Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay, you ready to go? I call the February 17, 2026 meeting of the Suffuk Planning Commission to order. This excuse me, this meeting is televised and video recorded for public viewing. We'll start off with the invocation by Commissioner Edwards. Let us pray. Oh wise and most gracious heavenly father, we come to you thanking you for all your many blessings. God, we thank you Lord for this time to come and reason together and to learn and glean for one another. God, we thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to live in a country where we can't exercise our opinions and we have the ability to debate these issues. Lord, I ask that you would give wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to both the commission and to the public that as we speak and hear of the u future endeavors that those who have um been part of entrepreneur community are bringing forth. Lord God, we ask that you will open our eyes, open our heart, and give us wisdom, understanding about what's best for the city of Suff God. Thank you for all for the staff for the city and all the workers and all the behind thes scenes work that goes into making these things possible. Oh Lord, bless this time and bless this day. In your righteous and holy name we do pray. Amen. Amen. If you're able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one indivisibley andice for all. Mr. Wine, would you please call the role? Yes, sir. Commissioner Bower here. Commissioner Creekmore here. Commissioner Edwards. Commissioner Goodman here. Commissioner Pal here. Commissioner Thornton Manuel here. Vice Chair Hicks here. And Chairman Staylor

here. Mr. Chairman, we have a quorum. We do have a quorum. Um, you were included in your included in your packets were the minutes of the January meeting. Um are there any corrections? If not, so they stand approved as presented. Um we have uh had five items on our calendar for public hearings today and um we have one that will be removed. Uh Kevin, would you like to comment, please, sir?

Uh yes, sir. Earlier today, uh, we received a request from the applicant as it relates to agenda item A. That would be your first public hearing today. Reszoning request RZN 2024015 Hillpoint Trace to defer consideration. Um, they're seeking a 90-day deferral on that item um to allow them to u make some modifications to that application as proposed. Um, as it relates to the 90-day deferral, state code stipulates that the planning commission must make a recommendation to the city council within 100 days of your initial um, consideration of that item, which starts today. Um, the earliest that city council would hear um, and consider the item after you all make a recommendation is 30 days. So, that pushes us beyond that 100 um, days. As such, um, should you be inclined, uh, staff is recommending that this item, um, be deferred for 90 or I'm sorry, 60 days. Um, so with that said, it would be appropriate to make a motion to remove that item from your agenda and um, schedule that public hearing for your April 21st meeting.

Okay. Anyone have any questions? Mr. Chair, I'd like to offer um that we remove our ZN20 24 00015 from today's agenda and defer it to April 21st. It's been a motion on the floor. Is there a second?

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Um call for the vote. See commissioners, please vote. Mr. Chairman, that motion is approved by a vote of 8 to zero. Okay, thank you. Um, moving on, we have um four public hearings today now. uh with the removal of that item. Uh public hearings are for 30 minutes, 10 minutes for the proponents, 15 minutes for the opponents, and five minutes for the rebuttal by the proponents. Our first public hearing is reszoning, excuse me. First got to move up a notch. Um, the first item on our agenda is conditional use permit request CUP 2025-000015 Shles Hill Road Condominium. Mr. Wine, will you please read the caption?

Yes. Conditional use permit request CUP 202515 Shoulders Hill Road Condominium submitted by Pete Alex Codorites Smith Farm Landing LLC applicant and property owner in accordance with sections 31306 and 31406 of the unified development ordinance to grant a conditional use permit to establish a contractors and trade shops outdoor storage and operations use on property located on Shoulders Hill Road zoning map 20 parcel 12. The affected area is further identified as being located in the sleepy hole voting burrow zoned M1 light industrial district zoning district. The 2045 comprehension plan designates this area as outside of the northern growth area employment center land use type. When you act on this request, you'll be acting on a resolution to present a report in recommendation to city council relating to conditional use permit request CUP 2025 015. Um I do want to note as it relates to this item, you will find before you at your dis here a revised um conditional use permit exhibit. Uh this exhibit has been modified uh to correctly identify what the ultimate use on the property will be and where it will be located and also to um incorporate a uh 50 foot landscape buffer as noted. With that said, uh staff planner Isabella Reynolds will walk you through staff's report on the item.

Thank you. Good afternoon, chairman and planning commissioners. Before you today is a conditional use permit request to establish a storage yard to store construction and landscape materials as well as equipment. A property located on Shoulders Hill Road zoning map 20 parcel 12. The 2045 cons comprehensive plan designates the subject property as part of the northern grove area and is part of the employment center land use type. The subject property of zone M1 light industrial zoning district and is located within SCOD the special corridor overlay district. The subject property is 20.31 acres in size though the area subject to the conditional use permit request is 1.802 acres. The property is currently under construction will consist of flex spaces and warehouses. To the north of the property is north Norfolk Southern Railroad Rideway and single family dwelling zone M1 light industrial zoning district. To the south of the property is Banket Land zone M1 light industrial. To the east is Banket Land zone M1 and a residential subdivision zoned RM residential medium zoning district. To the west is my storage zone M1 in single family detached dwelling zone RLM residential low medium zoning district. On the screen is a site plan of the subject property. Please refer to the updated exhibit. The exhibit was revised to ensure there is a 50-foot buffer from the external property lines to the storage yard. The modifications to the exhibit had no impacts to proposed use on the subject property. As you can see from the site plan, there will be a total of five flex spaces in the front of the property. The proposed location of the storage yard is in the rear of the property, which is outlined in red. The location of the storage yard will be sufficiently screened from the public rideway and the existing buffers to the Northwork Southern Railroad in the existing forested area. I see that the

