January 28, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Summary
January 28, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting
The Planning and Zoning Commission convened on January 28, 2026, to address two major development proposals and routine consent items. The meeting featured public testimony regarding the West Meadows development, followed by staff reports and deliberation on a Conditional Use Permit for excavated fill and compensatory storage, and a Major Land Subdivision for the Westbury First residential project. The Commission moved both substantive items with recommendations for approval containing specific conditions.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes from the January 14, 2026, meeting were approved unanimously following a motion by Commissioner Aishan and a second by Commissioner Yoost.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mark Schuleman (West Meadows HOA): Expressed full support for the neighborhood's safety but urged the Commission to table Conditional Use Permit CD 2025-007 CUP due to discrepancies in site documentation. Specifically, he noted a significant reduction in fill calculations from 240,000 cubic yards (in the initial EAW) to 73,000 cubic yards (current proposal) without clear reconciliation. He opposed the reliance on a proof-of-concept stormwater model over a peer-reviewable final model and stated the traffic impact report is not yet finalized. Mr. Schuleman argued that public notice was insufficient as only a few HOA members attended the initial meeting, preventing the 100-home neighborhood from being fully aware, and requested the record be paused until fill storage, stormwater modeling, traffic reports, and wetland replacement plans are verified.
- Commissioner Ross/Chair: Acknowledged public concerns regarding flooding proximity, noting that townhomes are very close to the flood zone.
Discussion Items
Item 5A: Conditional Use Permit CD 2025-007 (West Meadows - ML Group One LLC)
- Applicant Position (Joe Wall): Stated that the 240,000 cubic yard figure in the EAW was a "worst-case scenario" for environmental analysis, whereas the current 73,000 cubic yards reflect the actual required compensatory storage based on specific building pads. Denied that stormwater modeling relies on unverified theory, asserting a stamped model exists and additional Public Works comments have been received. Clarified that the traffic report and wetland replacement plan are separate future steps required to satisfy conditions of this CUP, not prerequisites for tonight's vote.
- Staff Position (Elliot Miller, Seth Logan, Cables Development): Confirmed that the proposal involves no new building construction but purely an accounting exercise of fill and compensatory storage to maintain floodplain capacity. Stated that compensatory storage ponds will be encumbered by perpetual conservation easements to ensure maintenance. Clarified that the project avoids flooding the floodway (red/blue area) and that the City of Rochester, not FEMA, retains primary regulatory authority via a stricter UDC ordinance. Confirmed that filling in the floodplain requires a CUP but does not require a "no-rise" certification since the floodway is not impacted.
- Commissioner Klein: Expressed concern that "100-year flood" terminology is increasingly irrelevant due to frequent flooding events. Later clarified that while the CUP is a two-stage process, the applicant is not legally required to complete the grading immediately after approval; the process exists on paper to allow future design work while preventing physical construction until permits are secured.
- Commissioner Glenn: Asked about communication protocols, inquiring if the 350-foot notification radius is sufficient for the HOA. Staff confirmed that the notification process complied with UDC requirements, though Commissioner Glenn sought clarification on whether the process was adequate for the entire HOA membership.
Item 5B: Major Land Subdivision CD 2026-001 (Westbury First - Bigelow Homes LLC)
- Applicant Position (Kyle Scove): Stated full agreement with the five conditions of approval proposed by staff. Confirmed a preference for Option A (constructing a temporary fire access road) over Option B (sprinklers) for fire department access.
- Staff Position (Desmond McGill): Recommended approval with five conditions, including submission of civil/stormwater plans, an updated development agreement, revision of easements (Outlaw A becoming a drainage/utility easement to Cambria Avenue), aggregation of Outlots C and B, and resolution of the Hazel Drive street naming convention.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to End Debate: Passed on Item 5A (CUP for West Meadows) to conclude discussion before the vote.
