As far as the interior room layout of the house with with the help from an architect, considering a couple of options. The side proved to be just a lot more practical for working it into an actual mud room area as opposed to completely rearranging a bathroom in a bedroom where it's carpeted in the back, working it through the side where there's already kind of a floor of wood and already a room that's sort of movable more easily movable than through the back, but we did consider both those options. So it's sort of the interior of the house layout kind of dictated the side is being more practical, as well as this connection to the driveway that's already there. Great. Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions from folks on the DRB. All right, I think we've exhausted all of our questions seems pretty straightforward you explained it well. So what I propose to do is will put you back down to an attendee and anyone who is present who wants to comment or ask a question or anything just let us know by raising your hand, or commenting in the chat. Okay, can you take care of that swap. Thanks for your background very festive. Yep, we'll, we'll take care of that. Actually, I've got Paul, Paul Starn, the communications coordinator for the city is here as well, taking care of the background stuff. Excellent. Paul, in the background, taking care of the background and in the background. So are we seeing any comments from our two observers Chantal and Douglas. Chantal has been given the ability to unmute and looks like has unmuted so I don't know if there's any comments specifically from Chantal. No, I don't have any issues. Okay, just wanted to make sure that you didn't want to say anything and we're preventing you from doing that so thank you very much. We muted you again. And Mr Western any comments questions concerns. Think and know doesn't appear to have any, any comments and use the chat or the raise hand function. If you want to be recognized. Oh, I see a raise hand. He has raised his hand. Now I was just really wanted to listen in on somebody else's application for a zoning permit, it's not a permit, you know, the conditional use thing. You know, I've been fighting my George Street neighbor here for a while, and we're in court right now but I'm just wondering why he needs a conditional use for a. Is it because he's in the RA zone that they need a conditional use to do this I mean it seems to be plenty of side yard to do this without even going through the conditional use thing. I would defer to Eric Dan so that my, my understanding is that it's something to do with the setbacks in this particular part of town. But that that's something that I would encourage you to follow up with Eric on kind of one on one, you know, Eric's the expert on the code, and we're more, you know, once it gets to us. It's already been determined that something we need to do like a conditional use, but that initial determination of whether it requires a conditional use or not that's more Eric's expertise, and Eric's available to you all the time. I would encourage you to follow up directly but Eric, do you have a quick answer to that. Yeah, so this, I think the, well, the quick ish answer is that it's a pre existing non conforming lot, because the house is already built in the existing setbacks and to further expand that non conformity. So what I think is it's identified as a conditional use for the purposes of granting the waiver, and that is outlined in section 4.9 of our regulations. So it's going through the conditional use solely for the purpose of being able to grant the waiver. If it wasn't non conforming it would be an administrative approval for a waiver grant like this or not. No, so the waiver any any waiver is requires DRB approval, any dimensional waiver requires that so cause it's both a non conforming structure in the setbacks and because further encroaching into the side yard setback that exists is why it's it's it requires the waiver. And that's also a function of it being in the residential a zoning district with the 15 foot side yard setback. If this was in the residential be or residential see the side yard setbacks are only 10 feet. Therefore this would not be non conforming structure and the, the addition of the porch would be approved administratively because it's still, it's, it's still is outside of that it's still more than 10 feet away from the property boundary. So it's like a mega waiver request because we've got multiple dimensions of non conformity so it's a normal waiver analysis plus the conditional use factors. That's correct. Okay, I'm just trying to understand as much as I can about all this, this whole process. I learned something I think every meeting so you're you're learning along with us and we certainly appreciate you listening in and wish you well and in your continued battles in the judiciary. Well, let's just hope for the best on my side anyway. Well, on behalf of the legal profession. We certainly thank you for donating well yes. Right. I think we've, we've gone through the, the, the normal aspects of our meeting we've heard from the applicants we've heard from any other folks. Anybody on the DRB have anything else on this topic before we move on to the rest of our agenda and enter deliberative session. And as well, I, unless there's other comments I also want to do the, the, the part of the meeting that you enjoy the most Kevin and reading the list of exhibits into the record for the. Can you just do that while we're in deliberative session. Well but then nobody hears what's in the what will be the exhibits. Do I still have to initial them all if you read them into the record. You still have to initial them all right. There should be a fairly quick list though. So tonight for our exhibits as exhibit a we have the zoning application including the site plan architectural elevations and the narrative for the waiver exhibit B is the notice of the public hearing that was posted at the property exhibit sees photos of said property posting exhibit D is the public hearing notice that was published in the paper. Exhibit E is proof of that publication exhibit F is the memo that was sent to the Jason property owners exhibit G is the list of the property owners receiving the notification of the waiver exhibit H is the agenda for tonight's meeting exhibit I is the the memo from me to you all on the waiver request exhibit J is the memo from me to you all on the conditional use standards. Exhibit K is the zoning map that was included exhibit L is the aerial imagery map that was included an exhibit M will be the sign-in sheet from tonight's meeting. That is all. Excellent, moving on to agenda item six city updates. What's new. No specific updates at this time. City Council is in the budgeting process. So that's that's taking up a lot of our time right now, but nothing significant to report at this point. Awesome. Any other business. As of right now our next meeting is scheduled for January 21 in 2021. The deadline to get on that agenda is next Wednesday. So I have not received anything to date. And the reason it's Wednesday is because city hall will have different hours on Thursday will be I think we're only open half day next Thursday and then we're closed on next Friday so to make the the cutoff is next Wednesday. Great. Hopefully have something because that day's a palindrome we've got to meet and talk about that one to one to one. So, I think at this point for the benefit of the folks who are watching what we normally do now is we adjourn the public portion of our meeting. We have a different secret zoom link that we're all going to get on to enter the deliberative session which is closed to the public. And then we issue our decision in writing. We have a summary deadline of 45 days, we normally beat that by a couple weeks, and Eric will let the applicant and I think all adjoiners know of that decision. That's correct. Excellent. Anybody that participated in the meeting. Great. I would entertain a motion to adjourn. All right, see a motion by Caitlin in seconds. Second by Harlan slash Matt. All in favor. Please raise your hand looks unanimous we are adjourned thank you very much everyone for 21 minute meeting. See you on deliberative session. All right. Yep, see you all soon.