outline didn't exactly correlate to the cup area when it got transitioned over from my PowerPoint, but it's a little bit more towards the right where the CU area should be outlined in red. The applicant has proposed an outdoor storage yard to con store construction and landscape materials. The applicant states the store materials will consist of gravel piles, pipes, wall blocks, conx boxes, various tools, concrete blocks, mulch, plants, and trees. The construction equipment stored will be small trailers, and small tractors. The applicant proposes the storage yard to be gravel. This is permitted in section 31-606 in the Unified Development Ordinance, which states, "Gravel may be permitted in a low traffic storage yard." The UDO defines a low traffic storage yard as a storage area generating less than 30 average daily trips. A condition of approval for this conditional use permit request is daily trip vehicles shall not exceed 29 trips per day. The property owner did provide a letter stating that the storage yard is not anticipated to generate more than 20 trips a day. In conclusion, this conditional use permit does sufficiently satisfy the criteria set forth in the UDO. The proposed storage yard is located in the rear of the subject property and sufficiently screened from the public rightway. Additionally, the storage yard aligns with the intent of the M1 zoning district, which is to promote orderly development and concentration of industrial and manufacturing uses. Therefore, staff recommends approval of conditional use permit 2025-015 with the conditions outlined in the staff report. I will be standing by for any questions following the public hearing. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Reynolds. We will now open the public hearing. Who would like to come forward to speak in favor of the conditional use permit request? Remember, there are 10 minutes for the opponents, 15 minutes for the opponents, and five minute rebuttal. Would you please give us your name and address?

Uh, good afternoon. My name is Ryan Hamilton, 1120 Independence Boulevard, uh, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Uh, I represent the owner, uh, and developer, uh, Codorites, Pete Coderites and Company. Um, as mentioned, we are currently finishing up the first three warehouses of the five warehouses at the front. When we were initially looking at this property uh and especially the area to the rear, we were potentially going to build uh other warehouses in the rear area. But uh both uh a number of tenants, potential tenants have come forward uh and shown desire for outdoor storage, which I guess is in a premium in uh a lot of these areas. We think this is a good area because a good space for this. It's surrounded by woodlands, got railroad to the north. um it's unlikely to be developed anytime soon and will be naturally screened around. Uh so we anticipate both supplemental uses by the people who are going to be leasing the warehouses at the front and potentially uh others who will come from outside this area. If there's any questions, my uh engineer Brian Lane is here as well. If there's any technical questions, if there are any other questions for the owner, just let me know. Thank you, Mr. Hamilton. Is there anyone else that would like to speak in favor of this request? Seeing none, is there anyone in attendance would like to speak in opposition to this request? Seeing none, this public hearing it's Oops. Got somebody. I'm sorry. I take that back. Would you mind coming to the podium if you can?

Sorry I missed you. If you could give us your name and address, please ma'am. Dr. Andy Pero and I live in Hillpoint and uh I'm a member of NRPA, but I'm not here representing them, but of course I I I root for them and uh I'm here on another matter, but I was wondering if it was appropriate for me to ask a question of the developers when they were talking about what they're planning on doing and what they're not doing. Is it not? No, ma'am. It is not. Okay. Well, that's all I needed to know. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to speak in opposition? I'm going look real good this time. This public hear Oh. Um since that was no opp that was really a no opposition so we will close public hearings. Um questions commissioners comments I I have one question of clarification on the letter to us it says the cypress voting burrow and I think you mentioned it was a sleepy whole burrow. Not sure if that means anything in the long run regarding the clical error. I know, but we can correct that in the record here. Good catch. All right. Any any other questions or comments?

I do, Chairman. Um, Mr. Hamilton. Thank you, sir. Um, what's what's the hours of operation for this? Is there hours of operation for this service?

We won't have anything. We don't have anything set aside as far as operational hours. The street lights are lit uh along that road that goes east west internal private road. The storage yard at this point is not planned to be lit itself. So, we anticipate it'll be daytime hours only. Um most of the uses that we have are contractors, electrician, plumbers, people have come forward, you know, looking to store their various pipes and whatnot that they need, you know, they can't fit inside a building and whatnot and they're going to be using during construction hours.

Okay. So, uh how long how long do you expect for this facility to to be there? Is this like a permanent thing? There's nothing permanent. If the warehouses do very well, we might uh add another warehouse in the back uh to go along with it. We feel like there's there is water and sewer to this site if we decide to do that. As of now, unless anything changes, the timing is indeterminate as to how long this would be an open storage area.

All right. Um what's what's the largest type of vehicle do you anticipate coming in and out on these trips to to this um facility? Uh I don't really know exactly the vehicle types. I mean I would anticipate it would be a dump truck. Yeah, it will be a dump truck. There'll be dump trucks that will go back there. Um there'll be I'm sure ConX boxes could be brought back there which would be a you know a tractor trailer. So just to clarify, you say dump trucks. Dump trucks. Yeah. Oh, okay. All right. Thank you.

For stone and landscaped material, mulch, that kind of thing is also it's solicited as a use. I mean, some people need areas to landscapers mostly need areas to lay out those kind of materials into stock piles. Is that? Yeah. Answer. All right. Thank you, sir. before before you step down. Anyone else have any questions for Mr. Hamilton?

Um okay, no other questions. Um motion I do I want to make an observation then I want to make a motion. Okay. Um when I went by there I did notice that I could not see a thing. So whatever you're putting back there um we can't see a thing. So that That's fine with me is is is why I said that. Um but my motion is that we approve CUP 2025-015 with the seven yes uh seven conditions.

Okay. It's a motion on the floor. Is there a second to that motion? It's been moved and second. Any other questions or comments? If not, Mr. Wine, call for the vote. Commissioners, please vote.

Mr. Chairman, the motion is approved by a vote of 8 to zero. Thank you. The conditional use permit was approved and will go before city council on March the 18th, 2026 with our recommendation for approval. Uh the next item on our agenda today is conditional use permit request CUP 2026-00001 Tiny Human Society Daycare. Mr. Wine, will you please read the caption?

