Good evening and uh welcome to the Hampton City Council legislative session.

I will ask the clerk to call the roll, please.

Councilman Bowman.

Present Vice Mayor Brown.

Here.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Present.

Councilwoman Fairby.

Present.

Councilwoman Harper.

Present.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Present.

Mayor Gray.

President.

And this evening, uh the invocation will be given by Councilwoman Martha Muggler, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

So if you'll please stand and uh join us for both.

Let us pray.

Lord, we give you our land, our homes, our labor, and our city.

Look with favor on our community and protect our citizens and leaders, our first responders, teachers, zoning and officials, and all of our civil servants.

Enrich our communities so that we may be a blessing to others.

Give the mayor, city leaders, and this city council wisdom so that we may solve problems and bring stability and prosperity to our community.

May you give us sound counsel and good judgment to help us make good decisions.

May you also give us greater knowledge, understanding, and power so that we may live skillfully and give back what is good and excellent to our community.

Amen.

Hef Fest is uh is a musical festival uh that raises funds for teacher grants and scholarships for Hampton City School teachers and students uh that attend one of our four high schools.

As you can see from the uh picture up here on the screen, uh I was uh one of the guest musicians and uh along with uh former mayor Donnie Tuck and uh so we uh got on the stage.

This was our fourth year participating uh in the event, and uh it's always a grand time and uh really does a great job for the community.

But health, the fourth annual Health Fest celebrates the educators, students, and community members who make Hampton City Schools shine.

We are raising more than sixty thousand dollars to support teacher innovation and student success through the Hampton Education Foundation's grants and scholarships.

The event embodies the power of community collaboration, uh uniting local leaders, alumni, families, all come together to share in the commitment to invest in education and honors Hampton's legacy of learning.

As a Hampton Education Foundation signature event, the Health Faith Health Fest raises the majority of private contributions to fund more than $40,000 in teacher grants, and these grants go to teachers in Hampton City schools and over $7,000 in scholarships each year supporting post-secondary education for Hampton students, uh particularly uh specifically Hampton students who attend one of the four high schools and are planning to attend college.

And so this is uh picture of our 22-piece Hef Fest All-Star band, of which I'm proud to be a part of, and uh it's good to see many of my council members and the city manager all come out to uh celebrate uh that big event with us once again in supporting uh education in Hampton.

So just wanted to bring that to your attention and show you one of the good things happening in our city, uh supporting our school division and uh you know it's all a big um you know, thanks to the support from everyone in the Hampton community and beyond.

We make this a big success every year.

So thank you for that.

And uh I'd like to uh before I get started.

I want to acknowledge uh Virgil Thornton, who's sitting in our audience.

Uh Virgil standing raise your hand.

Uh Virgil was elected to uh represent portion of Hampton uh and Picosan in York County, uh representing the 87th uh district.

I'm sorry, 86th district, I'm sorry, Virgil, 86th House District.

Uh and uh so congratulations and uh welcome this evening.

So with that, I am going to call upon the clerk to read the protocol for the consent agenda.

The consent agenda consists of routine non-controversial items requiring council approval.

These items are typically adopted with one motion and without discussion.

Tonight, your consent agenda approves the fiscal year 2025 fourth quarter budget adjustment.

It accepts a donation of camera equipment valued in excess of $7,300 from Canon, Virginia, to the Hampton Police Division, which will be used by the forensics unit.

It amends and reenacts a chapter of the code entitled Wetlands to amend the requirement require regarding the number of alternate members to the appointment to be appointed to the wetlands board.

It initiates amendments to the Hampton City zoning ordinance regarding the regulation of tobacco and hemp product sale locations.

It approves the minutes of five, I'm sorry, it approves the City of Hampton 2026 General Assembly legislative priorities and approves the minutes from five sessions of the Hampton City Council.

Mr.

Mayor, move approval of tonight's uh consent agenda.

Second councilman Bowman, Vice Mayor Brown.

All right, Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Pierre.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye, Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye, Mayor Gray.

So no November is uh diabetes aware awareness month.

And uh yours truly, Mayor Hampton's type two diabetic, and uh I always look to support health initiatives in our community that bring more awareness to uh members in our community about you know health concerns, health issues, getting preventative treatment, getting wellness checks, and so forth.

So, you know, trying to promote a healthy community.

So this evening I do want to uh read a proclamation claiming the month of November is diabetes awareness month in the City of Hampton, Virginia.

And whereas diabetes affects millions of Americans, and whereas it can lead to serious complications, including kidney failure, limb amputation, and blindness, and whereas diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, and whereas many factors contribute to this health crisis, including genetics, lifestyle habits, and limited access to health care.

And whereas many people are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and may be unaware of their condition.

And whereas during the month of November, the American Red Cross is offering free screenings to blood donors in in honor of Diabetes Awareness Month and the theme taking action to prevent diabetes related health problems.

And whereas this initiative helps to enlighten people about their status and encourages them to take proactive steps toward better health.

And whereas the City of Hampton encourages everyone in the community to increase their awareness about diabetes and pursue preventative health practices and early detection efforts.

Now, therefore, I, James A.

Gray Jr., mayor, on behalf of the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, hereby do proclaim the month of November as Diabetes Awareness Month in the City of Hampton, Virginia, and I call upon all citizens in Hampton to join me in observing this worthy cause and realizing that being aware and taking preventative actions helps save lives.

And I was uh attended a community event over in uh Riverdale uh last Saturday, I think it was, and uh in going around and talking to the vendors, one of the uh tables that was there was set up, and they were there to provide education uh about diabetes, and it was uh staffed by members of Sentera Healthcare.

And so this evening uh we have with us um Tiffany Smith Stokes, manager of patient care services at Sentera CarePlex Hospital.

Sentera does a lot in terms of health uh awareness and education in our community, in addition to health and health care facilities and and physicians that take care of uh all of Hampton.

