Winooski Council approves revisions to Unified Land Use rules to comply with 'Act 1 81'; staff outlines shared-parking safeguards

The Winooski City Council voted Monday to adopt amendments to the Unified Land Use and Development Regulations to implement measures described in the meeting as ‘‘Act 1 81,’’ including allowing off-site parking to count toward parking minimums and enabling hotel-to-housing conversions.

Revi (staff member) told councilors the changes are a ‘‘straightforward revision’’ that requires shared-parking agreements to be recorded in land records and reviewed at development application time to prevent over-commitment of spaces.

‘‘With any sort of parking to meet that utilizes off-site lot, there would have to be a shared parking agreement ... and that would have to be recorded in the land records,’’ Revi said, noting the city would review both the parcel that needs parking and the parcel that provides parking to ensure both remain in compliance.

Revi described three practical safeguards the city would use: requiring a signed shared-parking agreement, recording the agreement in land records (so it appears in future title searches), and checking the off-site parcel for compliance during development review. ‘‘Because a development needs parking, I would also have to make sure that the parking that is utilizing from a different site is also in compliance itself,’’ Revi said.

Councilors asked about temporary disruptions (for example, construction or maintenance that might reduce parking availability) and who would manage conflicts if a parking provider later wanted to terminate an agreement. Revi said such short-term operational issues would typically be civil matters between property owners; because recorded agreements would bind parcels, untangling or terminating an agreement would require legal steps.

Planning staff also noted the amendments include provisions explicitly intended to allow conversions of hotels and motels to permanent affordable housing and small changes to public noticing requirements under the cited act.

Councilor discussion focused on whether the city should prepare guidance in addition to the ordinance text to help staff, property owners and the public handle foreseeable operational problems. Revi and councilors said a guidance document could be developed later, while the change itself is mainly a reallocation of parking resource rights on paper.

Motion by Deputy Mayor Thomas Brenner, second by Aurora: councilors voted ‘‘aye’’ and the motion carried.

Ending: Staff said recorded shared-parking agreements and the city’s review process will be the primary means to prevent overcommitment; the council directed no additional action at this meeting beyond adopting the amendments.