Yes, sir. Conditional use permit request to UP 2026001 tiny human society daycare submitted by Kathleen Lynch, applicant and property owner in accordance with sections 31306 and 31406 of the unified development ordinance to grant the conditional use permit to establish a daycare family day home for 5 to 12 children on property located at 302 Edward Avenue, zoning map 25A, parcel One star J3. The affected area is further identified as being located in the Suffach voting bureau zoned RLM residential lowmedium zoning district. The 2045 comprehensive plan designates this area as part of the central growth area suburban neighborhood land use type. When you act on this request, you'll be acting on a resolution to present a report and recommendation to city council relating to conditional use permit request CUP 20261. Staff planner Caitlyn Albet will present staff's report.

Hello. Good afternoon. So, this is a conditional use permit request for a family day home at 302 Edward Avenue. This property is located within the Central Growth area. It's designated as serant residential in the comprehensive plan. Um property itself is denoted by the little orange star there on my map. You'll see it's just south of the bypass near Godland Avenue. Uh subject property is highlighted in that blue color there. It's little about a quarter acre in size. Um zoned RLM. That's that residential low medium density. You'll see that it's adjacent to RU and to the south there's a little bit of to general commercial and then where Elephants Fork is to the north there is zone RM again subject property highlighted in blue contains a single family detached home about400 square ft in size. I want to talk about what's around the property and the neighborhood that it's in. So you'll see again to the north is Elephants Fork and then right behind the house is the Villas at Reed Landing. This is within an established residential subdivision, Saddler Heights. And that's pretty much everything to the north and to the west. And then to the south, we have a couple of commercial businesses that includes business suites, Cross Point Church, Sawyer Automative, and then Sherwin Williams is just out of frame there. So for this proposal, I want to note the applicant currently operates a family day home for up to four children. Now, that is permitted by Wright by both the state and by our UDO. um she is licensed for that as well. And what her proposal constitutes is to expand that operation to up to 12 children, which requires a conditional use permit in the UDO. Um in this case would be up to 12 children under the age of five in the daytime hours and then four children for overnight care. I want to note um currently this is homebased business that is operated by the applicant with her husband as a sub

provider and at the time uh no additional employees are proposed. So the has a number of uh supplemental criteria for family day homes between five and 12 children. Um a lot of that is in detail in your staff report. I'm going to just hit some highlights here. You'll see that the applicant has supplied a floor plan. One of the requirements is looking at the space inside the home and again it's that 35 square feet without furniture or 50 square feet with furniture. So in the dashed looks purplish red on this screen um that's the area within the applicant's home that's dedicated to the stay home use and that confirms and that's about 850 square feet that there's enough floor area to accommodate up to 12 children and those are some photos other than in your packet as well the applicants provided just kind of show the interior of space um where she's going to have the children there's other criteria in the UDO um I'm going to just again hit some highlights regarding parking and the outdoor fenced area so uh zoomed in a little bit you can see there's the applicant's home the overall property that's shown in the blue. Um again, this is an exhibit um sketch plan in your packet. One of the requirements of particular is for an outdoor fenced area. Um that's shown in that kind of yellow stipple. Um and that's about again the minimum is 1,000 square feet. The applicant's kind of set aside, 1400 square feet in her backyard required to be fenced. I want to note the applicant um has brought some photos today she's going to put in the basket that shows that she has some interior fencing around that play area as well as the fencing around yard. Additionally, there's going to be on street and off streetet parking. That's shown by those black X's on the sketch plan. There's going to be two spaces in her driveway and then three spaces on the street. Edward Avenue is a wide 50ft rideway and can accommodate that off streetet parking. And again, those are the photos that are in your packet of the outdoor area.

Again, want to know applicant has updated photos she'll be placing today. So to kind of sum up again, family day homes are generally lower impact in residential neighborhoods. Um in particular, this one the size and scale is compatible with the neighborhood given that there's a larger yard than adequately sized home. Additionally, I want to note the applicant has successfully operated this business in its current form for a number of years. Um and she's expanding it to again accommodate more children at this stage. Again, we proposed a couple of conditions just to limit impacts. you'll see those and these are very standard for family day homes and they're just kind of reinforcing what's already in the unified development ordinance in terms of having the play area fence stop operating hours and things like that. So in some we recommend that the planning commission forward this request CP 2026-001 to city council with a recommendation of approval subject to the conditions outlined in our report. Thank you so much for your time. I have any questions I'll be here standing by. Thank you. Thank you, Caitlyn. We will now open the public hearing. Who would like to come forward to speak in favor of the conditional use permit? Anyone to speak in favor? If you would please give us your name and address. Pictures for you. My name is Kathleen Lynch. I reside at 302 Edward Avenue. Well, first off, I just want to thank everybody for their time and consideration for the conditional use permit request to expand my current license and operating family day home. My family day home opened in August 2025 to help meet a clear and growing need within our community. We currently operate Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6 pm serving

infants and young toddlers, a population that's significantly underserved within the Hampton Roads area. We're licensed through the Virginia Department of Education and we provide care for up to four children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. We strictly follow all state and local regulations regarding health, safety, and supervision. Our program uses a blended play-based approach rooted in creative curriculum principles with a strong focus on early learn language development, social emotional growth, and foundational motor skills, all crucial to the first years of life. As you all know, the population of Suffach has grown tremendously over the past few years. Access to reliable, highquality child care remains essential. I believe expanding my family day home is one small but meaningful way to support families in our community. In an effort to proactively address any potential concerns from neighbors, I shared information about my current operation and proposed expansion through neighborhood plat platform, social media, and local community groups. In addition to online communications, I have spoken with my direct neighbors in regards to the proposed expansion. The response has been overwhelmingly positive with many families expressing that child care, particularly infant and overnight care, is a crucial need in our area. I'm honored to share that we were the first recipient of the SUFFK Family Day Grant awarded through the SUFFK Economic Development Authority in partnership with Suffach Early Childhood Development Commission. Their investment reflects the city's support and recognition that expanding access to family based child care strengthens our local workforce and economy. Currently, we maintain a fully fenced backyard with a designated play area for children. Since submitting this application, we have further enhanced safety by installing an additional sixoot fence along one side of the property and have plans to um increase this privacy fencing in the remainder of the yard. Additionally, we have a separate three-foot barrier within the yard to ensure children remain in their