So I'd like to invite uh Tiffany up to receive the proclamation, and I'd like to ask my council members to join me uh down front for a photo with Tiffany.

Thank you.

Okay, so with that, I'd like to uh ask the clerk to uh read the protocol for public hearings.

The city council is committed to fair and respectful hearings.

The following guidelines help ensure an orderly process.

Individuals wishing to speak must sign up in the city hall lobby, starting one hour before the meeting and ending when the meeting begins.

Speakers will be called in the order they signed up, and speakers shall address the council from the center podium.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes.

The timer has a green light, which will turn yellow when what when one minute is remaining, and then red when your time is up.

All comments must be addressed to the council, and speakers may not yield their time to others.

After all the speakers are heard, the mayor will close the public hearing and invite council discussion and action.

Thank you.

Okay.

Your first public hearing this evening is item number seven, twenty-five-zero two six six.

It's a use permit application by Margaret LaFranc Art Foundation Inc.

to permit the development of a private museum at sixteen oh nine and sixteen eleven Aberdeen Road.

LRS ends three zero zero three eight six three and three zero zero three eight six six two.

Okay.

All right, just give it to the city manager to introduce uh the item, although most of it was been introduced, but by title, yeah, it's pretty clear what it's about, but I am glad to uh introduce Han Vu, our city planner, who will be making the staff report this evening.

Thank you.

Good evening, um, Council members.

I will be presenting use permit application number 25-026, and the subject um property is sixteen oh nine and sixteen eleven Aberdeen Road.

The applicant is again Margaret LaFrank at Found Art Foundation.

This use permit application would allow for the development and establishment of a private museum in the limited commercial C2 district.

The general location of the subject site is indicated by the red star.

As outlined in yellow is a zoom-in um picture of the subject property located on Aberdeen Road, and down here we have West Mercury.

This property right here is the Wawa on Mercury.

The proposed museum would include a 3750 square foot building with galleries, cafe, gift shop, and an outdoor deck.

Um it will be for free admission, and approximately six employees along with security guards on night exhibitions and events.

And the proposed hours of operation would be daily from 10 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

This is the proposed floor plan of the museum.

Down here we have Aberdeen Road, and to the right is Etchwood.

Um, and upon entering the museum, it will be a gallery area.

To the left is the classroom, storage office, and back room, and to the right is the gift shop, cafe, and then the outdoor deck.

This is the elevation of the proposed museum.

We are looking from Aberdeen Road right here, and to the right is where Etchwood is located.

The site is currently zone C2, limited commercial.

And the proposed land use map calls for mixed use for the site.

And these are the applicable public policies, which includes promoting high quality design and site planning, promoting family school and community interactions at a neighborhood level, promoting access to educational, social civic recreational opportunities for youth and seniors, and promoting educational facilities for broad-based community use, promoting cooperation and partnership here with Thomas Nelson or Virginia Peninsula community college, as was fostering a development of a vacant site in the city.

And the youth master plan also speak to this application, and that would include improving youth and adult relationship in a community organization environment and youth having access to educational, social, civic, and recreational opportunities, as was creating more spaces for youth.

The staff analysis.

The applicant app the opportunity to present in a public hearing will be held, and planning commission and staff will be recommended approval of use permit application number 25-0266 with 15 conditions.

And I will be available for any questions.

Any questions for Ms.

Boo?

Council.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for the presentation.

Can you tell me approximately how many parking spots will this facility have?

I don't know the exact number off the top of my head.

I can go back and look at it and I will let you know.

Okay.

Any other questions?

Vice Mayor Barnes.

Just a quick question, Mayor, on the drainage and sewage issues.

What were the concerns there?

And um what in what traffic?

What are the concerns?

Um sure, let me back up here.

So back here in Edgewood is a neighborhood, and there are you know some backup of sewage and drainage in this neighborhood, as well as you know, this whole area in general.

And the main issue here with traffic is this um grocery shopping center, and the it's you know generates a lot of traffic flows, which this intersection here can be very heavy uh with traffic.

So is there traffic study that's been done?

Was it studying has not been done?

Yes, so for this particular development, um not much traffic at all will be generated because it's not a big shopping center or anything of that kind, and it's not peak during peak hours per se.

Um so ATIA was not it has not been done.

Okay, now so what are the drainage concerns?

Is it is it a runoff?

Is it what is it that is it does I've been on edge with another day in the street, but does it flood back there, the low line?

What what are the concerns there?

I think that during heavy rainfall, a lot of the drainage sewage was not drained properly.

That was the main concern.

Councilman Bowden.

Yeah, I was just waiting to go on.

That's all the questions for you, Ms.

Boo.

I believe the applicant is here, and uh yes, and she does have a presentation.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm really delighted to be with you this evening.

My name is Sandra Mackenzie.

I'm president and CEO of the Margaret Lefranc Art Foundation, and as you heard her voice, that's the voice that you're going to hear when you walk into the museum.

She that's a photo of Margaret and then a picture of a of her Margaret Lefranc self-portrait painted in 1927 when she was 20 in Paris.

I once asked her, we're here because of her art.

There are about three reasons we're here today tonight.

I once asked her, well, uh dear, when did you start painting?

She said, I was six.

I said, six.

What took you so long?

Where were you those other years?

Anyway, the um you heard her say that her art was her destiny, and so it was.

She divide she devoted her entire life to her art.

I've waited for 35 years to talk with you this evening.

I saw that portrait, self-portrait 50 years ago, and it wound up recently at the Smithsonian.

The National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian is traveling that portrait now, and it will be uh coming home, I believe, at the end of November.

At the end of her life, she received the governor's award for excellent and achievement in the arts for painting.

And the second reason we're here is because I saw that painting 50 years ago.

But I thought, and that was 1975.

Now in 1990, by that time I thought, well, someone would come along, and certainly um a promoter art, although she uh had already been uh promoted and shown uh in Paris and and in the United States, but nobody came, and so it became my destiny to help her destiny be promoted in a legacy.