- Conditional Use Permit CD 2025-007 (West Meadows): Approved with recommendations to City Council by a vote of 7-1 (Commissioner Klein dissented). The Commission recommended approval subject to three conditions: 1) Grading permit approval is required before work commences; 2) Wetland impacts require a technical evaluation panel before work; 3) A second floodplain development permit is required for future building construction.
- Major Land Subdivision CD 2026-001 (Westbury First): Approved with recommendations to City Council unanimously. The Commission recommended approval subject to five conditions: 1) Submission and approval of civil/stormwater plans; 2) Updated development agreement; 3) Revision of Outlot A to a drainage/utility easement and aggregation of Outlots C and B; 4) Extension of public utility easement; 5) Resolution of fire access (preference for temporary road) and additional parkland dedication requirements.
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned following a City Council recap of the January 1, 2026, wireless facility approval. A commission member raised a separate issue regarding the technical inability of remote council members to see each other on screens during virtual meetings, noting this violates a council requirement for remote attendees.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the January 2020 uh January 28th, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. Uh calling the meeting meeting to order. This is the open comment period. This is a time in the agenda that allows members of the public to address the commission on items that are not on tonight's agenda as a public hearing. If there is anyone uh here or listening that would like to address the commission, please do so at this time. Is there anybody online? Please come up and state your name. Hi, Mark Schuleman. I live at uh 4177 Berkshire Road, which uh I'm gonna talk about West Meadows development. Um I'm here to speak just because we're next door neighbors and we have a concern of flooding. And what I wanted to do, can I hand out a sheet of paper to each of you? Is it something like this? Is that the one that I sent? There's perfect, thank you. Okay, okay. Well, good evening. I'm asking you to table the uh CD 2025-007 cup for West Meadows until some court technical items are resolved. Not that I'm an out know everything about all these technical items, but I've just reviewed all the documentation that's been sent since the first EAW was approved, and then I saw some just discrepancies that I think are pretty major. Um first the flood fringe fill math has changed dramatically. The EAW said there was going to be about 240,000 cubic yards of earth that needed to be excavated, and now the current one says 73,000, which is uh for both fill and compensatory storage, and that seemed to me to be a huge swing. And I don't even know if the 73,000 covers the footprint of the buildings that want to be that they want built on the property, and second, the stormwater claims rely on a proof of concept, not a final model, and the staff notes say uh the Q2, Q10, and Q100 peaks would all be reduced and drawdown would be within 24 hours, but the city simultaneously says water resources will provide revised comments, and I haven't seen any revised comments, it's all based on theory instead of actual. And uh second, the traffic impact report isn't finalized, so we don't know uh that drives requirements also for what they're looking for. And then the wetlands uh from my not from what I understand from reading it, a replacement and sequencing plan is required before final approval of any of this. And so I'm I'm just as I said, going through all the documents that hundreds of pages that have been submitted. And then finally, uh we us in the West Meadows HOA wanted uh public notice clarity. We're an HOA of 100 homes, and on the first quote, neighborhood meeting, I think less than a half a dozen people were made aware of this development, just like on the end of the Cal de SAC, but as an HOA, the whole neighborhood is supposed to become aware and be told and invited to these meetings. And if we don't know what we don't know, we can't show up. And so the request is to table it until uh the storage is reconciled for fill versus compensatory, a peer reviewable stormwater floodplain model is submitted, traffic report is accepted, the wetland replacement plan is provided, and the scope is verified. So we're saying at this point the record isn't ready, and we want to be you know good neighbors, as I'm sure they do also, but we want a time we want it done right. Yeah. Okay. So and as I said, we're we're uh I think one of the rich last time said some of our townhomes are very close to the flood. Thank you, Mr. Shilling. Like inches. Okay. So that's thank you. Is there anybody else who would like to speak? Do we have anybody online? Okay. If there is no more people, then I will close the open comment period. And I will now call the meeting to order and take roll call. Commissioner Ross. Here. Commissioner Aishan. Here. Commissioner Klein. Here. Commissioner Krull. Here.
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