designated play space. Our outdoor shed is secured with two independent locks to prevent any child access. Professionally, I bring experience in both early childhood education and the social service sector. Through this work, I've seen firsthand how foundational early learning shapes long-term outcomes for children and how the lack of reliable child care places significant strains on families. Access to safe, stable care is not simply a convenience. It's a cornerstone of economic stability in child well-being. This conditional use permit request includes two components. First, I'm requesting to extend our hours to include overnight care Monday through Friday from 6 pm to 6:30 a.m. Since opening, I've received numerous inquiries from families seeking overnight care, including those working in healthcare, our shipyards, and other essential industries that operate outside traditional hours. There is a need for child care that supports non-traditional work schedules. For overnight care, each child will have an individual cot or crib appropriate for their age. will be assigned per child and washed and sanitized daily. Our evening routine will include dinner, hygiene, care, quiet reading time, and settling children by approximately 8:00 p.m. I will remain awake until all children are fully asleep and will then rest in a neighboring room with monitoring equipment in place to ensure continued supervision and safety. Second, I'm requesting an increase in capacity from four children to up to 12 children. This increase would allow us to serve families currently on our weight list while remaining in compliance with all staffing ratios. With the ex with the expanded capacity, we will hire additional qualified employees as needed to maintain the appropriate supervision and ratio requirements at all times. To minimize traffic flow within the neighborhood, our parent handbook includes staggered arrival and departure windows. Each family is assigned a 30-minute window for drop off and pickup to ensure traffic remains steady and does not disrupt surrounding homes. In summary, my goal is to continue operating a safe, professional, and community centered family day home that

supports Suffix working families while being a respectful neighbor. I'm committed to maintaining high standards of safety, compliance, and communications. Thank you again for your time, your service to our city, and your thoughtful consideration of this request. In addition, I'd like to personally thank the Early Childhood Development Commission for their support. I'm happy to answer any questions you all may have. Thank you, Miss Lynch. Is there anyone else in the group who would like to speak in favor? Anyone else to speak in favor? Yes, ma'am. If you'd give us your name and address, please.

Good afternoon. I am Kimberly Clark. My address is 4040 Godwin Boulevard in Suffach, Virginia. Good afternoon, uh, chair, vice chair, and members of the planning commission. Again, I'm Kim Clark, and I am the liaison for the Suffach Early Childhood Development Commission. I met Miss Lynch back in the summer of 2025 at a networking event for early childhood professionals. I met quite a few people at Playdate for Providers, but Miss Lynch stood out. Um, Henry Dixon, who is the Early Childhood Development Commission Family Day representative, and I both agreed that she seemed like someone who had been in early care for many years. On the contrary, Tiny Human Society had only been open for business for a very short time. Her enthusiasm and warmth were palpable, and I remember being excited for the families whose children would be in her care. Even the slogan on her business card showed that she was intentional in her approach to child care. It was obvious to me that she was fostering a sense of belonging and community for SuffK littlest citizens and their families. Fast forward a few months and imagine my pleasant surprise to see that Miss Lynch would be the first to apply for the family dayhome grant with Suffach economic development. I had the honor of preliminarily reviewing her application and was impressed with the content, the organization, the parent handbook, the menus, and the pictures of the physical space and layout of her childcare facility to name a few things. I was so impressed that I have retained a copy of her application as an exemplar. Just last week, I received an application from Miss Lynch for an ECDC mini grant, which um where each applicant is asked to provide a statement of need and a list of items

requested to meet the needs. They are also asked to explain how the items will support children's cognitive, physical, emotional, and social growth. Miss Lynch provided a detailed, thorough, child- centered explanation. We look forward to scoring her application and making an award determination. My final remark is perhaps the most important thing that I could give in support of a conditional use permit being granted for Tiny Human Society. And that is if either of my two grandsons were living in Suffach or any of the neighboring cities, I would implore my children to consider Tiny Human Society and Miss Kathleen Lynch as their care provider. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Clark. We have a few minutes left. Is there anyone else that would like to speak in favor? Anyone else to speak in favor? I see none. Is there anyone here who would like to speak in opposition? Y'all check. You see anybody? I see nobody. Okay. Uh there being no opposition, this public hearing is closed. Um is there anyone uh here um would have any questions? Commissioners, any questions, comments? All emotion.

I I'd like to just make a comment. Um I just want to further applaud Miss Lynch on your um all the work you've done to present a really organized and well doumented application. Um, I hope it wasn't too much for you to have to go through to get to where you need to be. I know that this can be an arduous process, but I just really applaud you because it's worth it and there's such a shortage as been mentioned for reliable child care. Um, I had twins so I had to find child care doubly fast when I had them. It was not fun. So, um, with that, I' I guess unless there's other comments, I'd like to move for um approval of You want to make a motion?

Yes. Or make a pot. Sorry. I'd like to make a motion in support. CU, sorry. You find the number. Sorry. U CUP 2026-00001.

