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Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting - August 3, 2021

Planning Commission — Tuesday, August 3, 2021
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionPlanning Commission
DateTuesday, August 3, 2021
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

So a regular meeting of the Blacksburg Planning Commission.

0:09

Today's Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021.

0:12

Regular meetings of the Blacksburg Planning Commission are held here on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 30 p.m.

0:19

Here is Roger Headspath Chambers, little Blacksburg Municipal Building at 300 South Main Street.

0:26

Citizens may address the planning commission during specified times on the agenda and are requested to adhere to the following.

0:32

Please speak at the podium, state your name and address.

0:35

Direct comments only to the commission.

0:38

Please limit speaking time to a maximum of three minutes.

0:41

Speak only once during a specific hearing or comment period.

0:47

As we have no public at the moment, we'll go down to uh calling the meeting to order.

0:56

Let's call this meeting in order.

0:57

Can we have a roll call, please?

0:59

Mr.

1:00

Davis.

1:00

Here.

1:01

Mr.

1:01

Ford.

1:01

Here.

1:02

Mr.

1:02

Irvine.

1:02

Here.

1:03

Ms.

1:03

Reinhart.

1:04

Here.

1:04

Mr.

1:04

Cassal.

1:05

Here.

1:06

I'm here.

1:06

Ms.

1:07

Jones is absent.

1:09

I'm a quorum.

1:10

Thank you.

1:11

Today's consent agenda consists of uh three items.

1:15

One is the approval of the Blacksburn Planning Commission from the July 6th minutes.

1:23

Two is a CUP, and the action is to approve.

1:27

Two is uh CEP 2104, which is a conditional use permit request for commercial indoor recreational use in the downtown commercial zoning district at 130 Jackson Street by Blue Ridge Axe Throwing LLC.

1:43

That sounds exciting.

1:45

Um the action there is to schedule a public hearing for September 7th.

1:50

And do that in 2021.

1:53

And our third item on our consent agenda is rezoning 2103 ordinance 1968, which is a request to amend previous rezonings at the Midtown Development, the former Blacksburg Middle School site at 501 South Main Street.

2:10

And the action there is to cancel tonight's public hearing, which is August 3rd, 2020, and reschedule for August, excuse me, October 5th, 2021.

2:23

With that, do we have a motion?

2:26

I move the planning commission approve the consent agenda as presented.

2:30

Second.

2:31

All those in favor?

2:32

Aye.

2:33

Aye.

2:34

Okay, moving on to our public hearings.

2:37

Tonight, our first public hearing is zoning ordinance amendment number 58, ordinance 1969, which is an amendment to section 1109 regarding the zoning of land brought into the town through corporate boundary line adjustments.

2:55

And we have a staff presentation by Anne McClone.

2:59

Thank you.

2:59

This is a section of the zoning ordinance that relates to boundary line adjustments.

3:04

We don't deal with them very often, but boundary line adjustments are when a landowner requests that the boundary line be moved to bring a property to within the town limits.

3:13

Boundary line adjustments do have to be mutually agreed upon by the town and the county.

3:18

And when they come into town, section 1109 of our zoning ordinance governs the application of what zoning district would be applied and would come in through that BLA process.

3:28

We did have the referring resolution from town council as we always do when they refer a zoning ordinance amendment to staff and the planning commission.

3:37

As I noted, we don't deal with boundary line adjustments very often, so we haven't spent a lot of time on the wording in 1109.

3:44

We've had four in the last 10 years.

3:46

We have two pending, and it was a review of both the past ones that we have worked on and the two pending amendments that got us to really look deeply at the language and it illustrated some of the weaknesses in the existing language that we have in the zoning ordinance.