Everybody has a legacy.

Uh Georgia O'Keefe would not have been as famous had she not had Alfred Stiglitz promoting her work.

And so in 1990, when I started, formed a foundation, we did together.

Um I found that really there was no one else, and that the only helping hand was at the end of my own arm.

So there have been many, many God moments in moving forward over 35 years, and and this is a God moment right here.

The third reason that I'm here is because Margaret said drawing isn't just for art.

I add to that that it carries over into a lot of other talents and skills, but she did add that as an artist that an artist isn't worth their own salt unless he or she can draw.

So it's the idea that we teach anyone eight and above who wants to draw how to draw and free for the community.

This is a humanitarian project, and Virginia Peninsula Community College has asked that their art students be able to intern at the Margaret Lefranc Art Foundation, learning not only how to run a museum, but what other skills and talents are involved.

That will help contribute to the business community here in Hampton as well.

So this is not just uh did you show on voodoo.

This this is not just a building of concrete and wood.

It's a place where we don't know who's going to walk into here and how we're going to help build their legacies.

I mentioned earlier everyone has a legacy, so what kind of legacies are going to be built here and uh contributed to the community of Hampton.

Finally, I guess what we're doing really here is together, boldly stepping into the alphabet of the unknown, where imagination begins and legacy takes form.

Thank you very much for giving me this time to speak.

Okay, questions for the applicant.

Councilman Bowman.

Okay.

Any other questions or comments for the applicant?

Okay.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Just a quick question if if perhaps you might know the number of parking spaces that staff did not know.

Do you know how many parking spaces are planned for?

One.

Twenty-one.

Thank you.

And a bicycle rack.

Awesome.

Okay.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Yeah.

Just one quick question.

I'm getting back to the drainage concerns.

Do you have plans to address that or had it been brought to your attention regarding drainage there?

The drainage?

Yeah, I'm asking do you have plans to address that?

Whatever the issues were.

I just I just don't want residents being concerned about uh when it ran heavy rain, additional put uh puttling and flooding in their community.

So can somebody help me with that?

Well, there is planting and all, but would you like to address that?

This you all know Donald Davis, I'm sure, who's the surveyor.

My name is Donald Davis.

I'm a land surveyor at Davidson Associates.

We're located at 3630, George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown, Virginia.

Um designed the site plan here, and it's been through a review by the city, but one of the things that I like to point out about the drainage is the drainage that we're holding here is based on the current standards to develop by DEQ.

And those standards basically says that you keep your drainage to yourself.

So we designed BMPs here to infiltrate into the ground so there's a very limited amount of drainage that leaves this site, much less than what it um actually exists there today.

I wanted to quickly make a clarification.

So the concerns that I have stated were not related to this development.

Um those were concerns outside of this development as a whole of the concerns of the neighborhood that they wanted to bring forward and meet with the city officials and let us know at this meeting.

Any other questions or comments for the applicant or the planner?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, guys.

Mr.

Mayor.

Councilman Brown.

Um Councilman Bowman.

Okay, thank you.

Um as some of the neighbors I I have concern with this uh project, I actually rode Edgewood three times just to get an idea of the traffic.

And for my constituents, um, there is a tremendous amount of traffic that travels on Aberdeen Road.

This is a four um way intersection.

So you have people that are coming from out of office depot all day long, people traveling east and west on Aberdeen Road all day long.

So I took a drive down Edgewood.

There are 21 homes on Edgewood, and the average person has two to three vehicles.

So add that to the amount of traffic on a very short, very short dead end street.

Right across from this proposed location, there is a building that doesn't really have a parking lot.

You can pull into the side of the parking lot.

So therefore, when you back out, you're backing into the street.

They have 15 slots pretty much right at the corner of Aberdeen and Edgewood.

Um to me, I love the idea.

I love the concept.

It's a beautiful building, but if I have to vote tonight, I would deny it because it's not the right fit for the community.

Thank you.

Any other questions, comments for the planner or the applicant?

Okay.

Thank you, uh Ms.

McKenzie.

Oh, sorry.

I have a question.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Wagner.

Um uh is there an outlet from this parking lot to Edgewood?

Or just to Aberdeen Road.

So the entrance would just be from at Edgewood.

It would not be accessed through Aberdeen.

Oh, it will come from the neighborhood.

Thank you.

Councilwoman woman Ferraby.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um so with that being said, so how the and there, but there are actually 21 parking spaces on the property where the building would be, I think is what was said.

Yes.

So is that does that include space for buses?

That would include all the space that would be required of this use, which is private museum.

Um and in one in one of our conditions, traffic circulations, it would address that all pickups and drop be made on the property, not the street.

But if there are 21, so let's just say 15 cars are parked there, would there still be space for a bus?

Okay, I guess that's kind of my question.

We can question for me to answer there.

Um yes, yes, ma'am, or whom member can answer it.

Are you talking about just come to the mic, Ms.

McKenzie?

I'm sorry.

Did you come to the mic?

Yeah, are are you talking about buses?

Is our intention not to have any buses parked there to drop off there at the museum and then for the for us to drive them away and then back?

No, okay.

There's there's not a challenge with parking at the museum.

I believe the concern is from across the street, as far as there was one person who did speak uh last week who was concerned about Todd Center traffic that had nothing to do with the museum.

Oh, okay.

Um thank you.

So even with the drop-off of the buses, if if is the parking lot large enough to handle a bus?

Yes.

If cars are parked, if 20 cars or 15 cars are parked, you can it'll be a you'll be able to a bus will be able to get in and then drop off and they'll be able to think do you need a confirmation from my surveyor?

It's just pull in and drop off and leave, really.

Yes, ma'am.

The uh site itself uh is going to be a greatly reduced to the number of uh um vehicles going into the site and out of the site just because of the type of use here.