Is there a second to that motion? It's been moved and seconded. I do have some comments also. So, um, Miss Clark, I my my wife serves on the early childhood um development commission, so I've heard a whole lot of stuff going on. Just thought I would comment that um our city is playing a very active role in the um home care um development and um there is a lot there's been a lot in the newspaper recently about how how much they're needed uh the businesses need somewhere for the employees children to go. Uh this is a good example of where the city uh with the early childhood commission and the economic development uh uh division actually helping um to obtain the uh approval uh that's here. Um I I know that Clint Rudy uh who is the head of the library, he's very active in this as is the uh we've had I believe there was a meeting held Monday. Um and uh there was a meeting last week because because I had to cover for my dogs while my wife was at those meetings, but that um they some of the uh the mayor and some of the city council members have also been um u very supportive of of what's going on. So, um, I'd like I'd like to say that, um, uh, Miss Lynch, uh, thank you for bringing this before us and we wish you the greatest success. With that, any other comments?

Question quick. Um, this was either the staff or um, whoever. Have we approved any other um, child care that's basically 24 hours, 5 days a week?

I I can take that. Um, this is a a relatively new phenomenon that has uh occurred with child care providers trying to um work with and incorporate services that meet uh the growing needs of the populations here in Hampton Roads. Um the this is going back to 2017 2018. Um, but we did have a request not for a family day home uh like this, but a standalone child care facility off of Finey Avenue um in which they were incorporating um after hours care. Uh so it would have been an overnight care and um we we did allow for that um in the conditions associated with that conditional use permit. Um that that is the one I recall off the top of my head. Um um that that was a that was a commercial facility um in a zoned oni I believe um but not a family day home.

Um hi. Yeah, just to supplement Kevin um the in 2025 actually there was a one you considered on Kilby that had an overnight element that was approved as well. Y thank you Caitlyn. Let me ask you a question. um how many um employees did that um application have the one in 25 that we approve?

I don't recall off the top of my head, but fortunately I have um some prior reports here. Let me see if I can pull that up real quick for you. All right. I don't have the exact number of employees for that particular um case with me at this time, but we can certainly provide you with that information. Commissioner, I I might just comment that I believe the number of employees is determined by the state. Uh state has there's a ratio that determines the age the number and the ages of the children. It it gives you the number of uh employees that have to be present at at this at the time they're

to make sure I understand this application is a husband and wife doing 24 hours for 5 days a week based on the application. Is that correct? That's only two employees, a husband and a wife. Um, at this time, however, they do plan to adjust as they grow as an organization. So, it's 12 It's 12 during the day and then they can do the maximum four at night. Is that correct? Correct.

And um the as noted there are ratios based upon the age of the child. Um the maximum being or the minimum uh being four infants to one employee. Um so under that scenario then they decrease the older children get. So under that scenario the max number of employees would be three and any other comments?

Yes. Uh chairman I have one uh Miss Lynch. Um, thank you for taking the time to uh come out today and uh I do agree that you know more child care is needed especially for a military family and uh I had twins too Mary I know

we do share that in common but I do have one one question um does our UDO states overnight hours for the family daycare uh specifically as it relates to family day uh homes from 5 to 12 student um children overnight care is not permitted. Uh that is why we've capped it at four um because family day homes um under five children are allowed by right in every zoning district in the city. Uh so that would be no different than um any other uh family day home operating with less than five throughout the city.

All right. Thank you for that clarification. Any other comments? We have a motion on the floor and a second. Um Kevin, please call for the vote. Commissioners, please vote. Mr. Chairman, the motion passes by a vote of 7 to one.

Thank you very much. Um, this conditional use permit was approved and will um go before city council on March the 18th, 2026 with our recommendation for approval. The next item on our agenda today is ordinance text amendment OTAA 2026-00001. Mr. Wine, will you please read the caption?

Yes, sir. Ordinance text amendment OTAA 2026 0001 initiated by the city of SUFFK for amendments to section 31406 and table force 4061 and section 31702C1 of the unified development ordinance. Uh the purpose of the text amendment is to update and refine the code of the city of Suffach chapter 31 unified development ordinance. When you act on this request, you'll be acting on a resolution to present a report and recommendation to city council relating to ordinance text amendment OTAA 2026 0001. Our zoning administrator, Bill Melon, will walk you through this ordinance text amendment.

Thank you, director. Uh good afternoon, uh chairman and commissioners. In response to citizen recent citizen inquiries, staff has been directed to explore the boarding of horses for compensation in the re real estate zoning district. The current definition as shown on the screen and our appendix A of the UDO is not proposed to be changed. But to review, a stable comm, a commercial, a stable of horses, oh, excuse me, a stable of horses, mules, and ponies which are let, hired, used, or boarded on a commercial basis and for compensation. This facility may offer equestrian lessons and may include a show arena and viewing stands. Currently, agricultural animals including horses and livestock are permitted in the rural estate district while the boarding of horses for compensation requires a conditional use permit for commercial stable as defined above. The commercial stable use is currently permitted as a matter of right in the in the A agricultural zoning district and the RR rural residential zoning district. staff believes that this use is compatible and appropriate for the re rural estate zoning district and should be permitted by right. As part of the update, we would uh simply move the conditional use permit from the use table shown on our screens to a P to be permitted use by right and also a little bit of cleanup related to it be section 31-72 for the regulations. Uh we would just simply where you see under C horses. Uh we would just simply

apply um the standards for a stable not including all stables not including u just the commercial but all stables. We would remove the private uh descriptor for stables for the housing of horse horses shall be constructed so as to facilitate maintenance in a clean and sanitary condition. Staff uh this proposed amendment is presented for your favorable consideration with a staff recommendation for approval. I'll stand by for any questions if needed. Thank you, Bill. We will now open the public hearing. Who would like to come forward and speak in favor of this ordinance text amendment? Is there anyone here who would like to speak in favor of this ordinance text amendment? If not, is there anyone here who would like to speak in opposition to this ordinance text amendment? Seeing none, this public hearing is closed. Commissioners questions, comments or motion is in order. Anyone have any questions? Comments or motion? Mr. Chair, I have a motion that we approve OTAA 2026-00001. Um, and namely those two two corrections, stable being made per uh uh um permitted and where private eliminated in front of.

