Town of Trappe, MD Planning Commission
Meeting Minutes
Planning Commission Meeting Minutes
January 12, 2005
7:30 pm.
Trappe Town Hall
The regular Planning and Zoning Commission meeting was opened
by Chairperson Edgar Harrison at 7:31 p.m. Planning Commission
members present were Mr. Bobby Quidas, Mr. Jerry Adams, Mr.
Don English, and Mr. Don Haring. Mr. Harrison asked for motion
to approve the minutes. Motion was made by Mr. Adams to
approve the minutes as presented. Motion was seconded by Mr.
English. All were in favor.
PERMITS ISSUED:
- T-01-05 - Brenda Tighe - 29375 Maple Ave. - Remove &
Replace Door
- T-02-05 - Brenda Tighe - 29375 Maple Ave. -
Demolition
- T-03-05 - C & J Partnership - 4010 Powell Ave. - Close
in Porch
PERMITS PENDING:
OLD BUSINESS:
Commercial Design Standards:
Mr. Hall said that we have reformatted the Commercial Design
Standards to fit our Zoning Ordinance. Mr. Hall pointed out
that there were basically two main sections: 39.02 general
commercial design standards provisions that anyone will have
to follow, and 39.03 that are the commercial design standards
we will use for the highway commercial mixed use and the
planned regional commercial. Mr. Hall asked the board if
they would look these over for the next meeting and decide
which ones would apply to everybody and which ones needed to
apply to just highway mixed use and planned regional
commercial.
The first part 39.02 is for everybody and I would like for
you to decide if there is anything in this section in general
that would not apply to everyone. Chairperson Harrison said
just remember that if it applies to everybody it will include
the C-2 and Downtown revitalization.
Chairperson Harrison said these are here for the public to
review. Mr. Adams said there will be a public hearing with
the Council so that the public can be involved.
State Highway Administration Feedback:
Chairperson Harrison stated that the State Highway
Administration staff was here at our December meeting talking
to us about potential interchanges. Mr. Hall said that Mr.
Thompson gave the presentation at the last meeting and he
is requesting some answers from us. Mr. Hall stated that they
are very anxious to hear from us on making some decisions.
Mr. Harrison said that we are not in any hurry and this is
a very sensitive issue. Mr. Hall stated that after getting
some legal advice and talking with Mr. Harrison that he wanted
to be very careful how to respond and on our clock.
Mr. Harrison felt that we needed some input from the public over
the next few months before we commit ourselves to something
of this magnitude. Mr. Haring was wondering if this had
something to do with our new development and on our request
for a second traffic light, could this be that they are trying
to get the developer to pay for this and are they just playing
politics with the situation. If so we should work on our
schedule. Mr. Harrison said that 20 million dollars is a lot
of money to put out for this. Mr. Hall felt this might just
be their method of getting everyone to the beach quicker not
anything to do with the town's best interest.
Attorney Booth felt that we have to be very careful with how
we respond. I also agree with Mr. Haring that this is not
a coincidence nor are they looking out for the town's best
interest, but it does appear that they are just trying to
speed along the beach traffic and possibly using the builder
to help pay for it. Our response should be that this is
something we will be looking into in the future; it is not
a priority for us now.
Mr. Harrison said it is a long range project anyway and he
felt that we needed some public response over the next few
months before we commit ourselves to something of this
magnitude. Mr. Adams asked if it should not be considered in
context with our next Comprehensive Plan and consider it then.
NEW BUSINESS:
Brian Schmidt - Floyd McCracken Property:
Mr. Hall presented to the Board members a brief history of the
McCracken property on 4278 Main Street and introduced the
perspective buyer of the lot Mr. Brian Schmidt. Mr. Hall
stated that we are here tonight for the proposal of a new line
of division next to the existing house and create another lot
for the Schmidt family to purchase and build a home on it.
This seemed like a simple request but there became an issue
about the availability of a sewer line. The staff report shows
all the issues that have come up, most requests are normal
requests with the exception of the sewer problem. I have
asked our wastewater superintendent Ms. Jackie Naylor for help
in identifying the sewer issues. Mr. Hall said that the
creation of the lot is still doable, once the sewer issue
has been resolved. A new note would need to be added to the
plat that states the lot is not buildable until the sewer
issue is resolved at the owner's expense.
Ms. Naylor described to the board the problem that we have
with the sewer line. Mr. Chase's house is the last house on
the main sewer line and she then described where we went with
the line as much as she possibly could since there were not
records showing the lines. The McCracken's are going to have
to get an easement if they sell this lot so that the homeowner
can run the line across the property. There is a gravity
problem that we may need a small grinder pump and the new
owners will have to install and pay to have the sewer lines
installed and taken care of and maintained by them. Everything
seems to be doable. Ms. Naylor said that the town will need
to make a decision whether or not they will take the
responsibility for this.
Mr. Harrison said that we will have to discuss this at the
town level. Ms. Naylor continued to describe to the best of
her knowledge just what would be needed, what is there now
and just how we would propose to fix the problem. The
discussion continued on what would be the best and cheapest
way to handle the situation and would the town accept
responsibility to this point or would the buyer take care of
the lateral, sharing the expense with the owner of the
property. Mr. Harrison asked how big is the lateral and Ms.
