Planning Board
Preliminary Meeting Minutes –
Recorded by Sharon Rossi
October 28, 2013
Members present: RMarshall, JFletcher, PRenaud, KO’Connell, AMoon, SChicoine
7:05 p.m. Minutes
KO’Connell began reading the October 7, 2013 minutes. Several spelling, punctuation and replacement of words were done. No substantive changes were made. JFletcher motioned to accept the minutes as amended. AMoon seconded. Vote unanimous in favor.
7:30 p.m. LMurphy Population and Housing Draft
LMurphy began by handing out a corrected sheet that will be inserted at page 27 as a result of suggestions made at our October 7, 2013 review of the first draft. Several formatting changes were suggested.
The following corrections and /or editions were requested:
· Page 28 Remove paragraphs beginning with ‘The fairly rapid increase’, ‘Specific to elderly’, and ‘Aside from the elderly’.
· Page 29 Remove Temporary Elderly Housing paragraph
· Page 29 Add title Planning Strategy and remove #2 from strategy list
A brief discussion ensued about the concept of workforce/affordable housing. KO’Connell said a lot of single homes are being turned into multi-family units. PRenaud said that he has heard many older residents commenting on a need for more housing alternatives in this town. RMarshall asked “What are the alternatives for housing that we provide to meet those needs in this community? The idea of clustering, while preserving the open space and the character of our community, might an option. Many of our older residents may have to leave because there are very limited affordable housing options.”
LMurphy said the Master Plan pretty well covers what Greenfield allows to meet the workforce need, but there is no incentive for a developer or a landowner. To encourage anyone to build multiple units, one option is to give them a density bonus. She said, “Incentives will make a difference, but is that something the Board wants to put into the Master Plan?”
RMarshall said that it appears that we have housing needs for all age categories and asked LMurphy to include a paragraph indicating that, over the course of the next Master Plan, we should explore alternatives to create new housing for all age groups.
JFletcher motioned to have LMurphy make the corrections and schedule a public hearing for November 25, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. KO’Connell seconded the motion. Vote unanimous in favor.
9:45 p.m. LMurphy present the Neighborhood Heritage District Draft Ordinance.
RMarshall said the NHDAC will be meeting Wednesday, October 30, 2013 to provide feedback as well. RMarshall asked LMurphy to prepare a map of this district to accompany the ordinance.
Discussions on the ordinance included:
IV. Definitions
· Character-defining fence – a definition to be gotten from MStier or LHengen
· Light fixtures – a definition is needed
V. Neighborhood Advisory Committee
· Insert after should include “where possible” one or more residents of the district…
VI. Actions to Review
· Parking Areas and Access Ways – the NHDAC to come up with percentages of size of increase to parking lot and driveway
· Trees
o Change the word diameter to “circumference” and remove “is necessary for safety”.
o Trees are part of the character of the village district and we want to keep them.
· Lighting – Change sentence to read “Light fixtures on posts that are 8’ in height from ground to top”.
VII. Standards for Review
· #2 bullet – Remove the word fenestration and insert “opening of wall of the structure”.
· #8 bullet – Remove the word building and insert “house” at the end of the first sentence. Also remove the word primary and insert “of house” in the middle of the second sentence
· Demolition: #4 bullet – Remove the second word ‘or’ at the end of the sentence.
· #5 bullet – Remove “other qualified professional” from the sentence.
VIII. Procedure
· #1 bullet – Insert after Planning Board “or CEO or any notable action reported to the town.”
· #3 bullet – Insert at end of sentence: “or a joint public hearing with the Planning Board.”
LMurphy said the benefit of an overlay zone is that the underlying zoning ordinance stays in affect. An overlay gives more flexibility to the district. JFletcher said, “We said this district was not to be as restrictive as an historical district, but it seems more restrictive than I thought it was going to be.” He asked, “Can we give the applicant and the Neighborhood Advisory Committee the option of whether or not a public hearing needs to be heard if it is a small change?” He also noted that there has to be consistency between the actions which precipitate a review and the standards for review as in the case of mature trees.
Following this discussion, RMarshall said, “What I am hearing is that the procedure needs to be clarified, simplified, and streamlined to avoid costly procedures for the applicant.” The board agreed.
10:34 p.m. CIP
PRenaud discussed some of the edits he had made as a result of our last review:
· Stephenson Memorial Library could be used as emergency heating/cooling station.
· Removed lease-purchase changed it to purchase to reflect new buying strategies being used.
· Recommended a study program for physical changes to the town offices.
· Added town administrator to do a fiscal analysis of town and school spending.
· Recommended that the tax collector requests for a new computer and software should be an operating cost, not a CIP item.
· Added ‘ditching and cleaning of culverts’ to last paragraph under DPW page.
PRenaud said minor changes will be done by Wednesday, and he will send a copy to everyone. Once this is done, he will present to the Select Board. Copies will be available to the town. It will be noticed as being available online, and physical copies will be made for the public hearing and for town meeting. He wants a joint meeting with the Select Board and Budget Advisory Committee to present the CIP probably in early December. All agreed that PRenaud has done a great job on the CIP.
RMarshall said the CIP takes a tremendous amount of time to gather and complete and asked if we should have the Town create a CIP Committee to prepare the plan for Planning Board acceptance? PRenaud said he feels that APatt could be coordinator of a CIP Committee. A CIP Committee would put it together and present it to the Planning Board; the Planning Board would then have to adopt it.
The CIP public hearing will be November 11, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. PRenaud will present.
11:15 p.m. EDAC Zoning Recommendations
PRenaud said the EDAC zoning recommendations will be done on November 25, 2013. He will be sending an e-mail about the recommendations for both locations explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the new overlay industrial districts. The language for the new industrial overlay for the zoning ordinance will be written in December based on what the Planning Board wants.
11:20 p.m. Other Business
PRenaud asked for a copy of the Homeowner’s Association Agreement from the Sawmill Estates development. RMarshall said he would get it to everyone.
KO’Connell talked about the trees that are being cleared along Rte. 31 Lyndeborough and its possible impact to Greenfield. “There is a 12’ foot strip being logged on either side of the road by Asplundh. The only possible way to stop this is to declare all our roads as scenic.” He said, “Our trees are an important part of the character of the town and losing them will definitely change the character of our village.” RMarshall and KO’Connell will meet with the Select Board and talk about the tree cutting situation along the town’s main roads.
11:29 p.m. Mail Received.
· DES brochure
· List of Town Officers
· Greenfield Building Permits 2013
· Letter from Catherine A Beah, DES Re: Draft Permit for CMRC wood fired boilers.
· Invoice from Upton & Hatfield LLP totaling $54.00
11:30 p.m. Adjournment
KO’Connell motioned to adjourn. JFletcher seconded. Vote unanimous in favor.
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