Minutes of the Town of Cross Plains
Plan Commission Meeting
December 17, 2007
PRESENT:
COMMISSION MEMBERS: Jim Boland, Chair; Carl (Pat) Jones, Vice Chair;
Mike Coyle; Ken Esser; Wayne Parrell (arrived 7:45); Jeff Baylis; Amelia Williams
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING CONSULTANT: Arnold Harris
BOARD MEMBERS: Harold Krantz, Bob Bowman, Very Riley
Approximately 12 citizens 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Notice of the meeting was posted in the News Sickle Arrow, the Mount Horeb Mail, and the Shopper. It was amended on 12-14-07 to include an item on a public hearing. Williams posted the amended agenda at the bars (Morgans and the Red Mouse), the Hilltop Restaurant, the Town Garage, and the Community Center on 12-14-07.
Boland called the meeting to order. Williams called the roll and read the minutes of the November 26th meeting. After several amendments clearing up motions and seconds, the minutes were approved as amended, 7-0.
Ann Walden, the town clerk, distributed the oath of office to all Commissioners. After they read the oath aloud and signed the papers, Walden collected the signed papers.
Boland moved to table Jay Young’s petition for a boundary change because no one was present to discuss this petition. Jones seconded the motion and it passed 7-0.
Williams moved that the Commission set up subcommittees to discuss sections of the plan so that the work of researching and discussing the wording of the sections could move forward more quickly and thoroughly. She felt that one or two Commissioners, with the help of knowledgeable citizens, could lead each subcommittee. Baylis seconded the motion. Discussion followed, with Boland thinking that some of the elements would not be hard to write. Baylis thought that many citizens had expertise which might be useful for researching areas such as agriculture, natural resources, and economics, where federal records were inadequate. Bob Boehnen thought that the cafe meetings would elicit enough information. Esser felt that the survey might have already gotten enough information from people. He expressed some frustration at the progress so far. Coyle thought naming the subcommittees might help give the Commissioners a better idea of what each committee might work on. Aaron Otto, of Hawthorne & Stone, mentioned that tasks should be oriented towards gathering data rather than writing opinions. Williams withdrew the motion, asking that it be tabled until everyone had more time to think about it.
The next agenda item concerned the proposal made previously by Supervisor Bowman that the Land Use Preservation part of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan be completed before other elements of the plan. This was outlined in the one-page document, which Bowman had submitted earlier. Baylis felt that this would not be a good way to proceed, because elements depended upon one another. He and some others felt that the whole plan should be accepted or rejected, not submitted piece by piece. Coyle mentioned that some towns had submitted just a land use section, which in our case was the most important part. Disagreements over this issue ensued, with Harris supporting completing the whole plan as quickly as possible, but Bowman saying that the Board had directed and required the Planning Commission to do take up farmland preservation first. Baylis felt that the goals could not be thoroughly met in this way and Steph Harris felt that the only people who would benefit would be developers who wanted to get their subdivisions passed quickly. Boland mentioned that the subdivision ordinance was a separate piece. Louise Klopp thought that the Board could not dictate the Commission’s actions, and suggested that the issue be researched. Baylis and Klopp felt that the Commission rather than the Board should do the planning. Supervisor Bowman thought that, since the Board has the final authority, it could dictate what the Commission does point by point. As further research on the separate authorities was needed, Boland motioned to table this issue, Baylis seconded it. This passed 6-1 (Coyle voting no)
The expenses were then discussed with Williams submitting expenses for herself and Harris totaling $307.22. Expenses previously paid by Ann Walden were not included, but will be included at the next month’s discussion of the monthly outlays.
