Village of New Concord
Planning Commission Meeting
Thursday, April 23 – 6:00 PM
Roll Call
Members Present: Al Chaffee, Greg Adams, Colleen Heacock, Jim Dooley, Robert Dickson
Village Officers
Charlotte Colley – Village Administrator, John Huey – Planning Coordinator
Visitors
John Morrow, Bil Kerrigan, Linda Riffle, Gary Rubel, Derrick Moorehead, John Lowe, Steve Kokovich
Approval of the minutes of the January 29 – 5:30 PM
Al Chaffee, Colleen Heacock, Greg Adams, Jim Dooley, Robert Dickson: All approved.
New Business:
• Charlotte began by stating that the annexation is not officially completed, there were changes requested by the County Commissioners and their approval is still needed. Once this is completed Village Council will have to approve it. We are planning for this to happen at our 5/11 Council meeting which would then allow the Village zoning jurisdiction. The Wallhouse has set an opening date of 10/2/15; they are in the process of putting walls up. This meeting is critical to provide the developer some informed recommendations for what they bring to us to vote on in May
• Al Chaffee asked if there would be any voting done today, Charlotte answered no as the Village has no force of jurisdiction at this time. The developer has been working with the Village to abide by the Design Guidelines and Zoning set forth in the pre-annexation agreement even though they are technically not within our boundaries yet.
• Jim Dooley asked if they were confident the survey issues will be worked out and they would receive the County Commissioners’ approval in time for the May meeting. Derrick Moorehead responded that they have made the requested changes and submitted them for approval. They are confident by next week it will be submitted to the County Commissioners’ for approval. They meet twice a week and once we receive it back we will forward it on to the Village.
• Greg Adams stated that at this point it was entirely up to the County Commissioners and we could not do anything to push it along
• Charlotte then went through the PowerPoint.
1. Details of Hotel Slide
• Greg Adams asked if we had anything more precise from the developer as far as a conceptual site plan. Charlotte answered: No, we have received a rendering (displayed hanging on wall) from the developer but nothing with precise information.
2. Landscape Slide
• Al Chaffee asked if the proposed landscape requirements would also apply to the ingress road. Charlotte answered no, since these guidelines just apply to the hotel itself.
• Greg Adams asked why we were just looking at these guidelines for the hotel; he stated we should have a site plan for the whole development and be working on establishing guidelines for it in its entirety. Jim Dooley agreed that this would be helpful.
• Charlotte Colley stated that a full site plan is something we have been requesting from the applicants for quite some time and while the Village understands that they are still trying to finalize their interested parties we at least need a site plan that shows permanent structures; such as roads in a very detailed, exact, engineered quality with size references and accounting for traffic management. Developer will need to work on utilities soon and we have nothing built to provide these at this time.
• Greg Adams stated that the point is the detailed site plan needs to come from the applicant. Figuring out how the new development will integrate with current traffic patterns will be key.
3. Parking Slide
• Robert Dickson asked if three bus spaces will be enough for the hotel. Linda Riffle replied yes.
4. Storm water Management Slide
• Charlotte explained that because there is uncertainty surrounding what other structures/businesses will be in the development this is a moving target as far as what the developer plans to do. Greg Adams stated that it’s worth thinking about storm water management for the entire development vs. just the hotel.
• Al Chaffee asked what underground storm water management was. Charlotte explained that the developer has the option to choose underground storm water management; however it is an expensive option. Greg Adams mentioned that we want to ensure this remains a first class establishment and is aesthetically pleasing. The idea of a retention pond was brought up. John Huey mentioned the one by Kohls is very nice and done beautifully; whereas Steve Kokovich mentioned the one by Wal-Mart in Cambridge as an example that would be unsatisfactory.
5. Sidewalks and Lighting Slide
• Charlotte stated that no plan has been shown by the developer for this in regards to the building and parking lot. Al Chaffee mentioned we want to ensure this is done properly so the hotel is not “turning its back” on New Concord.
6. Utilities Slide
• Greg Adams again stated we need a full detailed site plan which would be helpful in understanding where utilities will be provided to not just the hotel but other properties. If electric lines and such are run without taking this into account, other properties might end up with lines running through their front/back yards which would lower property value and lessen the aesthetics of the development.
