1 HYDE PARK 2 TOWN PLANNING COMMISSION 3 Virtual meeting 4 MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES 5 April 12, 2021 6 All minutes are draft until approved by the Planning Commission, please check future minutes for approval of these minutes. Meetings may be videotaped; recordings are held by Green Mountain Access Television. GMATV info: PO Box 581, Hyde Park, 05655; [email protected] or 802-851-1592 7 8 Members Virtual: Bob Malbon, Chair; Eric Williams, Vice-Chair; Vicki Emerson, Chris Peel, Richard 9 Pearson, Brian Jones 10 Members Absent: One Vacancy 11 Others Virtual: Ron Rodjenski, Town Administrator; Seth Jensen, LCPC; Milford Cushman, Friends 12 of Green River Reservoir State Park; Alec Jones, LCPC; GMAVT did not videotape 13 this meeting. 14 Bob opened the meeting at 6:04 p.m.

15 1. Welcome & Changes to the Agenda. Welcome to new member Chris Peel and Richard Pearson 16 with the Commission increasing from five to seven members this year. 17 2. Annual Organizational Meeting – Nominate Chair & Vice-Chair and Clerk. Vicki nominated Ron as 18 Clerk seconded by Eric, without objection, so nominated. Bob asked for nomination for Chair. Brian 19 nominated Bob for Chair, seconded by Vicki, without objection, so nominated. Bob noting that he is 20 agreeing to at least one more term as Chair. Brian nominated Eric as Vice-Chair, seconded by Vicki, 21 without objection, so nominated.

22 3. MPG21 – Traffic data collection methodology – Alec Jones, Staff Planner at LCPC reviewed his 23 traffic survey parking memo, and data collection proposal, including counts on Green River Dam Road 24 on 3 days of the week, an online survey and possible handouts to visitors. Vicki asked about the types 25 of questions. Seth stated that questions could be about what the intended park use is during their 26 stay. Eric asked what the study is all about and Seth stated that the MPG21 was to address natural 27 resource access in Cambridge and Hyde Park. Eric stated that the traffic increases maintenance costs 28 on Hyde Park taxpayers and Seth confirmed that was one of the issues that data was being collected 29 for to help address the impact. Vicki asked about the timing of the Garfield Rd culvert replacement and 30 Ron stated that information from MPG21 would support the federal grant BRIC application for a 31 construction project that could be constructed 5 to 10 years from now, most likely closer to 10 years. 32 Rich offered that traffic data should be collected during busy times and offered to help fine tune survey 33 questions. Rich stated that the park’s staff can be asked to review parking practices and impact on 34 wildlife is a factor if any parking area expansion is considered. Milford stated that there are 75 parking 35 spaces in the three existing on-site parking areas. Milford suggested that a question could be; do you 36 know why the park is full, and thee study could propose options for informing the public when the lot 37 is closed. Milford stated that park staff is working on making sure site reservations for camp sites come 38 with a reserved parking space. Milford stated that another question could be asking day users to 39 register to visit, which is not done now. Eric suggested asked visitors where they are lodging as that 40 would help determine economic impact on the community. Ron suggested capturing both spikes in 41 attendance and lower volume days is important and Milford suggested adding the type of weather 42 when counts are taken, noting very few visit during poor weather. Seth noted that the traffic counts 43 are planned to be set up for June and July and the weekend counts need volunteer support. Bob and 44 Rich volunteered to help with the weekend counts/surveys. Traffic count locations were reviewed, and 45 a fourth location may be possible on Cleveland Corners Rd east of Davis Hill Road. Work will continue 46 developing the survey, finding volunteers, and setting a schedule for counts. Bob noted that the project 47 will be added to the Commission’s May agenda.

Hyde Park Town Planning Commission Minutes 04/12/2021 Page 1 of 2 1 4. Zoning Regulation Revisions 2021 – Work on Green River Reservoir Viewshed (GRRV) Overlay. 2 Milford provided an overview on the GRRV overlay noting that he has a long-term interest in ensuring 3 that the permitting for their project is not onerous to the town or landowners and offered his services 4 to assist in the bylaw review. Milford stated he was willing to look at existing map and regulations and 5 how conditional use or permitted use reviews are figured into the GRRV Overlay. Milford noted that 6 the GRRV Overlay was adopted with significant community input and he feels it is one of the most 7 important zoning provisions for that part of the town. Ron suggested the overlay map needs to be 8 updated and the technical requirements should be reviewed by commissioners to see if the text is 9 clear and makes sense. Seth suggested LiDAR mapping is available now, as compared to the original 10 overlay map, so the overlay’s jurisdictional boundaries can be more easily updated. Alec will check on 11 the status of mapping capabilities. Milford stated that he would provide old map data to start the 12 research for new mapping. Ron noted that the State of Vermont is a major landowner within the GRRV 13 Overlay and is not exempt from the overlay. The Commission thanked Milford, Seth and Alec for 14 attending.

15 5. Minutes – Motion by Eric to approve the 03/22/2021, as written. Seconded by Vicki. So voted.

16 6. Other Business – Eric Williams reported that if firewood processing is allowed on a parcel, then the 17 operator should be considerate of neighbors due to the noise impacts. Ron noted that firewood 18 processing is allowed in most zoning districts with a permit, which should allow for consideration of 19 noise impacts, but noise travels quite far in calm weather conditions. More work can be done on noise 20 impacts in the on-going zoning amendment review process. Rich introduced himself as a property 21 owner for 6 years and worked on traffic engineering with a company that presented information to 22 planning boards and had worked with planning boards. Chris Peel stated he has been in VT for 3 years 23 and worked in commercial architecture with limited experience in planning and zoning but interested 24 in learning more, and he is now attending UVM for mechanical engineering.

25 7. Adjourn - Motion by Vicki to adjourn, seconded by Eric, so voted at 7:25 p.m. 26 27 Respectfully submitted by Ron Rodjenski

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