The next issue concerned the Survey results, which were handed out to everyone. Baylis described the error checking procedure. He and Williams had checked complete entries of 10 percent of the surveys, finding an error rate of less than 1 percent. Comments were also listed, and some still needed to be entered. Where the Office Team secretary had entered “see survey” in the #38 answer blank, the comments will be completed before the next meeting. Baylis gave each member a CD with updated information on the Survey including the raw files and the PDF summary files. Williams asked how to get information to those who do not have good computers when there is no time to send it through the mail. With input from Parrell, she decided to bring the information to the meetings whenever time is too short to reach members by mail.
Coyle made a motion, seconded by Parrell, to delay discussion of Chapter One of the plan until the end of the meeting. This passed 7-0.
The next item concerned the policy on public discussion. This procedure had been adopted at the previous meeting, and point 5 was amended through a motion by Boland, seconded by Coyle to give the petitioner five minutes per presenter (up to 6 presenters), with a total of thirty minutes. This time limit may be changed at the discretion of the Commission. Supervisor Bowman mentioned that the presentations should be recorded and hard copies of documents must be easily found in the records of the Town Clerk. Boland replied that this was already being done for all meetings. The motion passed 7-0.
The
next issue concerned the information for the Plan Commission website. After
some discussion, Baylis moved, Williams Amelia seconded a motion that
all of the items on the list presented be put on the site, except for the ‘Citizen
input’ section. Two additions to this list were the Land Use Application Form
and the Draft Chapter One – Issues and Opportunities - of the Comprehensive
Plan. The motion passed 7-0, and Boland commented once again that it would be
best if the information could be linked to the town’s website.
Dates for upcoming hearings came up next. Jim Mueller had withdrawn the two petitions from Rafoth and Reeder, so only one was left, that of Hawthorne and Stone. A 30-day class 1 notice was required, but it was also said that it was a class 2 notice, so there was contradictory advice from Mr. Schmitt. Boland said that he would check on the requirements. The date of January 30 was decided upon, with some discussion of the wording of the public hearing announcement.
Other Business: Arnold Harris distributed information from the WTA seminar held in Richland Center concerning legal features of the planning process and zoning. Other topics were the consistency requirements in the comprehensive plans. Williams distributed a paper from Mark Hazelbaker soliciting input from the towns for changes in the County zoning ordinances. Williams also invited all present to a party – a social event, no politics to be discussed. (This was later cancelled due to concerns for the open meetings laws.)
Boland moved to return to a discussion of the first chapter of the Comprehensive Land Use plan. The motion was seconded by Jones and opened for discussion. Baylis mentioned that the Goals, Policies, and Projections needed to be added to the chapter. Perusal of the document elicited comments on the description of the Ice Age driftless area from Louise Klopp, who felt that the 1981 plan was clearer. She also suggested eliminating the “new” designation for the Ice Age Reserve park situated off Old Sauk Pass and Cleveland Roads, as it had existed over 30 years. Aaron Otto, of Hawthorne & Stone, suggested that the Commission not get bogged down in small wording details. He and Janice Faga, of Hawthorn and Stone, objected to the term “urbanized subdivisions” for some areas. Supervisor Bowman said that the 1981 map was not an “official map”, but the 1981 map called the areas of Oak Valley Estates and Deer Run Heights “unsewered development districts”. They had been established before 1981. Klopp mentioned that Pine Bluff was called a hamlet and that the area next to the Village should be included as having been established by extraterritorial zoning. Baylis said that he would make several of the changes suggested. Supervisor Bowman mentioned that there are 14 State goals which should be considered. Aaron Otto suggested that we needed to look at some of the data before making statements, and Baylis replied that there are some facts we already know. He said that there are 338 splits remaining, so if we took 8-9 per year (the present rate), we would have enough land to take care of 2.5 persons per house and 8-9 houses, which would result in a population of about 2000 in twenty years. Bob Boehnan suggested that we start with the present plan which had been developed by the earlier town fathers, and work from there, though Supervisor Bowman countered that the regional plan commission was responsible for these ideas, rather than the town fathers, and that we should think about the 14 goals of the State. The issue of adding houses to keep up the tax base up was mentioned by Boland, quoting Walter Haack. This theory was refuted by Klopp and Baylis. Boland mentioned that other townships had set aside areas as rural development districts, and Reeder concluded that the discussion brings up many areas of disagreement, showing how carefully these issues must be researched and studied.