Naylor answered that it is a 4" lateral made of plastic.
Mr. Hall said that you have an option of creating a lot and
attaching a note stating the lot is not going to be issued a
building permit until the sewer issue is connected and paid
for by the applicant. That note would go on the plat and we
could approve the lot contingent upon those comments and the
additional lot added to create the lot. They would have to
keep our wastewater superintendent informed about what they
are planning to do about correcting the problem, and we could
approve the lot and work out the way it should be. Mr.
Harrison said lets work on this and bring it back next week
to the meeting. Mr. Schmidt stated that he had already talked
to Bryan Brothers to find out what needed to be done and he
was still willing along with the McCracken's to go ahead.
Attorney Booth stated that the issue is whether or not the
Planning Commission wants to create the lot and if so before
a permit can be issued there should be a note attached to the
plat that the property owner will have to have the sewer
installed and satisfied by the town before a permit issued.
This would also cover the town in case someone else bought
the property. The engineering would have to be resolved by
the McCracken's. Attorney Booth also asked are you willing
to approve subdivision plat with the addition of a legend.
Mr. Harrison asked how the Board felt about it.
Motion was made by Don Haring to approve the single lot
subdivision and to accept that the applicant will need to
connect the new residence to the Town Sewer and Water lines and
pay the required connection fees, along with the notes that
were included in the staff report. The staff report is
included in the minutes.
Motion was seconded by Mr. Adams.
Mr. Harrison said we have a motion to approve the single lot
subdivision.
All were in favor with an aye.
Ms. Brenda Tighe - Old Trappe Store Main Street:
Chairperson Harrison asked if Ms. Tighe was ready for her
presentation:
Mr. Hall began for Ms. Tighe by stating that she was going to
converting the Trappe Store into a restaurant and other uses.
Ms. Tighe then presented her plans for the renovation of the
store stating that she has purchased the property and made a
revision for the property to clean up the corner and taken
Mr. Dan Adams aboard as contractor. Ms. Tighe stated that she
will be putting a new roof, siding, windows and shutters on
the back building and has already torn off the damaged back
part of the little cottage in the front.
Ms. Tighe also stated that she did not want to demolish the
store but the condition of the store was so bad that it needed
to be torn down. Rebuild exactly as it is, I love the floor
plan just as it is. There will also be approximately 3
apartments upstairs. Mr. Hall had stated that he would like
for Ms. Tighe to have an architect to certify that the store
was not habitable. Ms. Tighe would like to have a café,
deli, ice cream, carryout and grocery store. Mr. Hall has
been working on the parking spaces.
Mr. Hall discussed the back building and the uses of the
cottage in the front.
Ms. Tighe explained that she would like to have the store
called "Mitchum's Market Place" with multi dealers in the
back building, not sure how many, could be as many as five,
with maybe some local artist and other stores such as
Annapolis Wood Company etc. and a small produce market in
the little cottage.
Mr. Hall continued to explain the parking situation and how
it applied to the new design standards and how many parking
spaces were required. The discussion then continued on the
plans for parking, drip edges, vegetation area on the side
of the cottage and other outside issues. The parking problem
seemed to be discussed mainly with issues to be encouraged
by using multi use site for parking and being able to have
on street parking such as Robert Morris Inn, Harry's in
Greensboro and the Town Hall were mentioned areas as examples
of very little parking spaces.
Attorney Booth said that she and Mr. Thompson had an idea
that was like what St. Michaels has done, but this would
have to be addressed through legislation. We could initiate
having a fee in lieu of parking like the fee in lieu for
open space and use the money to purchase an area for town
parking.
Mr. Jerry Adams asked since this was a restaurant before an
antique shop why there was a parking issue the store had been
a restaurant before and the parking spaces should already be
grandfathered in. It seems that she is really not adding an
area but taking away a little of the area. Everyone agreed.
Ms. Tighe continued to tell of the elevation of the roof on
the restaurant where the doors will be and the design. She
explained that she would like to go back to the same style.
Attorney Booth said that if we wanted to take some action
she saw no problem since Ms. Tighe was keeping one building
and replacing in same footprint another building, I see no
issues. To start she needs a lot line revision, building
permit and come back with some architectural drawings.
Mr. English encouraged Ms. Tighe to complete the single lot
subdivision before she could be issued a building permit for
the new restaurant. She will also need to submit some design
renderings to the Planning Commission as required by the
Village Overlay Zone.
Ms. Tighe had some concerns over what was happening on the
other side of the street. Since we are fixing up this side
what is going on there, several of us witnessed something
going on that I felt very uncomfortable about seeing. I
would like to be able to have something nice to look at
across the street from the restaurant.
There was a short discussion on the subject and attorney
Booth suggested that this was a Council discussion and they
were already aware of the situation and they were working on
it now.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 p.m. to go into the work
session.
Announcements:
- January 17th Town office closed for Martin Luther
King Day
- January 19th Planning Meeting
- January 22nd Trappe Fire Company Dinner - Meatloaf -
5:00 p.m. till
- January 28th Special trash pickup & Christmas tree
pickup
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
____________________
Joedy Cecil Town Clerk
___________________
Approved: Edgar Harrison
Chairperson
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