COVINGTON PLANNING COMMISSION
MAY 21, 2007
Covington Planning Commission held their monthly meeting, Monday, May 21, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. at 333 W. Locust St., Council Chambers, and Covington, VA. Present from the Commission were:
Mary Ellen Haines, Vice Chairman
Carolyn O’Conner
Howard Merrell
Jerry Morgan
Mike Persinger
Kathy Wilson
Jane Tucker, Recording Secretary
Absent from the Commission meeting was Chairman Tad Robertson and Mike Dolan, Zoning Administrator.
CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chairman Haines called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.
ACTION ON MINUTES
After reviewing the minutes of the April 2007 meeting Carolyn O’Conner moved the minutes be approved as read, second by Howard Merrell. Unanimous aye vote of the Commission followed.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The first public hearing was to hear and make recommendation on amending Section 3, uses permitted by special exception of Article IV, Residential District R-1, and adding Section 2.1, uses permitted by special exception of Article VIII, Office and institutional District C-1, of the zoning ordinance of the City of Covington, Virginia to allow communication towers as a special exception. Steve Carroll, Engineer for City of Covington, stated this request is so that a City tower can be located on the Smith –Dew property. Following discussion by Planning Commission Carolyn O’Conner moved the Planning Commission recommend to City Council amending Section 3, uses permitted by special exception of Article IV, Residential District R-1, and adding Section 2.1, uses permitted by special exception of Article VIII, Office and institutional District C-1, of the zoning ordinance of the City of Covington, Virginia to allow communication towers as a special exception. Second by Jerry Morgan. Unanimous aye roll call vote of the Commission followed. 6-0 in favor.
Following the approval of the ordinance change the City will have to come back to the Planning Commission for a Special Use Permit to operate a tower on Smith/Dew property.
The second public hearing was to hear and make recommendation on amending the sign ordinance to allow electronic message board signs. The Commission was given a packet of information prior to the meeting on this issue. Mr. David Stevens, with Your Signs, was in attendance to go over the specifications for the CVS sign. Our sign ordinance does not address electronic message boards. In a memo to Planning Commission Mr. Dolan stated the CVS sign is a non-obtrusive and ethically acceptable sign which is why he believes it should be used to set the criteria for our amendment to the ordinance. Following discussion with Mr. Stevens it was decided that the ordinance would reflect 100 square feet in size, do not exceed 15 feet in height to bottom of sign and the message board area does not exceed 42 square feet in area. Mr. Morgan stated that he would like to see the Commission revisit this part of the sign ordinance at a later time to possibly broaden and redefine/fine tune this area of the sign ordinance. Jerry Morgan moved the Planning Commission recommend to City Council amending the sign ordinance to read: Electronic message board signs are permitted provided that they do not exceed 100 square feet in size, do not exceed 15 feet in height to bottom of sign and the message board area does not exceed 42 square feet in area. Second by Kathy Wilson. Unanimous aye roll call vote of the Commission followed. 5-0 in favor. Let the minutes show that Carolyn O’Conner had to leave before the vote was taken thus showing only 5 -0.
OLD BUSINESS
Matt Miller, with the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, was in attendance to assist the Commission with the Comprehensive. Since the Commission did not have the City of Covington Comprehensive Plan on their work list for the coming year they will have a limited amount of hours for assistance until Jan. 2008. Mr. Miller suggested the Commission begin work on goals and objectives and then maps and census data etc. can be done towards the end of the year. The Commission will go over Section: General Physical Design at the next meeting. City Manager Claire Collins gave the Commission a list of items and matters for consideration as they update the Comprehensive Plan. The Commission stated they appreciated this information from the City Manager.
NEW BUSINESS
CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.
_____________________ ___________________________
H.W. Robertson, Chairman H. Michael Dolan, Secretary
Covington Planning Commission Covington Planning Commission
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