We have a motion on the floor. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any questions, comments? If not, Mr. Wine, please call for the vote. Yeah. Commissioners, please vote.

Mr. Chairman, the motion passes by a vote of 8 to Z. Thank you. This text amendment was approved and will go before city council on March 18th, 2026 with our recommendation for approval. Our final final public hearing today is ordinance text amendment OTAA 2026-002. Mr. W, will you please read the caption?

Yes, sir. Ordinance text amendment OTAA 20260002 initiated by the city of Suffach for amendment to section 3171C and appendix A of the unified development ordinance. The purpose of the text amendment is to update and refine the code of the city of SUFFK chapter 31 unified development ordinance. When you act on this request, you will be acting on a resolution to present a report and recommendation to city council relating to ordinance text amendment OTAA 20262. Our assistant director of planning, Meg Pittinger, will walk you through this ordinance text amendment.

Thank you, Kevin. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, as vice chairman, members of planning commission. As Kevin indicated, um I'm here before you to speak to you about um an ornist text amendment that would permit battery energy storage systems as an accessory use in certain circumstances. Um there has been some interest that has been expressed to staff um by the manufacturing sector in particular in the city um to have the ability to install a battery energy storage system in conjunction with their facilities. Um a battery energy storage facility is a type of energy storage that uses large batteries. They're really big. Um I've got a picture on the next slide of an example of one. Um they're about in the size of of shipping containers. Um to store electrical energy essentially. Um they may get it from the grid. They may get it from renewable sources such as you know solar um and then they can use that during peak you know scenarios or during power outages during storms and that sort of thing to continue their operations. Um we obviously in you know in the city want to support the manufacturing industry um and so this is in in response to that but um we're also have some concerns um about them that I'll go through with you. Um again there are a lot of benefits um particularly to to the manufacturing uses um to provide them for backup power. Sometimes sources will use you know generators which have you know their own issues have emissions problems and things like that. this is a little bit cleaner. Um, and but there are some concerns. You know, there is some significant fire risk to lithium batteries and again these are pretty big. Um, there, you know, there's also some disposal concerns. So, we've tried to draft a series of ordinances that address these things while also allowing a limited use um within the manufacturing sector to to allow these. Um, we have spoken and collaborated with

the fire department to um to get their buy in, to get their comments on on what would be appropriate. We looked at um some other cities um within the area to things that they've adopted and and have going successfully to again to address some of the safety concerns while allowing this in in a limited um area where there's already city services should there be, you know, an emergency. This is not out in some rural area um out by a solar facility that doesn't have water. Um so again kind of in a very limited situation. We are monitoring general assembly every year. You know they have a million and a half bills but we're monitoring a couple that they're looking at um battery energy storage. One of them that doesn't apply in this situation, but that we are taking a look at um it's in committee in the Senate right now is about allowing battery energy as an accessory used to solar facilities by right. That we would not be allowed if this passes to require CUP for that battery energy storage. But that that general assembly bill specifically says the locality is still able to apply zoning standards and safety standards to allow their safe use. So it's very specific that apply to solar um which is not what we're talking about today um but that the only what we would be prohibited is requiring cup but we'd still be allowed to have safety standards um so what we are proposing in the in section 31701c is to allow battery energy storage systems as an accessory use to a permitted manufacturing use in the M2 zoning district and not to exceed 18 megawatt hours total storage capacity when we spoke to the folks wanting to do this, that was the limit that they had indicated that they were looking at. So, we feel like this is kind of me, you know, small to medium size. It's not super small, but it's not very big. So, it fits within that to allow them to have that backup storage, um, but not be

not be as big as some of the ones you see out, you know, out west that are are really big and have maybe some considerable, um, concerns about them. So, they would not be permitted currently with what we are proposing today. any other uses or in any other zoning district. So, somebody wanted to do this in a B2, they can't do that. If they wanted to do it in conjunction with a solar facility or shopping center, they wouldn't be allowed to do that. This is very specific to permitted manufacturing uses within the M2. Um, and so what we have addressed is provision of emergency response plan um controlling noise. So, just like with or very similar to solar, these have big transformers and inverters and so those have to be cooled, they create that noise. So, we've had some noise regulations that we've put in in the proposed regulations. Um, screening from off-site views. As you saw in the last picture, they aren't the most attractive thing in the world. So, requiring screening so that you aren't looking at them. Um, a decommissioning agreement, again, similar to what we have for solar and providing shity that they'll be able to to do that. We don't want these batteries just dumped in the river or taken to the landfill. um you know making sure that that it should at the end of its lifespan that they are decommissioning it properly and then compliance with all other local state federal rules including the fire code, the building code um and then notifying the city in case the facility is transferred just again so we can kind of keep track of it because again there's a little bit of a risk. We feel like we've addressed the risk but again we want to kind of keep track of these things and not let them kind of get out of our site. Um so the summary again provisions for um an emergency response plan safe shutdown the the folks that operate these things they are able to monitor them offsite by via internet right so that if one of the battery components starts to go off is you know is how they call that with the fire starts to go off they can shut that one down it's contained within that shipping container and then the other ones can operate and

they can address that plus again if this is on site with a manufacturing use there's staff there as opposed to being out at a solar facility where it's not staffed. So, we feel like, you know, having that having that emergency response plan with their site plan up front. Um, you know, how do they how do they deenergize so the fire department can come and safely, you know, address anything that's happening with that, requiring them to have some training for the fire staff so again that they know what to deal with. This is a little bit different than what they do normally. Um, and and you know, the operator that we spoke to um seem to they're they're per perfectly on board with these. Um again, a noise study to be submitted with the site plan and then screening from all off-site views, the decommissioning plan, the shity to go along with that 200 foot setback. We originally had maybe looked at 300, but we felt like at 200 feet probably is a good balance to again create some fire separation, but also some visual separation, some noise separation, and then complying the appropriate fire codes, the unified um bu the statewide unified building code, all the fire codes, all that NFPA stuff, all that, all the fire codes, um all the UL codes that go along with these things. And again, any other state and federal and local codes that we have. So, what it looks like, I didn't include the entire thing because it was pretty long when I printed it out. I didn't include the entire thing on the screen, but you have it in your package. All these things are detailed out. There's much more details behind each of these items that are proposed in the ordinance, but that this is what it looks like um in your ordinance. This is all underlined because this will all be added text in this chapter in in 3171 um section subsection C. And then um as we were going through this, I was like, yeah, I guess we also need a definition. So, we want to define what a battery energy storage system is in appendix A.

