Town of Chilmark, MA - Planning Board Minutes 01/12/15

Planning Board Minutes 01/12/15

APPROVED

Chilmark Planning Board

January 12, 2015

Present: Dan Greenbaum, Joan Malkin, Mitchell Posin, John Flender, Rich Osnoss, Chair

Not Present: Janet Weidner

Public: Danielle Pattavina, Jim Malkin, Chairman of the Town Committee on Squibnocket, Elise & Robert Elliston

Staff: Jennifer Christy, Administrative Assistant

Meeting called to order at 4:40 PM by Joan Malkin, serving as interim Chair

Minutes from the December 22, 2014 meeting were reviewed. Mr. Greenbaum moved to approve the minutes with no changes. Mr. Flender seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.

The Board members reviewed the reorganization of the bylaw amendments. Mr. Flender moved to approve the revised form of the bylaw amendments. Mr. Greenbaum seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously to approve the amendments reorganization and send the amendments to the Board of Selectmen at their next meeting on Tuesday, January 13, 2015.

The Board received from Ms. Christy the verbal confirmation from town counsel that what was communicated to the Board by Ms. Christy at the December 22, 2015 meeting was correct: “Ms. Christy reported that she received word from counsel, via telephone, that a covenant on a subdivision may be amended if the subdivision process is followed again. Ms. Christy relayed that counsel stated, in the same telephone call, that a covenant is a set of conditions and conditions may be amended if the proper process is followed.” Ms. Christy reported that town counsel also stated that it may be preferable to the Board to wait until a party submits a Form C with a changed covenant and then seek written opinion on the change of covenants, from an alternative counsel (due to the fact that RRKH cannot give a written opinion because of a possible conflict) with a specific situation to be considered.
The Board discussed whether the Board would need to obtain a written opinion on the changing of covenants at this point. Mr. Flender requested that a note be placed in the Planning Board files making a record of the discussions and verbal counsel responses to the covenant question.
The Board took no action.

Ms. Christy notified the Board that she had heard no response to the letter from Board to Mr. Meinelt concerning the access to the Meinelt house on South Road.
Ms. Malkin requested that this topic be placed on the ‘Open Topic list’.

Discussion occurred regarding the special permit hearing notice that was sent to the Board by the ZBA Admin. Asst., Chuck Hodgkinson. It was unclear why the notice was sent to the Board.
The Board decided to postpone the item and Jennifer Christy was asked to inquire with Chuck as to why the notice has been provided to the Board. She was also asked to inquire with Chuck about why the Board was provided the list of swimming pool special permit applications with the ZBA.

January 13, 2015: Joint Meeting with the Board of Selectmen to elect a new Planning Board member.

Mr. Posin suggested asking the Board of Selectmen to postpone the election of a new Planning Board member to allow the chance for the two candidates to attend a couple of Board meetings.
Jennifer Christy was asked to invite Ms. Pattavina and Mr. Eisner to upcoming meetings.

January 21, 2015: All Island Planning Board meeting: Discussion occurred about agenda items:

If there were 5 special permits granted in 2014, how many were permitted in previous years that would not have been if the “big house bylaw” were in effect earlier?
How close to the limit for acreage were the special permits granted?
Ms. Malkin asked Ms. Christy to find the form/chart that was developed for the analysis of the residential bylaw and was sent to the ZBA and the Building Inspector to fill out. Ms. Malkin asked Ms. Christy to send the form/chart to the ZBA and the BI to fill out again before the All Island Planning Board meeting on January 21, 2015.

Ms. Christy mentioned the need to compile the Planning Board’s submission to the Annual Town Report, due to the Executive Secretary on Feb. 2, 2015. She will have a draft ready for the January 26, 2015 meeting.
Mr. Flender inquired whether he is the Board member who is up for re-election this year. Ms. Christy confirmed that he is the member up for re-election.
Discussion occurred regarding the report from the Planning Board regarding the residential bylaw: the bylaw amendment states that a report must be created every two years regarding the impact of the residential bylaw.

Ms. Malkin asked Ms. Christy to add this topic to the next subcommittee meeting on the 26^th of January.
Ms. Malkin asked if Ms. Christy would inquire with Tim Carroll, Executive Secretary, how this report should be communicated and delivered to the townspeople at the town meeting.

Discussion occurred regarding the Squibnocket proposal that has been submitted to the Selectmen and the warrant articles that will be considered at the February 2, 2015 Special Town Meeting. Mr. Greenbaum stated there may be three issues that the Planning Board may need to consider in the future: the height of the roadway, the width of the roadway and the distance of the structure from the pond/wetland area. Mr. Malkin stated that after the Special Town Meeting on February 2, 2015, the Board of Selectmen may present a number of warrant articles for the Annual Town Meeting (April 27, 2015) that may address the acquisition of land by the Town for the furtherance of the Squibnocket plan. Mr. Malkin stated that the Board of Selectmen would most likely need to confirm with Boards, such as the Planning Board, whether all bylaws and regulations were to be adhered to in the implementation of the proposed plan. Ms. Malkin noted that, especially if there are time constraints due to grant proposals, the Board of Selectmen would need to consider calendar requirements for hearings and town meetings if they have changes they want to propose to the bylaws.

Meeting adjourned at 6:30PM. Minutes respectfully submitted by Jennifer L. Christy