Planning and Development Committee:  18 July 2008

Attendees: Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Bill Lindenmuth, Tony Moran, Bob Kenefick, David Duxbury and Fred Kneissel.  Consultants attending were LGA President, John Cataldo and the VP, Doug Hughes.

The first item of business was to discuss the result of the discussion at the Executive Committee meeting regarding setting aside $15,000 for a study to be performed by the UNC Center for Community Design.  John Cataldo reported that the Officers were willing to bankroll an outside group prepared document (as much as $15K) if the Chairman of
the P&D committee gave some assurance of a usable product. The Chair did not due to questions related to the value of the study.  Roland indicated that the Committee needed to determine if it was the intention to communicate to Dr. Salveson at UNC that we are not going to proceed with such a study as had been proposed at this time.  The Committee agreed that was the intention.  Roland said he would communicate with Dr. Salveson.

The Committee then addressed the value which might be gained by using existing Comprehensive Development Plans from other locations.  It was properly identified that the plans which have been referenced now and in the past are not cut and paste applicable to our location or challenge.  Several committee members indicated that there are parts which could be exploited and maybe parts of other plans which could be mixed in together for a document more representative of the environment and current state of affairs here.  The chair will look at what could be picked from various plans for potential use.

The Committee discussed what our next steps should be to get back to progressing to a level of agreement that communication can be initiated with the local governing and administrative contacts in the counties.  Bob Kenefick recommended person to person communication with several of the key individuals in each county to find out what their objectives are and to determine if there is a way to blend objectives to best serve the community.  He suggested finding ways to avoid setting up “we” vs “them” situations.

The Committee then asked for a recap of what we had identified as our key objectives and what has been accomplished.  The chair was asked to provide a synopsis before the next meeting.  The P&D Committee meets the third Friday of the month at 0830 in the Eaton’s Ferry Grocery and Grill meeting room. 

Planning and Development Committee Minutes - 20 June 08

Attendees: John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Bill Lindenmuth and Fred Kneissel.  LGA member Ron Skow attended.  Consultants attending were LGA President, John Cataldo and the VP, Doug Hughes .

Roland Beauchaine led off a discussion keying off from the Annual LGA meeting regarding townships.  He also reported on the progress to have UNC perform a study related to establishing a land use plan and proposed recommendations to neighboring counties around the lake.  At present, sufficient funds have not been authorized to perform such a study. This will be on the agenda for the Executive Council plus on 25 June 

Mr. Bill Riggan, developer of Wall Street Center on River Road, was our guest and discussed what he considered important for us to be successful in getting a consensus around the lake.  He first said we need a plan for how we would unify groups from around the lake.   He suggested proposing ideas without specifics and that we should not suggest restrictions that planning departments and commissioners would reject out of hand.  He suggested that the idea of establishing a district (area) with a progressive, open-minded way forward for development in the area be presented.  We need to figure out the center of the universe (Food Lion???) which happens to be in Warren County.  Need to sit down with Property Owners and part time residents and get a flavor of what they envision for the future.

He cautioned that if there is a desire for services then there must be a place for the workers at those businesses to live.  We will need affordable housing locally to provide some motivation for people to provide services local residents need for their daily lives.  He believes the way things are developed is more the attitude of the developer than the money.  There are tradeoffs, but in the long run any cost difference is born by the consumer (my words, not Mr. Ricks).  He believes that in any community there must be affordable housing often represented by multi-family dwellings.  He thinks commercial development will lead the recovery in the building/real estate sector. 

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com.  The next meeting will be at the Eaton’s Ferry Grocery and Grill on Hwy 903 south of the lake at 0830 on 18 July 2008.

Planning and Development Committee:  16 May 2008

Attendees: John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Fred Kneissel, Calvin Deshields, Patrick Dempsey, and Joee Hoxter.  LGA member Ron Skow attended.  Consultants attending were LGA President, John Cataldo and the VP, Doug Hughes (for the last 15 minutes).

Roland Beauchaine provided a report to the Committee regarding the meeting he, Jack Saunders and Bill Lindenmuth had with Dr. David Salvesen, Director of the UNC Center for Sustainable Community Design, on 13 May near the Campus of UNC.  He explained that Dr. Salvesen had addressed several approaches that might be available to gain assistance from his Center or others at UNC and provided some of the costs associated with the use of graduate students.  Roland offered, and the Committee agreed, to prepare and submit a draft Statement of Work to Salvesen to determine what a small study might cost.  The SOW would outline what we want to do with the study product, that the study would out line a land use plan with scientific benefits identified, recommendations for specific guidelines with rationale and an option to perform some trending analysis. 

