 |
CHILMARK PLANNING BOARD
APPROVED
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 @ 4:30 PM
Present: Janet Weidner, Chair, Catherine Thompson, Daniel Greenbaum, John O. Flender, Andrew Fischer, Mitch Posin, Jennifer Christy, Administrative Assistant
Not Present: Rich Osnoss
Public: Griswold Draz, Andy Goldman, Thomas Bena(with camera), Jessica Roddy, Joan Malkin, Mark London, Remy Tumin, Warren Doty, Miles Jaffe, Chris Murphy, William Meegan
Meeting was called to order by Chairman Janet Weidner at 4:32 p.m.
- Chair Weidner alerted all to the filming of the meeting.
.
Residential Bylaw Discussion:
- Chair Weidner asked Mr. Draz (former Wellfleet Planning Board member) to describe his experience and work in Wellfleet.
- Mr. Draz addressed the legality of limiting house size in MA. He believes that it is a legal thing to regulate and referred to the Spooner case.
- Mr. Draz described the current house size regulation status in Wellfleet and briefly elaborated on how the current regulation evolved.
- Two primary residential districts
- Town, ¾ acre minimum conforming lot size, 15% lot coverage allowed
- Park (all the privately held properties within the National Seashore), 3 acre minimum lot size for a conforming lot (5% lot coverage allowed before the 2008 size limitation bylaw) Bylaw was passed in 2008 to require a maximum of 2800 sq. ft. for primary residence & 800 sq. ft. for an accessory structure for a total of 3600 sq. ft. of footprint.
- 200 undeveloped lots remaining, Wellfleet is very developed (Mr. Posin notes Chilmark has approximately 1000 lots to be developed and the proposed bylaw may affect much more people than Wellfleet affected.)
- 2800 Residents in Wellfleet.
- Mr. Draz further noted the overwhelming broad support for the bylaw at the town meeting and also noted there was great support for regulation in an area that is part of the National Seashore and because of reaction to a very large house bring built at the time. The bylaw was accepted by the Attorney General. Mr. Draz emphasized the clear power towns have to limit the size of the structures in their towns.
- Discussion occurred regarding the relevancy of the Spooner case. Mr. Draz read a portion of the case which notes the Mass law 40A saying towns cannot limit ‘interior space’. Mr. Draz asserted 40A does not intend to limit towns’ ability to limit house size. Mr. London questioned Mr. Draz’s characterization of the Spooner case and imagined the town would follow town counsel advice which seems to be that the town can only limit house size by limiting other things.
- Mr. London asked Mr. Draz about the motivation for the Wellfleet bylaw limiting house size.
- Mr. Draz answered that the motivation was simply to limit house size. There is no special review process for houses over a certain size and no “triggers” in Wellfleet.
- Mr. London noted the efforts of the subcommittee to do one of two things: either limit the size of the main house if visibility is the issue of concern or limiting the total built area if other issues in addition to visibility are the issues of concern. Mr. Draz asserted that a bylaw that addresses
- Mr. London also inquired about the process by which Mr. Draz got the word out about the warrant article.
MVC Wind Energy Draft: Mark London
- Mr. London presented a brief powerpoint of the latest draft of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s Wind Energy plan.
- Mr. London was selected as the MVC liaison
- Minutes: The minutes from the meeting on September 24, 2012 were amended, moved to approve by Ms. Thompson, seconded by Mr. Greenbaum and approved unanimously.
- Next Meeting: Monday, October 22, 2012, 4:30 PM
With no more business to discuss, Chair Weidner adjourned the meeting at 6:14 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Jennifer Christy, Administrative Assistant.
| |