Coyle moved to adjourn, seconded by Jones and passed 7-0.
The next meeting is set tentatively for January 14th
ACTION ITEMS:
Amelia Williams:
Jim Boland:
1. Create/Approve public notices for removal of John Rafoth’s petition, and for addition of the Public Hearing for Hawthorne & Stone.
2. Research the question of whether a Class 1 or Class 2 public hearing is required.
3. Research the question of the planning authority of the Board vs the Commission.
4. The next agenda is due by January 4th.
Others: On Land use planning, read widely, read well, have a happy happy holiday.
ADDENDUM A
PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. The Hearing will be held in the Town Hall in Pine Bluff.
2. The Hearing will be presided over by the Chair of the Planning Commission.
3. All persons attending the meeting will be asked to fill out a form with their name and address, and to indicate that they either support or oppose the proposal, and indicate whether they intend to speak on the issue during the public input phase. The Commission will collect the forms as people enter and take a seat. 50 or so copies of the 1981 Land Use Plan will be available for reference during a public hearing on a map amendment.
4. The Chair will briefly explain the rules and format of the hearing. All the Commissioners will sit at a table facing the room.
5. A total of six speakers for a petition who have 5 minutes each) may make the proposal, but this may be changed at the Commission’s discretion. Following the proposal, attendees will each have five minutes or less to make their statements in response. They should give their names and addresses before speaking. Individuals will be timed, and cut off when the time is up.
6. Written comments and documents from the petitioners and from the public will be accepted.
7. The petitioner has five minutes at the conclusion of the discussion to summarize.
8. Once the hearing is concluded, the Commission either convenes a meeting and formulates its recommendation(s) to the Board, or announces when and where it will meet to make a determination on the petition(s).
Changes made at the December 17th regular meeting of the Plan Commission
ADDENDUM B
Proposals for data to go on Plan Commission web site. So far there are only 6 pages proposed, with the following information on them. Please make some suggestions if other info comes to mind!
WELCOME
Commission Member names and emails (tel. for Pat)
Buttons: Statutes, Documents, 1981 Town Plan, Citizen Input, Meeting Notes, Maps and Misc.
STATUTES:
· Link to 66.1001 Wisconsin state statutes for establishing Comp. Planning
(includes farmland preservation at 91.01)
· Town Authorities – what can the Town government do?
· Smart Growth Plans in Dane County (link to a chart)
· Access Dane – for maps and parcel info
· Other Dane County Community Plans
· Town of CP Ordinances
o Parking on hwy Right of ways
o Private Road Ordinance
o Airport Rd Traffic
o Enforce Airport Rd Traffic
o Hours for Alcohol licensees
o Multi-residential units
· ? others?
·
DOCUMENTS:
Population Growth projections to 2030
Pop Stats for T of CP
Budget Summary
Budget Details
Zoning in Dane County
Open Meetings Laws
Wisconsin Agricultural Land Prices
Statistics for Dane County Population
Access Dane Site link
Application for Land Use Change - Form
DRAFT CHAPTERS on the COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
(none yet)
MEETING NOTES:
Survey Questionnaire
PPP (public participation plan)
Town occupations, corrected
Press Release for Survey Questionnaire
Recent Meeting Recordings
CITIZEN INPUT
Bowman
directive 7-13, passed by Board
Bowman
10-page PPP background document
J. Mueller
concerning housing 7-9-20
Address
for sending in letters or comments for the public record
MAPS – all maps from the County are listed here, including traffic accidents
?Application Form?
Spelling Corrected, Citizen Input section deleted at Dec 17th meeting. Addition of Application form under Documents
Amelia Williams, Dec 17, 2007