Because the price tag might be too high to afford, we also determined to continue to look at other options for getting a good model for a Land Use Plan.  The Chair will investigate using published plans from other similar areas to ours.  This will be done by looking at copy right clauses on certain plans.  We might be able to use such plans performing a cut and paste.  We also will investigate the potential for grants from various sources to help fund activities. 

We also reviewed what will be done at the upcoming Annual LGA meeting.  Since the main speaker will be from Virginia addressing the hows, whys, pros and cons of incorporation in Virginia, the stage will be set by the Chair giving a summary of activities of the Committee for the year, Roland will recap what Dr. Lawrence presented at the March meeting of the LGA and the guest speaker will provide the inform described above. 

Mr. Bill Riggan, developer of Wall Street Center on River Road, will be a guest at our next meeting at 0830 on 20 June at the EFG&G.

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

Planning and Development Committee:  April 2008

Attendees: John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Doug Hughes, Fred Kneissel, Bill Lindenmuth, Barbara Burgdoerfer, Patrick Dempsey, Joee Hoxter, and Dave Duxbury.

The Committee discussed feedback from the public after the April general session discussion of the “what’s involved with becoming a town/city”.   There was a lot of comment about both the positive and negative, but no recommendation has yet been made by the Lake Gaston Chamber of Commerce as to whether such an initiative should be pursued.  Likewise, the Lake Gaston Association has not taken a position one way or the other. 

The Committee returned its attention to the need for getting to a deliverable product to the LGA membership for comment and improvement and then the need to introduce the positions to the local county governments and/or any other governing body which may ensue.  In seeking advice from more learned sources, Roland has contacted a source at UNC who leads graduate research projects who indicated that the question of Lake Gaston’s incorporation is “academically interesting”.   Regardless, we need to develop the full extent of our recommendations as soon as possible.    

The development of commercial areas was discussed and it was agreed we should research what appear to be good solutions which are aesthetically pleasing such as Pine Hurst, Chapel Hill Village, Kiowa Island, Cary and Northampton, VA.  As a local example, Wall St. developed by Bill Riggins is a nice example.  We will try to have him address the Committee at our May meeting to share his experiences with development of Wall Street versus other projects he has accomplished.  One of the keys to our concept that would be recommended likely will include green buffer areas and green setbacks.  Our recommendations for development with “green” buffers and setbacks needs to be based on solid scientific rationale of the benefits to be derived such as reduction of pollution, prevention of sedimentation, and absorption of carbon dioxide.  In our recommendations for Commercial development we need to address signage, trees, planning activities and interface with the County Commissioners and Supervisors. 

Doug Hughes will chair the May meeting in Jack Saunders’ absence.  An invitation to UNC’s graduate research development area will be offered for June’s Committee meeting.  The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will take place at 0830 on 16 May at the EFG&G.

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

Planning and Development Committee:  March 21, 2008

Attendees: John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Larry Jolly, Doug Hughes, Fred Kneissel, Bill Lindenmuth, and Dave Duxbury.

The Committee continued discussions regarding the recommended positions that we would support for adoption by the five county governments surrounding Lake Gaston including Commercial on water and off water development, green areas, walking and biking paths, and open spaces.  The Committee continues to identify key requirements existing in at least on of the five county existing documents for exploitation in our activity.  We recognize the need for some level of completion of the mapping activity for the Planning and Development Zone for which we have an interest.

The Committee put its attention on the need for getting to a deliverable product to the LGA membership for comment and improvement and then the need to introduce the positions to the local county governments.  We will seek some advice from experienced, recognized groups and work to formulate plans, maps and recommendations over the next several months. 

Committee members and other LGA Directors are observing ongoing county Planning, Development and Zoning activities and bringing the results back for building our experience level with the issues that continue to face the area residents and businesses.  This is important background to achieving our key vision of maintaining and protecting the sensitive ecological and mostly rural atmosphere of Lake Gaston.

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will take place at 0830 on 18 Apr at the EFG&G.

Planning and Development Committee Meeting Minutes:  15 Feb 2008

Attendees: John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Larry Jolly, John Cataldo, and Patrick Dempsey, Dave Duxbury

The Committee reviewed action items from the January meeting.  The main course of business was to continue discussions regarding the recommended positions that we would support for adoption by the five county governments surrounding Lake Gaston. 

We had a report on the progress of the mapping project. Patrick commented that the activity is coming along well, but with his work requirements he is not as far along as he initially thought he would be.  There are many layers of information that will be available for use in various activities upon completion of the project.  Use of the maps will require a fairly powerful home computer. 

The committee members present discussed our recommendations for new, single-family dwellings and new subdivisions for roughly two hours.  We added one additional provision to our thought for single family dwelling development.  We then moved on to the discussion of objectives for standards for new subdivisions.   The members present are focusing on what our preferred development standards would be in the Planning and Development Influence Zone (PDIZ) rather than addressing other and all possible concepts which do not protect Lake Gaston's predominantly rural and ecologically sensitive character. 