As far as a bus, this is a 24-foot wide driveway to be able to park in uh for a temporary measure to be able to let people in and out, and then the bus would have to leave.

They wouldn't be parked there for any extended period of time.

Okay, I was just concerned.

I was just my question was more around if there are cars parked there since you only have 21 parking spaces.

Can you get a bus in there to drop people off and can the bus get back out to the yes they can?

First of all, if you take a look at the radii as you come in off of the public roadway, uh it's uh 25 foot radii there, which is large enough for an emergency vehicle, not only for a bus, but also emergency access into the site itself.

So and again, the driveway itself is 24 feet wide, which would allow a substantial amount of room to be able to pull in, let a bus off the uh students uh unload and then back out.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Councilman Bowman?

I understand the concept of dropping off and picking up in the case of a field trip.

Where would the bus go?

Well, you can't park on your parking lot.

I think that's the question that I have, because clearly you don't have the parking and you will have field trips.

What's the plan for that?

If I heard you correctly, the buses will not stay there.

We will pick up one of the reasons for that neighborhood is because there are there are schools close by, and the idea is to pick up the students, bring them to the museum, and return the buses, and when the students are done, come back and pick them up.

So the buses won't be there except for dropping off.

Was that the question you were asking?

the reasons for that neighborhood is because there are there are schools close by and the idea is to pick up the students bring them to the museum and return the buses and when the students are done come back and pick them up so the buses won't be there except for dropping off was that the question you were asking yeah Virginia Peninsula Community College in particular has really liked that location because of the schools and because it's close enough for their art students to come and uh study there and serve the internship and receive a digital certificate for the area of the museum studies that each person learns I have a thank you mayor vice mayor question um I I'm concerned um when councilwoman muggler asked a question about um how cars would be entering the museum and not off Aberdeen Road but off edge edgewood I think it's edgewood street um I'm there pretty often I go to uh a tailor there um that is that it's a bear trying to get out from edgewood to Aberdeen Road I mean it you it just it's difficult to try to get out of there with cars but when we're not parking on edgewood at all ma'am I understand exactly let me finish please I understand exactly what you what you're telling me um but what I'm saying to you is I have concerned that there's only one way in and one way out that's off the edgewood am I right so if you come into the museum off of Edgewood correct me if I'm wrong there you can't you there's no other way to get out but let's maybe circle back around and go out back out on edgewood is that right and when while you're coming up and and a if you take a 64 passenger school bus I think that I think that's capacity uh I'm trying to figure out if you had 21 pocket spaces and you had 20 people parked in 21 parking spaces to turn a bus around or back a bus up it's gonna be very challenging.

So we don't anticipate there'll be 21 parking spaces that's used there that number is based on the standards for the city of Hampton based on the size of the building and the use of the building we anticipate with the buses pulling in there probably won't be many uh vehicles that are parked there over a period of time so to uh indicate that it's gonna be a problem uh it is a corner lot uh to be able to come in directly off of Aberdeen would be a problem then you'd have to back out onto public roadway that is heavily heavily traveled where edgewood is uh minimally traveled so we think that the uh uh access here to the site is really the best access it will reduce the number of vehicle trips per day versus if this was developed as a commercial site so we think it's really probably a great area to be able to put the uh this type of use here it's it's going to be very difficult sir to turn a bus around on that property well very difficult if I'm sorry go ahead no very difficult turn the bus around on a property you we don't and you don't know and I don't know it could that parking lot could be full for an event there we don't know we we assume that it may not be but it could be but I'm saying if it is it's gonna be difficult to turn a bus around and to get out of uh the museum and get back on edgewood and uh take a left or right on on Aberdeen Road.

That's that's my issue that's that's a challenge for me.

I think it is a challenge but I think we try to address that by Edgewood right now is an open ditch street.

It's a very narrow roadway we're actually going to put curb and gutter there on this uh on the uh northerly side of the roadway and we're going to um asphalt that area and although we're not going to be parking vehicles there on that roadway it will greatly increase the width of it to be able to use it and access into the site and then back out of the site one last thing if I may add the size of the bus I don't in I'm not looking at the size of a school bus the number of students who would be transported in would probably at any one time not be more than 10 so any bus would be a small bus that's provided by the museum councilwoman Ferraby thank you uh Mr.

Mayor um can you remind me um as to how many people actually attended the community meeting held July 8th if I recall about 10 attendees about 10 and were were many do you know kind of what the breakdown was were they edge were they neighbor neighbors they were mainly residents yes okay I'm a little bit um what's bringing me pause is that I see where there was no opposition however there were some general concerns around traffic circulation drainage and sewage and so even though the conditions are it's noted in the conditions I'm not quite clear if we approve this if if you'll be able to get over the hurdles around the circulation the draining and the sewage.

And so even though the conditions are it's noted in the conditions, I'm not quite clear if we approve this, if you'll be able to get over the hurdles around the circulation, the draining and the sewage.

Yes, ma'am.

So as a clarification, again, there were no opposition to this one particular development.

However, the concerns were formed from the neighbor to the general neighborhood, not just this development, if that makes any sense.

So I think let me see if I can are you saying that the people came to the community meeting with no opposition to this beautiful building.

I'm so excited about this project.

However, while they were there, they started telling you about other issues with the Edgewood neighborhood.

Is that what I'm hearing?

Yes.

They were actually very excited about this development.

Um, and these are some of the concerns that came from mainly the Tot Center shopping center.

Um, that generate a lot of traffic in that intersection.

Okay.

Ms.

Boo, I have a question.

One more thing.

I I think Miss McKenzie, hold hold on.

Ms.

Ms.

Vu.

So I understand the question about drainage, uh, you know, stormwater drainage, but I think there's a BMP on the site.

I can't tell whether it's underground or above ground, but nevertheless, there is a method for controlling runoff uh on the property, but I don't understand the question about sewage.

