Town of Onancock Planning Commission Meeting Tuesday February 19,2019 5:30P.M.  Call to Order and Roll Call:  Chairman Judith Grier called the meeting to order at! 5:30 P.M.  Commission members Ridgway Dunton, Larry Frey, Judith Grier, Scott Schreiber and Matt Spuck were present. Commission members Bill Bagwell and Robert Bloxom were absent. A quorum wase established. Town Manager William Kerbin was absent. Deputy Clerk Mariellen Mearsheimer wasi in attendance. Also attending the meeting were Onancock residents Jeffery Barrett and. Jim McGowan, Michelle Covi with RAFT, Brian Swets, Planning Administrator with the City of Portsmouth, Ray and Nancy Rosenberger  and an unidentified white male.  Minutes:  Chairman Grier asked for a motion to approve the December 18, 2018 minutes.  Commission member Scott Schreiber made a motion to approve the minutes. Commission member Ridgway Dunton seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote.  Items of Business:  A. Standardized Signage for Walking Trail in Onancock- - Jeffery Barrett  Onancock resident Jeffery Barrett presented his thoughts on historical signs and al historic walk for the Town. He stated hel had talked to Council member Robert Bloxom and Town Mayor Fletcher Fosque about the signs and the historical walk and wanted to speak with the Planning Commission. He stated the Town was founded in the year 1680 sO there is al lot of history and some wonderful stories about the town. He would emphasize the social history, how people lived and worked. He also stated historical signs and an historic walk would make the Town more interesting for tourism. Mr. Barrett stated the signs would be standardized and all have the same look. He stated this would be a long-term project and grant funding could be helpful. Chairman Grierand the Planning Commission members agreed to make it an agenda item in the B. Coastal Resilience Presentation - Brian Swets Planning Administrator, City of Portsmouth Michelle Covi with the RAFT Committee introduced Brian Swets, a planning Administrator with the City of Portsmouth. She stated Mr. Swets was invited to present examples from the City of Portsmouth's newly adopted Comprehensive Plan that may help make the Town of Onancock and other localities on the Easter Shore more resilient to flooding and the importance of Mr. Swets gave an overview oft the process they went through to develop their Comprehensive Plan called Build One Portsmouth that was adopted in November 2018. He stressed the importance of long-range planning, prioritizing your efforts, public outreach, talking to the  future.  addressing this issue in our Comprehensive Plan.  1    people, being transparent, involving staff, department heads and council members. He also stated the importance of making the plan user friendly, easy to understand. Mr. Swets discussed several different types of maps they developed fori the City, one being flood zone maps. Hampton Roads is required to deal with sea level rise int their comprehensive plans. The City of Portsmouth's flood zone maps show areas that are impacted by frequent flooding from heavy rains, tides, storm surge, and future sea level rise. One of their goals is to develop an inventory oft first floor elevations to determine thei impact and cost of flooding events on properties. This will help determine what projects to fund (or not fund) and implement to help At this point Chairman Grier asked ift there were any questions or public comment. An unidentified member of the audience asked if Mr. Swets used consultants. He answered yes, the project was too big for what he wanted to accomplish and explained how he used the Aquestion was asked by an unidentified member of the audience about how they got information from residents. He answered they attended events everywhere int the City asking questions and recording answers with paper and pencils and with white boards and markers. Commission member Matt Spuck asked if the City! had a financial plan that follows thier comprehensive plan or do they have this phenomenal vision and no resources to implement it. Mr. Swets answered they were working with the finance department to start retooling the capital improvement plan and their City Manager has expressed support for this. A unidentified member of the audience asked Mr. Swets how he developed the maps and was the data already available. He answered most of the data was generated themselves working Chairman Grier asked what challenges we might face being a smal! town with no consultants based on his experience and did he have any suggestions for what a small town could do. Mr. Commission member Schreiber asked who the visionary was behind the process and who was championing it to make it happen. Mr. Swets answered he was the visionary and he read a lot Michelle Covi stated the City of Portsmouth was one of the smaller cities in Hampton Roads and has one of the smallest budgets in that area. She said being resource constrained makes you use Mr. Swets stated the commission members could get updates about what they are doing by  reduce flooding.  consultants.  with the consultants.  Swets said to prioritize what we want to do.  ofcomprehensive plans.  your funds more. strategically with less waste. going to www.bulldoneportsmoutn.0rg.  Chairman Grier thanked Mr. Swets for his presentation.  - Comprehensive Plan Review  2    Chairman Grier introduced Onancock resident Jim McGowan, a Planner with Accomack County. Mr. McGowan has volunteered to help the Planning Commission with updating and organizing the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. McGowan said he helped update the plani in 1990 when hei first started working for Accomack County's Planning District Commission. Mr. McGowan stated the main purpose oft the Plani is to provide a background for the zoning ordinances. He stated the Comprehensive Plani is the reference the Town uses when planning projects or writing grants. Discussion followed about getting thei town Council and as many people as possible involved in the early stages of development of the comprehensive plan sO everyone will buyi into it when  the time comes to adopt it.  Chairman Grier thanked Mr. McGowan forvolunteering. prepared to discuss it at the next meeting.  Chairman Grier asked the members to read the old plan, become familiar with it and be  Public Comment: None. Adjourn:  Chairman Judith Grier made a motion to adjourn. Commission member Larry Frey seconded the motion.  The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 6:44 P.M.  iw  Judith Grier, Chair  Mariellen Mearsheimer, Deputy Clerk  3