We plan on continuing to discuss the various options for recommendations in the next meeting and will address how best to begin introducing these recommendations to the public and governmental activities.  We intend to develop a Statement of Work for consideration to obtain assistance from a professional consultant.

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will take place at 0830 on 21 Mar at the EFG&G.

Planning and Development Committee Meeting Minutes: 18 Jan 2008

Attendees: Doug Hughes, John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Fred Kneisel, Larry Jolly, John Cataldo, Barbara Burgdoerfer, and Calvin Deshields

The Committee reviewed action items from the November meeting.  There was no meeting in December.  The one action was to start formulating and flushing out our recommendations for building standards for single family, and multi-family residential units. 

We did not have a report on the progress of the mapping project because Patrick still has full time work to do to support those of us on Social Security.  (Thank you Patrick.)

We spent about 90 minutes discussing our recommendations for new, single-family dwellings.   We then decided to move on to the discussion of objectives for standards for new condominium developments.  Knowing that we could continue without stop until Sunday, we decided to adjourn until 22 Feb, when we will continue to address our concepts for standards for condos. 

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will take place at 0830 on 22 Feb at the EFG&G.

Planning and Development Committee Minutes:  November 16, 2007

Attendees: Fred Kneisel, Joee Hoxter, John Cataldo, Bill Lindenmuth., Roland Beauchaine, John Boyle, and Ron Skow representing River Forest Property Owners Association.

The meeting was held at Eaton Ferry Grocery & Grill (EFG&G) and called to order at 8:30 am by Larry Jolly in the absence of Chairman Jack Saunders. The minutes of the October 19, 2007 meeting were reviewed with no changes required.

Examples of development plans provided by Jack Saunders were discussed. These plans were from Northampton County N.C. and Northampton County VA. The discussion focused on developing what the committee and LGA wants for the lake such as recommending density, multi-family condo’s, cluster housing, etc. It was agreed that the committee should start by developing action items supporting the committee’s second objective at the December meeting. Objective number 2 states “consistent planning and zoning for the development of single family, multi-family and high density housing in a manner complementary to the rural atmosphere and environmentally sensitive area. Planning and zoning should address minimum lot sizes, building height and infrastructure impacts.”

Although there has been no recommendation to pursue “incorporation” of a town called Lake Gaston, part of the discussion noted that the only way we might be successful in accomplishing some consistency lake wide may be to “incorporate” a town of Lake Gaston. There is an expert on incorporation, David Lawrence, at the UNC School of Government. Who can be contacted to inquire if he would be willing to address the LGA on this subject of why and how you might go about incorporation. (Post meeting note: Mr. Lawrence is available for our April monthly meeting if we would like him to speak.) 

It was noted that Patrick Dempsey is working on our mapping project and it should be ready to discuss at the December meeting.

The committee then discussed Eaton Ferry Crossing’s (Redtail-Gaston, LLC) request for 120 or so boat slips from Dominion and the notice from FERC to provide comments by December 7, 2007. It was decided to recommend to the Government  Relations Committee that the LGA provide a statement to FERC reading in part “based on the LGA’s interpretation and understanding of the intent of the Shoreline Management Plan, this request violates subsection 3.1 under section 3.0 and section 3.2 (community docks) of the “construction and use procedures” (SMP Appendix c). Therefore we would urge Virginia Electric Power Company and FERC to disapprove this request.”

The committee also discussed the wastewater treatment facility proposed by Lakeside Commons, LLC on Pea Hill Creek. After another lengthy discussion it was recommended to the Government Relations Committee that the LGA continue to stay abreast of this project and if any red flags surface to take appropriate action.

Under other business, John Cataldo mentioned a phone conversation with a contractor in Bracey over his perception that the LGA was “after him” about his sign. This issue will be referred to Jack and this committee for follow-up.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m. and the next meeting will be on December 21, 2007 at EFG&G.

Respectfully submitted,

Larry Jolly, Acting Chair

Planning and Development Committee:   Meeting Minutes   19 Oct, 2007

Attendees: David Duxbury, Joee Hoxter, Doug Hughes, John Boyle, Roland Beauchaine, Jack Saunders, Bill Lindenmuth, Fred Kneisel and guest Patrick Dempsey.

The Committee reviewed action items from the last meeting.  Roland reported his interfaces with Ken Krulik and Tim Barnes of the Council of Governments (which includes Warren County) regarding people with the background to assist us.  The COG has hired a person to work on land use plans and we would use that person under contract with the COG. We would need to determine what we want done and what budget might be available before taking such a step.  Roland determined to delay the contact with the UNC School of Government pending some determination of objective and funding for such services. 