Well how how is the project affecting sewage so just flows in a different system in the neighborhood?

Um I think there were some general concerns that the sewage lines were not draining correctly.

Okay, thank you.

All right, so any other questions or comments for the planner or for Mr.

I have just one comment.

Can we think more like a van instead of a bus?

Ms.

McKenzie.

Uh from council members, any other questions or comments for the planner or for Ms.

or the applicant?

Okay.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Boo.

So uh this is a public hearing, and uh, but there's only one speaker signed up, and that's you, Miss McKenzie, and I think you've already addressed most of the questions here.

Uh so we're gonna close the public hearing and uh call for a motion.

Mr.

Mayor?

Councilwoman McCai?

Yes, thank you.

Um before I make my motion, I just would like to go on record.

I I am so excited about this project, and I can't wait to be able to have this facility built, and I can't wait to actually come to the museum at this time just because I'm feeling some unrest um amongst uh my council members regarding the um around the community meeting um results that are documented in the presentation.

Um I move that council defer use permit 25-0266 to a future council meeting second so there's a motion to defer and a second.

Um do we need to be more specific about the time frame on the motion to the attorney was was that okay?

I mean you can defer it to a date certain if you like.

You can leave it as it is, although I suggest if you just say to a future meeting there might be some direction to staff and or the applicant about what it is that you'd like to see when they bring it back, just so it's not completely opened.

If it helps, Mayor, your next meeting is December the 10th, your meeting dates for January are the 14th and the 28th.

Okay, I I think um I don't think we're gonna see a lot of progress between now and December.

Um but I I know we'd like to move forward.

I I don't think I think everyone would agree that this is a wonderful project.

Um I know there's a motion on the floor, but how do you all feel about January versus December?

Um Mr.

Mayor, Councilwoman Mugley.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um I would feel most comfortable with the 28th of December or January, excuse me, so that that would give us time to get through the holidays and and give staff directions.

Okay.

So I if I can amend my motion, if you don't a friendly amendment, yes.

Um I move that the council defer use permit 25-0266 to the um motion.

January 28th 2026 council meeting.

The second councilman Bowman.

I okay.

We have a motion, the second to defer.

Is there any further discussion on item four?

Okay, there being none named call.

Um, Mr.

Mayor Okay, Councilman.

If if we're able to resolve it sooner, and I doubt that we will be able to, but if if we are, I guess we could still proceed earlier.

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

All right.

Call the road.

The motion on the floor is to defer this item to the January 28th legislative session of council.

Councilman Bowman.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Faraby.

Aye.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Muggler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

The motion carries.

The next items on your agenda eight through eleven will be one presentation with um on all four.

They are number eight, twenty-five-zero zero one eight is an ordinance to amend and reenact the zoning ordinance of the city of Hampton, Virginia, by adding and amending section one-37 entitled accessory dwelling units to create regulations and standards for accessory dwelling units.

Number nine is 25-0019.

Ordinance to amend and reenact the zoning ordinance of the City of Hampton, Virginia by amending Section 2-2 and Title Definitions to add a definition of accessory dwelling unit ADU and to amend the definition of dwelling area.

Item 10 is 25-0268, ordinance to amend and reenact chapter 4 of the zoning ordinance of the City of Hampton, Virginia, and titled one and two family residential districts to eliminate the permitted additional standards and uses in the R-R district and to add language regarding the required minimum dwelling area for all principal dwellings in all one and two family residential districts, and item number 11 25-0069, an ordinance to amend and reenact chapter 11 of the zoning ordinance of the city of Hampton, Virginia entitled parking to amend the parking requirements for accessory dwelling units in all one and two family residential districts.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, I was just gonna introduce it if you could um we have with us two speakers tonight, Monica Mayhark, our community engagement manager, and Gwen Heinrich, our city planner.

All right, welcome.

Well, good evening, members of council.

We're here to um overview the zoning ordinance amendment, numbers 25-0018, 19, 268, and 269.

So we'll start with what is an accessory dwelling unit.

This is a smaller secondary housing unit on a one-family residential lot.

There are two main types of accessory dwelling units: a detached ADU.

Um, this is where a new or existing accessory structure is added or convert it to create an ADU or an attached ADU, and this is a portion of an existing principal dwelling where there is an addition that's constructed.

So staff was asked to look into ways to introduce another housing option in order to increase our housing opportunities in Hampton's existing neighborhoods.

And um, understanding that there's many tools that we could deploy, we really wanted to start with accessory dwelling units.

We thought that this would encourage a more economic and efficient use of existing parcels.

It will allow us to adapt our one-family residential properties to better support residents at various stages of life, and it also encourages greater diversity among populations to include young adults up to senior adults.

We also thought this would be a great way to provide homeowners with an additional income.

So you all know we've been working with um the public and and our leaders here for well over a year to really talk about what zoning ordinance we want to introduce on behalf of the city.

We've done a lot of research um to frame the ordinance and where we wanted to start to give the community something to respond to.

We have checked in along the way uh with you all as well as other boards and commissions, and this evening we are um looking to officially adopt or at least preview this zoning ordinance to go into effect later this year.

So again, this is the research that we were able to pull for the surrounding localities.

We think it's very important to stay in alignment with what most of our municipalities are doing.

You'll see a lot of folks who are permitting both those attached and detached accessory dwelling units.

We are seeing a permitted number of one ADU per lot.

We saw a lot of our neighboring localities staying around that 800 square footage amount in terms of a size for what an accessory dwelling unit could look like.

And also a trend of ensuring that ADUs are in fact owner-occupied with some external uses.

So a few of our neighboring localities did exclude short-term rentals as a use.

And many of them, they some of them are by right, but a few of them there is an administrative process to receive the permit to begin your ADU.

All right, we also wanted to get a breath of what our neighbors are experiencing.

What have they heard about ADUs?

Have they thought about building them?

We certainly didn't want to introduce something as an option if it's something that our residents aren't really thinking about.