So again, it's this system of electrical chemical devices that super, you know, fancy word for, you know, it's a battery. Um, but we wanted to make it clear this does not include a standalone 12volt car battery and does not include electric cars. So we're not trying to regulate what you've got at your house, but again, these are for these larger systems. So I am happy, that was a lot. I'm happy to at the conclusion of the public hearing answer any specific questions that you may have. Um, and I'll be standing by. Thank you, Meg. We will now open the public hearing. Who'd like to come forward to speak in favor of this ordinance text amendment? Anyone here who would like to come forward and speak in favor? If not, is there anyone here who would like to speak in opposition? Anyone to speak in opposition? This public hearing is closed. Commissioners questions, comments, or motion is in order. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. Is there a second to the motion?

The committee on ordinances has recommended has recommended and I so move that we approve OTAA 2026-00002 by adding section 3 to section 31-71C I'm sorry as well as the definition in the appendix. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. Is there a second to that motion? Second. That's been moved and seconded. Commissioners, any questions or comments?

Yes. Yes, Chairman. I have a couple questions. Um, Miss Me,

how you doing today? I'm good. How are you? All right. Uh, just a couple clarifications here. So, uh, these these battery energy storage systems, they they have to be a part of, um, a a company. They're not standalone units. That's correct. The way that we have correct crafted the proposal is that these would only be approved as part of a man as an accessory use to a manufacturing use that is in the city. And this uh would be in M2 only in the M2 only in M2

manufacturing for some reason in the M1 of B2 or the you know C that wouldn't be permitted there. It's it's going to be very specifically only in the M2 and only with manufacturing not with any other M2 use. So currently where is the most M2 zoning that we have in the city? I wish you had been here during the comp plan because then you could have seen where all of it was. Um there's I mean there's it's all over the city. There's some on Wilroy, there's some on Nanzaman. There's some on Factory Street where the bird song is. It's you know where the airport is. That's M2. So it's in a it's in a a few places.

Uh any of these M2 surrounding neighborhoods? For the most part they don't. I mean that that's kind of why you have zoning, you know, the way that it is is to kind of separate uses. Um, for the most part, these are not located in neighborhoods. Are there some that are near neighborhoods? Yeah, probably. So, there's probably not manufacturing happening in those M2 places though that, you know, the ven diagram of those things are probably not intersecting. Yeah. you know. Yeah. My my concern is um around the shoulders hill, pewsville, Nasman, it's a lot of M2 and a lot of residential area. Yeah.

So if uh one day if there this comes to um purpose here. Um I mean I'm concerned about the fire of these things. I was I was reading researching and uh these these things are nasty when they catch on fire. um a lot of toxic gas. So um and I heard that you said that the city is prepared to to battle these fires. They they can handle these type of things.

Yeah. So part of what we put in the ordinance is that the whoever is putting in the battery energy storage would need to provide training for the fire the emergency responders to respond to these. Again, we collaborated. We sent these um ordinances over to the fire marshall's office, you know, to see if they had any any comments. We incorporated what they had and they didn't have any any concerns about them. Um and again, the companies in general have the ability to monitor these things off site because they are contained within those containers. they can shut the one container down um while the others, you know, while they figure out what's going on with their again and and because they're monitoring it constantly, if something does start to happen, they have the ability to do that. But it's also why we limited the size that we didn't allow these up to any unlimited size so that you know anything that were to happen would be would be minimized. And it's also why we had the the setback requirements. Also, within the fire codes, there are a lot of requirements for you don't see it in this picture here, but these containers as they're stacked next to other containers, they have separation within them. You know, they have it's gravel around them so that there's no combustible surfaces around them. But then when you set up the one container and the next container, they're not right up next to each other either. So that again, if one starts to get hot, the other is less impacted. Um so again with with all the fire code things and and with what we've put in here from the emergency response plan, we feel comfortable on a smaller scale that these will be manageable but also provide, you know, a really important service to the manufacturing industry to allow them certainly as they're creating the things that they're creating. They don't want to have to shut down should the power go out. You know, it allows them to continue have their operations without having to fire up a generator and do some of these

other things. It's a little bit of a cleaner thing in that respect. But again, knowing that there are some some challenges. Um, but that's why we tried to put, you know, where this is is a bunch of pages long, we tried to put enough things in that that should there be an emergency situation, we have enough in place that that they're able to address it. Do we have any of these um in operation around the city? currently.

We do not because it's not a permitted use currently at all. Somebody We've had several inquiries of people wanting to do them with solar facilities in particular. We've had three or four inquiries about that and we've had a couple that wanted to do them as standalone just as a battery energy storage facility, you know, not associated with anything. This is the first one that has come forward wanting to to have it in conjunction with this. So, there are none currently. Um there's one in Chesapeake that that um is I don't I don't think that's manufacturing. We're the first to kind of address them with manufacturing that I'm aware of. Um but no, there are none in the city currently. Yeah. Yes. Because they're not permitted.