There were reports from committee members regarding available maps in the five counties.  Three have all four forms of maps we are interested in and the others are working on it.  Patrick Dempsey, an LGA Director from Mecklenburg, has offered to initiate the activity to put together maps for the activity based on data from the counties.  He is learned in the computer tools and has sufficient computer assets to work the issue at this point.  Our appreciation to Patrick. 

We also addressed the outcome of the LGA presentation to Brunswick County regarding their signage ordinance and how to influence the other counties.

We also addressed certain ongoing activities in the area.  The chair will initiate a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers in support of River Forest's letter concerning the number
of piers at Eatons Crossing, slips as opposed to docks.  We also discussed the planned development just north of rte 626 on Pea Hill Creek in Gasburg, Virginia.

If there are members or acquaintances that have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will take place at 0830 on 16 Nov at the EFG&G.

Planning and Development Committee: Sep 21, 2007

Attendees: David Duxbury, Joee Hoxter, Doug Hughes, Barbara Burgdoerfer, John Boyle, John Cataldo, Roland Beauchaine, Pete Deschenes, Jack Saunders and Larry Jolly.

The Committee reviewed the actions since the last meeting which included the consolidation of major objectives and their ranking by committee members.  That ranked and combined list is as follows:

1. Mapping of designated commercial and private future development areas, avoidance of mall sprawl, and set asides for greenways, trails and bike routes.  Guide proposed ordinances for creation of buffer zones, requirements for “Streetscape”, prevention of siltation, and the creation of protected areas around waterfront and wetlands.

2. Consistent planning and zoning for the development of single family, multi-family and high density housing in a manner complementary to the rural atmosphere and environmentally sensitive area.  Planning and zoning should address minimum lot sizes, building height and infrastructure impacts.

3. Description/definition of permitted signage, inoperable vehicles and below standard buildings/housing and elimination plan for non permitted and condemned signs, vehicles and buildings

4. Define role & review process for 'land development task force' and rezoning requests vis-à-vis county governing bodies

5.     Preservation of the Rural atmosphere and guidelines for protection of the Environmental Quality of the Lake

The Committee also addressed the fact that since Ken Krulik had taken new responsibilities in Warren County, he would no longer be able to participate on the Committee.  Roland took an action to speak to both Ken and Tim Barnes to see if they know of any other with the background that could help in our activities.  Roland also offered to contact the UNC School of Government for potential contacts or assistance.  If there are members or acquaintances who have experience in community/county development and planning who would be willing to work on this activity please contact us through jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. 

Roland also reported on the actions from the recent Warren County Planning Commission which approved a number of new developments all within existing guidelines.  We also reviewed a number of thoughts resulting from recent interpretations of the Dominion Shoreline Management Plan for multiple slips in residential developments.

The Committee determined that it would next try to assess the baseline situation for the first Objective above by identifying and reviewing existing county zoning maps, planning maps, the Shoreline Management Plan map and the Flood Insurance Rate Map of the areas coincident with our draft Planning and Development Influence Zone.  A volunteer to perform this was identified for each county.  We would also appreciate hearing from anyone with computer mapping skills, knowledge or experience that could help with this activity by contacting jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com . 

The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting will take place at 0830 on 19 Oct at the EFG&G.

Planning and Development Committee:  Aug 17, 2007

Attendees: David Duxbury, Joee Hoxter, Doug Hughes, Barbara Burgdoerfer, Fred Kneisel, John Boyle, Bill Lindenmuth, John Cataldo, Ken Krulik, Roland Beauchaine, Johnna Fross, Jack Saunders and Joyce Lindenmuth

The Committee addressed itself to the action items from the last meeting.  The first item was a review of the potential boundaries of the area we wish to influence within the five counties.  The Map Sub Committee led by Roland Beauchaine, reported on the options which were reviewed and then presented the proposed initial map with the philosophy used to map the boundaries.  The P&D Committee approved a motion to use the proposed map as our starting point to be refined over time. 

The actions to obtain existing plans, and distribute and review existing plans were then addressed.  The only new document reviewed was that of Mecklenburg County.  Bill Lindenmuth provided a summary of the key point he gained from the Mecklenburg document that correlated to out interests.  There are still some comparisons to be completed. 

We addressed a proposed ordinance in Brunswick County to control signage and passed a motion to have the ordinance referred to the Public Affairs Committee for action. 

During this discussion, we became aware again that we really needed to determine what our next step should be.  We determined that the chair would provide a consolidated list of critical issues that had been raised which we would attempt to refine and then prioritize into a list of Major Objectives.  The Chair also was to update the comparisons between counties and the public participation plans which remain “works in progress”.

Because of the lengthy discussions to that point, the Committee determined to adjourn until 0830, 21 Sep at the Eaton’s Ferry Grocery and Grill.