So we were able to receive over 350 survey responses across the city.

We really try to make sure that there's a good spread of representation across our 10 neighborhood districts that you see on the map.

We also conducted a steering group session where we had additional members to help filter the results from the uh survey results.

That wasn't just staff looking at that.

We had community members looking at it and did a lot of work interdepartmentally with our city attorney's office, uh, public works as well as public safety.

So we asked our community to let us know, you know, these are the goals that we want to introduce for this ordinance.

How would you rank them?

And so a lot of our survey response landed under multi-generational living as well as housing affordability being most important to them with neighborhood compatibility, economic benefits, environment impact, and admin feasibility ranking lowest.

This uh results also showed again that 48% at least of the folks who completed the survey would be interested in adding an accessory dwelling unit to their property, which is exciting.

And then we saw 43% a strong sense of the survey results who really envision these units being used for for families.

I mentioned our steering group, um, so this was the split of those voices in the room.

We really want to balance neighborhood representation as well as uh developers with what we call our end users.

And since we do foresee accessory dwelling units being optimized by our traveling nurses and seniors, as well as a disabled population and our college students, we wanted to get a good spread of those voices at the conversation.

And so, based on our community input, our steering group discussions, um, our staff is we're recommending a phased approach to introducing the accessory dwelling units, with our first phase really being emphasizing family safety and unity.

At this time, I'm gonna turn the presentation over to Quinn Heindrick.

He's gonna continue to tell you specifically about the amendments we'd like to make in the zoning ordinance.

Thank you, Monica, and uh good evening, members of council.

So, once again, this ordinance amendments or these ordinance amendments will concern chapters one, two, four, and eleven.

Uh, chapter one is where the majority of the additional standards and regulations for ADUs will lie in a new section one-37.

Um, these standards will aim to minimize the impact of additional housing units within one family neighborhoods and on the city as a whole.

They will ensure the ADUs remain accessory to the principal dwelling, and they will prohibit specific uses within ADUs.

Staff's recommendation is that only one ADU will be permitted on any one lot.

That is consistent with what most of the other municipalities in the region have done, and it would minimize the disruption that ADUs could cause to the neighborhood.

Um the there will be no minimum lot requirements for ADUs, so any lot that has one family dwelling on it, no matter how small, provided it meets all the other requirements, could house an ADU.

Um ADUs will have setback requirements for attached ADUs.

They will need to meet the same setback requirements as the principal dwelling, the same way that an addition would at present.

Detached ADUs will need to meet setback requirements for accessory structures like sheds and garages.

The one exception to this is that Planning Commission has recommended increasing the required site setback from three feet to five feet for detached ADUs.

This is acknowledging that ADUs are a more intensive use than most sheds and garages, and it's also in the interest of protecting the privacy of neighbors who might be very close to a new accessory dwelling unexpectedly.

Well, not unexpectedly, but next to a new accessory dwelling.

ADUs, our recommendation is that they will not exceed 50% of the area of the principal dwelling, and also we'll have a cap at 800 square feet, even if that's less than 50% of the dwelling on that lot.

This is primarily because or we show we settle on 800 square feet because 1600 square feet is the median dwelling area for one family dwellings in Hampton.

So 800 square feet would be half of that and therefore a good benchmark.

And one other thing to point out the planning commission had previously or planning commission recommended changing a word that was in the ordinance.

We had said previously that it was the minimum dwelling size requirements.

We changed it to maximum, minimum had been an error.

Um so that is merely correcting it to reflect what we had meant to put.

ADUs will not be allowed to exceed 16 feet in height or one and a half stories, and they cannot exceed the height of the principal dwelling.

The only exception to this is in our FEMA designated special hazard flood zone areas where the height will be measured from the design flood elevation rather than grade.

In the case where a new ADU has to comply with those requirements and an existing dwelling was built before the requirements are in place, the ADU would be allowed to exceed the height provided it's still capped at 16 feet.

ADUs will not be allowed to be used as short-term rentals.

Um this was partially informed by our survey respondents, 48% of whom agreed that ADUs should not be allowed to be used for short-term rentals.

Um staff considers both ADUs and short-term rentals to be important uses for the city going forward, but they are set serve separate purposes, and we don't want them to be in competition with each other.

And so this does not affect existing short-term rentals that may be located within ADUs, but any new ADU that is constructed may not be used as a short-term rental.

In the interest of safety, the principal access to an ADU will need to have a path of ingress and egress that connects to and from the right-of-way.

Um this is so that first responders will be able to easily access the ADU in the event of an emergency.

Also, the for an attached ADU, the principal access to the ADU shall be located in the side or rear yard.

We would not want two doors in the front of the property.

That's both for neighborhood character reasons, but also so that the first responders in event of an emergency can distinguish between the two properties.

Additionally, the ADUs will need to be owner-occupied.

That means the property owner will need to reside on either the principal dwelling or in the ADU.

They would not be allowed to rent both out simultaneously.

All of those standards concern new and conforming structures.

For non-conforming structures, as defined on this slide, um staff has some other recommendations.

Attached ADUs may be located within or structurally connected to a legally non-conforming principal dwelling, provided that the ADU does not create any new nonconformity or increase any existing nonconformities.

Similarly, a detached accessory structure may be converted to a detached ADU even if it does not meet the current setback and height requirements.

Again, provided it does not increase the degree of any existing nonconformity, and we would still cap those detached ADUs at 800 square feet.

And lastly, there are existing standards for accessory dwelling units that are found or for the Buckrow Bayfront districts only, which are BB1, BB2, and BB3, which are located a few blocks from the beach in Buckrow.

Um and staff is recommending that all new standards or that these the standards in chapter one will supersede the existing standards that are found in our ordinance, chapter eight for those three districts.

Um Planning Commission has recommended adopting language that clarifies that the standards in this section will supersede those existing standards.

