January 20, 2010 | Planning and Zoning Meeting Minutes
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Council Meetings
Council Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at the meeting room behind St. Johns Church, 8. N. Second St. These public meetings start at 7:00 PM. The public is encouraged to attend. Please contact the Town Office at least two (2) weeks prior to a Council Meeting if you would like to get a topic on the agenda.
Planning and Zoning
Regularly scheduled Woodsboro Planning & Zoning Meetings are held on the first Monday each month at the meeting room behind St. Johns Church, 8. N. Second St. The public is welcome to attend these meetings, which start at 6:00 PM.
Woodsboro Planning & Zoning Meetings are held on the first Monday of the month as needed at 6:00 PM at the meeting room behind St. Johns Church, 8. N. Second St. Please contact the town office to be added to the agenda one (1) month prior to the meeting if you have business to discuss. If there are no topics brought forth to be placed on the agenda 1 month before this meeting, the committee will not meet that month.
Town Offices:
Corporation of Woodsboro
Mary E Rice | Town Clerk
Council Drive
P.O. Box 88
Woodsboro
MD,
21798
Phone:
(301) 898-3800
Meeting Minutes
Woodsboro, Maryland
January 20, 2010
Present: Chairman – Dan Caywood, Vice-Chairman – Joe Zentner, Town Commissioner – Scott Brakebill, Members – Hartwood Cornell and Brian Laurich, Member Alternate – Jay Wolfe and Town Burgess – Gary Smith
Guests: P&Z County Liaison – Denis Superczynski (Frederick County Planning Dept.)
Chairman Caywood opened the meeting at 7:05PM. There were no Meeting Minutes from December 2009 to review so Denis Superczynski was asked to present his recommendations for text amendments to the Signage Ordinance for the Central Business District (CBD).
Mr. Superczynski indicated that the suggested amendments are mainly in response to the Trout’s Restaurant request for a new sign. Denis walked the P&Z Committee members through the suggested text changes. There was some concern voiced over maybe causing unintended issues with existing signage already in place within the Town; Trout’s Market, WVFD, WNMRC and possibly others. Burgess Smith suggested that the Town’s Code Enforcement Officer check through town and report back to P&Z in February, with a list of any possibly affected signs. Gary will notify the Code Enforcement Officer of this request. Chairman Caywood suggested that we add a note to C, 9), c. to include Special Exception approval. Denis will try to add the note but still leave specifics on compliance / non-compliance. Any other feedback from the Committee is to be forwarded to Denis before the next P&Z meeting.
Mr. Superczynski reviewed a prepared spreadsheet on Fee Schedules for the Town of Woodsboro. The sheet took each ‘Type’ of fee and compared the ‘Current’ fees to ‘Typical’ fees and ‘Recommended’ fees. Denis also left sample copies of Fee Schedules from other Municipalities. Chairman Caywood said he had ideas on fee amounts for each type but wasn’t sure about Site Plan Review costs. Commissioner Brakebill suggested that we consider setting Site Plan Review costs based on project size; like one (1) house vs. two (2) or more homes. Scott also said that he thought the Special Exception / Use fee and requirements should be reviewed so to not catch 21st century home-based businesses in a high fee situation.
Chairman Caywood and Mr. Superczynski raised questions about the issuance of Zoning Certificates; specifically Zoning Certificates with and without Site Plan requirements. Currently; the Town Administrator, Mary Rice, issues the Zoning Certificates based on use and existing zoning and they are also reviewed by Denis at the County level. Commissioner Brakebill suggested that we consider a possible scaled approach with criteria for; Zoning Certificate for No Site Plan, Minor Review and Site Plan Full Review. Jay Wolfe suggested creating a mechanism to help Mary (Town) decide and pre-process the Zoning Certificate. Mr. Superczynski said to use the P&Z Chairman or other assigned representative, with a list of defined situations for Mary and others to reference. Denis will look at adding language to the Zoning Administration section to help define.
Water Resources Element (WRE) and Municipal Growth Element (MGE) amendments to the Woodsboro Comprehensive Plan; Mr. Superczynski is still working on a draft for P&Z to review for recommendation. Commissioner Brakebill asked Denis; what if April deadline is not met? Denis indicated that there is no apparent compliance oversight but that Woodsboro may not be able to re-zone until it was in compliance. Scott said that we should issue a good faith letter or conversation to the State of Maryland that Woodsboro is working on compliance. Denis said that a 60-day review process would initiate a cover letter from him on behalf of the Town before the April deadline. Denis stated that he is using an example from a similar town on the Eastern Shore, Millington, MD, as a draft template. He estimates that the draft will be ready by the next P&Z meeting, scheduled for 2/10/10. He also explained the timeline through April 10, 2010.
Commissioner Brakebill asked about the approved Frederick County Forest Restoration Ordinance (FRO) and whether Woodsboro needed to adopt it into its Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Superczynski said that P&Z should make a recommendation to the Town Council for adoption and that he would put it on as an agenda item for the 2/10/10 P&Z meeting.
Mr. Superczynski informed the committee members that Planning and Zoning Commissioners are now required by the State of Maryland to go through training. Denis will send a link to all members, with information on this new requirement. He also stated that it’s due to appointments by Municipalities to individuals with no prior training or knowledge of Planning and Zoning.
There being no further business, a motion to adjourn the meeting passed 5 – 0 at 9:00PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Scott Brakebill
Town Commissioner and
Council Liaison to Planning & Zoning