4:01

Boundary line adjustments themselves do not come before the planning commission.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Ordinance█████████████████████████████████████████████73%
Procedural█████████████████27%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting - August 3, 2021

The Blacksburg Planning Commission held its regular meeting on August 3, 2021 at 6:30 PM in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers. The meeting covered consent agenda items, a public hearing on a zoning ordinance amendment, and reports from commissioners. All votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The commission approved the minutes from the July 6, 2021 meeting. (Vote: 6-0, with Commissioner Mel Jones absent during vote.)
  • Conditional Use Permit CUP 21-0004: Scheduled a public hearing for September 7, 2021 for a commercial indoor recreation use (axe throwing) at 130 Jackson Street NW, submitted by Blue Ridge Axe Throwing, LLC.
  • Rezoning RZN 21-0003/ORD 1968: Canceled the August 3, 2021 public hearing for the Midtown Development (former Old Blacksburg Middle School site) and rescheduled it for October 5, 2021.

Public Hearings

  • Zoning Ordinance Amendment #58/ORD #1969: Staff presented an amendment to Section 1109 regarding the zoning of land brought into town through corporate Boundary Line Adjustments (BLAs). The amendment clarifies the zoning classification process, establishes criteria for determining comparable districts, allows conditions/proffers to transfer, and permits creation of geographically-specific zoning districts through a public hearing process. A public input meeting held on July 29, 2021 had two attendees. No public comments were made during the hearing. The commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the amendment.

Reports and Unfinished Business

  • Historic or Design Review Board: Commissioner Jack Davis reported that the board reviewed a sign for a new pizza business on College Avenue and rejected the design due to its interstate-oriented appearance in a pedestrian environment.
  • Montgomery County Planning Commission: Commissioner Joel Herbein reported that the county commission recommended approval for a 70-acre wetland mitigation bank on Toms Creek and a camp cabin RV development on Gap Mountain near Norris Run Road.
  • Chair's Report: Chair Andy Kassoff reminded commissioners of the joint work session with Town Council on September 21, 2021 (discussing downtown northwest zoning district) and the annual fall retreat on November 30, 2021.
  • Planning Director's Report: Anne McClung reminded of upcoming meeting dates.
  • Town Council Report: Commissioner Jerry Ford noted that Town Council reviewed three zoning requests from the July planning commission and will hold public hearings the following week.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved consent agenda (6-0).
  • Recommended approval of Zoning Ordinance Amendment #58/ORD #1969 (7-0).
  • Canceled public hearing for Midtown Development rezoning; rescheduled to October 5, 2021.
  • Scheduled public hearing for axe throwing CUP for September 7, 2021.
  • Meeting adjourned at 6:50 PM.

Meeting Transcript

So a regular meeting of the Blacksburg Planning Commission. Today's Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021. Regular meetings of the Blacksburg Planning Commission are held here on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 30 p.m. Here is Roger Headspath Chambers, little Blacksburg Municipal Building at 300 South Main Street. Citizens may address the planning commission during specified times on the agenda and are requested to adhere to the following. Please speak at the podium, state your name and address. Direct comments only to the commission. Please limit speaking time to a maximum of three minutes. Speak only once during a specific hearing or comment period. As we have no public at the moment, we'll go down to uh calling the meeting to order. Let's call this meeting in order. Can we have a roll call, please? Mr. Davis. Here. Mr. Ford. Here. Mr. Irvine. Here. Ms. Reinhart. Here. Mr. Cassal. Here. I'm here. Ms. Jones is absent. I'm a quorum. Thank you. Today's consent agenda consists of uh three items. One is the approval of the Blacksburn Planning Commission from the July 6th minutes. Two is a CUP, and the action is to approve. Two is uh CEP 2104, which is a conditional use permit request for commercial indoor recreational use in the downtown commercial zoning district at 130 Jackson Street by Blue Ridge Axe Throwing LLC. That sounds exciting. Um the action there is to schedule a public hearing for September 7th. And do that in 2021. And our third item on our consent agenda is rezoning 2103 ordinance 1968, which is a request to amend previous rezonings at the Midtown Development, the former Blacksburg Middle School site at 501 South Main Street. And the action there is to cancel tonight's public hearing, which is August 3rd, 2020, and reschedule for August, excuse me, October 5th, 2021. With that, do we have a motion? I move the planning commission approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay, moving on to our public hearings. Tonight, our first public hearing is zoning ordinance amendment number 58, ordinance 1969, which is an amendment to section 1109 regarding the zoning of land brought into the town through corporate boundary line adjustments. And we have a staff presentation by Anne McClone.

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