Yes. I'm aware of the one that's happening in Chesapeake. Um there's one in Suriri County also. Um and White is also, you know, looking at their ordinance on this. Yeah. And again, we're monitoring the general assembly to kind of see what what they do as well because um you know that part of the clean economy act they are really pushing, you know, battery and solar and stuff like that. So, um each year they're they're kind of looking at at additional ways to to get away from traditional types of energy production and storage.

All right. Is there a reason why um we not allowing for M1 to have these um batteries?

We felt like it was more appropriate to keep the the M2 is much more likely to be away from residential and some of the other uses. M1 in some places uh is closer and manufacturing in general is in M2 for the most part. So, we felt like if we're going to start somewhere, let's start at the most intensive use um and see, you know, make sure that that we get it in place and it's okay. And then should there, you know, come somebody that wants to do it in an M1, we can evaluate that and come back with another code amendment to see if it's appropriate to do, but it may or may not be, you know, we haven't looked at those properties. May or may not be appropriate to do it in the M1 because again, that's supposed to be light industrial, so it shouldn't be as intensive of a use. We figure we feel like this is a intensive thing. So, we kind of want to put it in the most intensive zoning district at least to start.

All right. Thank you. While Meg's up there, anyone else have any questions?

Um, thanks, Meg. I was on the committee of ordinances and got to hear the very in detailed um on this and I appreciate the time you took with us to address like the safety issues kind of that Selena brought up. I feel like y'all definitely done your homework. That was one of my concerns. Um, I didn't ask this and thinking about it now. Um the do you foresee I mean this is obviously in a reaction to a community or a you know commercial sector need or want. I'm hoping that this will be a big plus for the manufacturing sector in Suffach. I hate seeing businesses of any kind leave that can't be successful. But I'm hoping that that I don't know if incentive is the right word, but do you foresee this being a maybe an opportunity to see a little bit of growth potentially with manufacturing.

I would think potentially. I mean, it does save them money, you know, because they can store power during the time that the power costs less, like at night, and then have it available for when it costs more during the day. So, you know, it does it does have the potential to save money. That's not the only reason that they're doing it, but I would think that having this ability certainly gives you another kind of feather in your cap of if manufacturing wants to come, but they're concerned about, you know, the grid or power outages and and ways to combat that. It certainly allowing this allows, you know, gives you something else to kind of offer them up. Thank you,

commissioners. We have a motion and a second on the floor. Kevin, please call for the vote. Yes, sir. Commissioners, please vote. Mr. Chairman, the motion passes by a vote of seven to one.

Okay. Um, this will go before the city council on March the 18th, 2026 with our recommendation for approval. Uh, that will finish our public hearings for the day. Um, just a a clarification and and uh moving on our schedule. I believe uh there was an ordinance committee meeting. At what point do we need to address that for uh is is there will there be a need for a uh an agenda item for next month? Yes. Can we handle that now? Um or later? Uh we can do that under new business, I believe. Okay. All right. Is there any old business? No, sir.

All right. Then we'll move to new business. Sure. It has been brought to the committee committee on ordinances's attention that we have not addressed our um flood maps and regulations in quite some time. So we are offering a motion that staff prepare and present via public hearing at our next meeting the changes that we need to do those to do that update. Okay. Okay. So, we've got a motion. Is that in the form of a motion? Yes,

that's the form of a motion that we have that as an agenda item for our uh March meeting. Is there We need the date on that as well, don't we? March 18th. Okay. A second to the motion. It's been moved and seconded. Any questions or comments? If not, call for the vote. Commissioners, please vote. Mr. Chairman, the motion passes by a vote of 8 to zero.

Very good. Um Kevin, status report. City council meeting January 21st.

Yes, sir. We had a total of four items that were considered by city council at their meeting of January 21st, 2026. The first being the preserve point reszoning request. That was um resoning request there off of Pitch Kettle Sweetwood Drive. Um extended to resone the property from RL to RLM that was approved with the voluntary profers as submitted by the applicant. The second reasoning request uh RZN 2024013 conditional. This was Lake Point um there on Manning Road. This was a resoning to from a agricultural to RLM, that's our residential low medium density district that was approved with profers as well. Uh the conditional use permit for 209 North Saratoga Street to establish live entertainment after 10 p.m. and public assembly uses on the property. uh that was denied by city council. And lastly, conditional use permit request UP 202516 Wellington Solar. This was for a solar facility um there off of Wheville Boulevard uh just outside of the town. This was approved with the staff recommended conditions. Very good. Do we have any preliminary plants been approved?

Uh no sir. Moving on. We've made it through our agenda items. Uh, commissioners, uh, any comments? Uh, I'm going to start down with Commissioner Goodwin, sir. Why Powell and Commissioner Edwards, welcome back. We've missed you. No, I'm not going to accept that. You got to say moving on to the left.

Yes. U good seeing you, Mr. Johnny Edwards. Um in my u reflection moment um for the late great Reverend Jesse Jackson um I'm reminded of some of the words that he said and um one of two things that stuck out to me when he said I am somebody and I hope everyone up here feels like they are somebody and making a difference here. And with that, um, another famous quote that will live on is, uh, keep hope alive.

Thank you, Commissioner. B, love the positivity. I'll just say I'm so looking forward to daylight savings and more daylight. And congratulations to everyone who's made it this far through the worst winter I remember in a while. Commissioner Creek Moore. Yes. And I I would like to uh thank the commission for providing us uh our new computers and hopefully these will be much better than the old computers. Vice Chairman Hicks.

Um moving on. I guess that's up to me. Well, the only thing I would say is while I was sitting here, thank goodness I had a backup sheet because my computer went black on me. So, but but I but I had prepared for such an event. So, with that, uh once again, um Commissioner Edwards, we are glad to have you back. You were missed and um we hope your mom is doing good. Uh and thank you for looking after her. With that, we stand a journ.