In chapter two, um we have outlined a new definition for accessory dwelling unit, which reads as follows a secondary dwelling unit established in conjunction with and clearly subordinate to a principal dwelling unit, whether part of the same structure as the principal dwelling unit, which would be an attached ADU, or as a detached structure on the same lot with a separate kitchen, bedroom, and sleeping area hereafter a detached ADU.

We've also amended the definition of dwelling area, as you can see on this slide, um, to better accommodate for ADUs being a use.

In chapter four, um we have standards for dwelling area requirements across all of our one-family residential districts.

And we added the word principal in front of every use of the word dwelling in this section to clarify that those standards are for principal dwellings rather than for ADUs.

In addition, we had language in the rural residential district that staff is recommending that we strike that related to guest houses and servant quarters.

We consider this language to be outdated and redundant with the new ADU ordinance.

Um in chapter 11, staff is recommending some amendments to our parking requirements for ADUs.

Staff's recommendation is that we do not uh require parking additional parking for ADUs in most cases.

The only exception would be for lots that have that on right-of-ways that prohibit parking on either side of the block are on either side of the street.

In that case, they would need to identify one off-street parking space on an improved surface.

Um the reason that staff is recommending that is that first it aims to preserve and protect neighborhood character by reducing any potential changes to the way parking is done in any in individual neighborhoods.

Uh second, it acknowledges that a majority of single-family homes have sufficient on-site or on-street parking to accommodate new ADUs.

And lastly, additional surface parking requirements will negatively impact the City of Hampton's resiliency objectives by creating um except or new impervious area and we that might negatively affect stormwater and other yeah, other resiliency objectives and plans.

So new applicants who would who would be wanting to build ADUs will need to apply for a zoning administrator permit or a ZAP, along with a building permit.

Um those would be reviewed by city staff.

Um they may also need to apply for other mechanical, electrical, or plumbing permits as needed.

Once staff's review of all those permits is complete, an inspector will um check compliance with the ZAP conditions and the other approved plans, and at the conclusion they would obtain a certificate of occupancy.

This is an overview of the enforcement process.

So if there's any sort of complaint, such as um renovating or new construction without permits or occupying an ADU without a ZAP.

Staff could send out a notice of violation if there weren't, if that's warranted, and it could potentially end with court orders and criminal summons or fines.

So to summarize this presentation, we have permit outlined additional standards for accessory dwelling units that are in a new section in chapter one.

We added a definition for accessory dwelling units in chapter two, uh, clarified some language to accommodate ADUs in Chapter 4, and amended ADU parking requirements in Chapter 11.

That concludes our presentation.

And once again, staff and planning commission recommend approval of zoning ordinance amendments number 25-0018, 25-0019, 25-0268, and 25-0269.

Thank you.

And we are available for any questions that you may have.

Questions from council members?

All right.

All right.

No questions.

Um this is uh public hearing, and so we'll open the public hearing for this item.

There's no one signed up to speak, so we'll close the public hearing and call for a motion.

Thank you, Ms.

Mayor.

I move that the council adopt zoning ordinance amendments 25-0018, 25-0019, 25-0268, and 25-0269 as revised and approved by the planning commission identified in the council agenda package as version two with an effective date of December 31st, 2025.

So second.

Second.

All right.

I have a motion, a second.

Is there any discussion?

Any further discussion.

All right.

There being uh would you call the role of weeks?

Councilman Bowman.

I'm not sure.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Faraby.

Councilwoman Harper.

Hi.

Councilwoman Mugler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

Motion carries.

The last public hearing on your agenda this evening is item 12, 25-0267, ordinance to amend and reenact the zoning ordinance of the City of Hampton, Virginia, by amending Chapter 14 titled Reviews by the Planning Commission and City Council by adding a new Article 3 titled Community Meetings.

Mr.

Mayor and Councilmembers Quinn Heinrich will also be presenting this item tonight.

Good evening.

Mr.

Howard, you're busy tonight and give you a reps in.

Yeah.

All right.

Good evening, uh Council members, once again.

Um so this presentation concerns zoning ordinance amendment number 25-0267, which is a an amendment to add a new section to Chapter 14 that will require community meetings for use permit rezoning and other conditional zoning applications.

So while current practice is to request and encourage applicants to conduct community meetings.

But there is nothing in the Hampton Zoning Ordinance that requires a community meeting for rezoning and use permit applications.

This is something that has been previously directed by City Council for staff to take a look at, and so this is an ordinance amendment that would require them in going forward.

The purpose of community meetings, the reason that they are useful in these applications.

First, they give residents and neighborhood organizations an opportunity to engage with the applicant regarding the details, potential impacts, and benefits of proposed development.

Second, they allow applicant the applicants and staff to hear community feedback and potentially address concerns before the formal public hearing process.

They also provide an additional opportunity for members of the planning commission and city council to hear the community support and or concerns or to get a pulse on how the community feels about certain applications.

Some of the things that may come up in community meetings include issues affecting public health, safety, and the general welfare, other good zoning practices identified in state code, mitigation of impacts to the surrounding community infrastructure and environment, and consistency with the comprehensive plan and other adopted policies of the city.

So the new section that staff is recommending has four subsections.

The first will require that every applicant for a use permit or rezoning to conduct a community meeting.

That deadline was chosen because staff that is the deadline for complete application by staff for use permits and rezonings.

And so as we're considering this a part of a complete application, we would need, in order for us to proceed with a public hearing, we would need to have it complete first.

The applicant, the second subsection, the applicant will need to provide notice of the meeting to property owners and neighborhood groups within a quarter mile of the subject property here after the notice area.

They'll also need to send this to community development staff.

At least one community development staff member will need to attend the community meeting as an observer and a note taker, and a summary of their notes will be included in the planning commission and city council staff reports.

The first would be where the property owner or the applicant is a government entity.

In that case, the applicant may elect to voluntarily conduct a meeting, a community meeting, but they would not be required to.