• Jim Dooley agreed and stated if utilities are not pre-planned for all properties it may look uphill which would make it awkward. Al Chaffee asked about the underground requirements for electric lines, if there were rules on them not exceeding 1000 feet or anything. John Huey replied no, Mr. Rubel already paid to run the lines under SR 83 at the beginning of the project to work with us regarding our requirement of no overhead lines crossing the State Route. Charlotte said the Guernsey Muskingum Electric has been working closely with the Village to make sure we are satisfied with how the electric is run to prevent the developer from running it once and then having to redo it once it’s annexed to meet our standards.
• Greg Adams stated that is was great that Mr. Rubel and the developer decided to run the electric underground from the beginning as this set a precedent for the rest of the development.
7. Traffic Flow Slide
• Al Chaffee asked if there was an existing issue regarding the concern of traffic flow. Charlotte explained that we need to have preliminary engineering done to know if it makes sense for Liberty Rd. to be relocated. Greg Adams stated that he thought the original vision was when working with EMH&T that there be one access point from 83 to not create any traffic backups with the interstate ramp and gas station being located in close proximity. John Huey added that the developer needs to look at this in a precise manner as it may not make sense for buses and other vehicles depending on the inclines and turns among other things. Greg Adams stated that we do not want to have a slow recreation of what has happen on 209. Al Chaffee asked Mr. Rubel and Linda to address this point once the floor was open.
• Staff recommendation for developers engineer and the Village’s to work together to develop an in depth site plan to address all points made in this meeting. Al Chaffee opened the floor for questions or comments.
• Derrick Moorehead reiterated that if they get a site plan together and work with the Village and developers engineers to get a detailed plan we can move forward.
• Mr. Rubel explained on an old map what he had planned in the beginning to Colleen and John Huey. John Huey explained to Mr. Rubel the items they previously discussed moving and lining up. John told Mr. Rubel again that all the planned curb cuts would not be permitted and detailed where he could have one, maybe two at most.
• Greg Adams asked if the Village has money set aside to get our engineer together with the developers engineer and get an appropriate site plan completed. Charlotte replied that we do. John Huey stated the site plan is holding everything else up at this point, the Village can’t perform any cost estimates, or work on things such as negotiations with Muskingum County.
• Linda commented that they are stalled because they cannot get an upscale restaurant to commit until they can assure them they will be able to obtain a liquor license. They are retaining an attorney now but they have to ensure and obtain these to get interested chains to commit and get contracts signed with them. This will allow for a better understanding of what restaurant is where and size as well as other specs for the site plan. Charlotte stated we don’t need specifics on names, we just need conceptual locations. John Huey added we need a site plan that shows things such as distances between buildings and roads, size and layout of potential plots, etc. Linda said that today they agreed to work with the Village’s engineer to get these things accomplished and provide rough estimates.
• Jim Dooley stated we need a certain level of detail to know what we are on the hook for as far as supplying water/sewer etc. We have nothing to go off of currently to figure these logistics out.
• Linda said they will go back to their design team and work with both the developer’s engineers as well as the Village engineers to get this done. John Huey stated that if they can just get the engineers together they will come to the Village to get the specifics on what we require. Al Chaffee asked how quickly this can get done. Linda stated we should be able to meet the May 18th. Al Chaffee stated that it must be completed otherwise there is no need to meet. Greg Adams stated preferably we need it before this meeting to review and have questions ready.
• Steve Kokovich added that he doesn’t want to abandon the idea of re-routing Liberty St. Greg Adams said we haven’t given up on that idea. Al Chaffee added that we would like the engineers to make suggestions on that point.
• Greg Adams reiterated that we want to avoid intersections like I70 and 209 that have been sequentially added. Our goal is to make this one of the best intersections around.
• Linda agreed. The idea is to enhance the area and make it attractive and create additional traffic to enhance revenues. Colleen Heacock added that we appreciate the investment and can see it being mutually beneficial.
• Al Chaffee asked if there was any other business. Jim Dooley asked for clarification on when the next meeting would be. Charlotte clarified that Poggemeyer was available to be here May 18th so that was the date of the next meeting.
• Al Chaffee: Moved to adjourn
• Greg Adams: Seconded
• Al Chaffee: Meeting adjourned