Secondly, the community development director may adjust the notice area in appropriate cases due to geographic characteristics.

And that concludes this presentation.

Thank you.

And we are available for any questions that you may have.

City manager.

Yes, I just want to make one thing really clear for the agenda because uh Quinn rightly referenced the part that allows city projects like EDA, City Housing Authority not to do it.

I want to be clear, that is there for the very, very rare time where we might have a highly confidential project for some reason or another.

Um it's sort of an out.

There may be times, for instance, when we're doing something with the governor's opportunity fund where we can't have a community meeting in advance for a major economic development announcement.

There could be a public safety related reason.

There could be other kinds of things.

These are very rare.

And I want to make clear as city manager, my direction to staff is that we always participate in this same process that we're asking of the private sector parties, unless there are one of those very limited and rare circumstances, in which case I would certainly review with council in advance the reason for a deviation so that all seven council people would be aware, and hopefully a majority or all would agree that that was that rare circumstance where we wouldn't.

But I wanted to put on public record so people don't think we're trying to impose a standard on others that we're not willing to follow ourselves, what the reason for that deviation would be, and that it would be uh certainly very rare.

Okay.

Thank you for that clarification.

Um councilwoman Ferrari.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um I do support the uh ordinance.

I I just have a question regarding the under the summer proposed ordinance.

It says the meeting must be on a weekday between 5 and 7 p.m.

Um, does that mean the meeting can start as late as 7 p.m.?

Okay, um I am a little bit concerned about this being a restrictive in case there are people who work night shift or something like that.

I understand um when you um describe this that the majority of people I guess work more for eight to five or something like that, but what would be a provision that would allow to have a Zoom meeting or a meeting at another time of day that would accommodate more people?

I just feel like I have to ask that question.

I don't believe there was provision for that, but if Courtney, if you want to add anything, yes, so it's written so that it would commence between five and seven, and I think that was in response when we first did the briefings or the work session briefing about this.

There was some concern about when is the meeting being held.

Is it being held like too late in the evening when people wouldn't come or during the day when people are at work?

And so this was an effort to standardize that time to have it in the evenings, similar to like a public hearing before council is held in the evenings.

So certainly if there was some concern and you wanted to have some flexibility in that we could change that, but that was sort of to prevent people from conducting the meeting at a time of day when members of the community would not ordinarily be available to come.

I I don't know that there is a single time where you can get everybody.

Okay.

Thanks.

Councilman Bowman.

Thank you.

Um I support um the changes, but I do have a question for clarity and for consistency purposes.

Will the addresses be provided for the notice to be sent out, or is that gonna be at will?

I'm not sure if we have like on that, but what I can tell you is that the notices would need to be sent by mail.

Um, in the case of the community groups that um that we would be asking them to send it out by email to the individual to the community group as opposed to the individual people.

I believe we do provide the addresses.

I just want to look to Miss Michael to confirm my understanding.

Yes, we do.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, I am for this ordinance.

I do have two concerns.

One is the timeline.

I know that it's in parallel, but when you back up the 28 days for this and the 10 days for this and the seven days for that, you're adding 45 days, or you don't add, you have a 45-day uh timeline added.

The other one, I know the city manager addressed the exception, but um in legalese, what's written in black and white is what's there and what people have to follow.

So we could say, well, we wouldn't do that, but by right they could.

So I have concerns with section 143 um 34, uh specifically item one.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments from council members?

All right, this is a public hearing.

Uh so we're open to public hearing.

No one, no speakers signed up for this item, so we'll close the public hearing and uh call for a motion.

Mr.

Mayor, I move that the council adopt zoning ordinance amendment 25-0267.

Second.

Is there any further discussion?

All right, there being none.

Would you call a roll, please?

Councilman Bowman.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Brown.

Aye.

Councilwoman Campbell.

Aye.

Councilwoman Fairby.

All right.

Councilwoman Harper.

Aye.

Councilwoman Mugler.

Aye.

Mayor Gray.

Aye.

That concludes your public hearings for this evening.

Protocol for public comment.

Public comment period.

City business.

Public comment is allowed on matters within the council's authority and follows public hearing items.

Speakers must follow this citizen participation protocol.

Speakers may sign up in the lobby one hour before the meeting and until it begins.

Speaker shall address council from the center podium.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes.

The timer has a green light, which will turn yellow with one minute remaining, then read when the time is up.

Please speak respectfully and avoid personal attacks.

Focus on topics within council's jurisdiction.

Do not use the platform for political campaign speeches.

Comments must be directed to the council and yielding time is not allowed.

Audience must remain respectful and refrain from interruptions.

Council typically listens without engaging in discussion.

Responses may be provided by the city manager, city attorney, or council members after public comment.

Failure to follow the protocol may result in removal from the podium or meeting after a fair warning.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

We have two speakers signed up.

Okay.

All right.

Next speaker is uh Pauline Antametti.

Good afternoon.

And please state your name.

Pauline Antamate.

Antomate.

So now I got the correct pronunciation.

Thank you.

And thank you for this opportunity.

I hadn't planned to actually speak today, but I saw that you had uh on your consent um agenda number four in reference to uh the vape shops, and I wanted to go on record uh on behalf of my community and express our concern and we thank you for looking into it because we have a a lot of vape shops in our community, particularly in Buckrow Beach, and as it relates to density, and when you look at this situation that you don't requ you don't allow so many in a particular area.

I personally would not like to see them at all, but I can't tell businesses how to operate and it being close to a public tourist area is a concern for us.

So thank you for taking it on, and we hope that you think about our neighboring communities when you make decisions as it relates to those things that would impact us and our uh residents that's it.

Okay, thank you.

Uh that's all of the speakers signed up for public comment period.

All right, so are there uh any other items on the agenda from city manager, city council staff?

Is there any new business?

All right, and there being none, we uh adjournable.