HANSON PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of the Meeting of
October 24, 2001
Meeting Room A
Hanson Town Hall
Members Present: Philip Lindquist, Chairman
Gerard LeBlanc, Clerk
Joan DiLillo, Member
Gordon Coyle, Member
Members Absent: David Harris, Vice Chairman
Others Present: Town Planner Noreen O’Toole
Administrative Assistant Barbara Ferguson
I. CALL TO ORDER - 7:30 p.m.
II. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES
Minutes for the Meeting of September 5, 2001
Motion to accept the minutes of September 5, 2001: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gerard LeBlanc
Vote: 3-0-1 (Gordon Coyle abstaining)
Minutes for the Meeting of September 12, 2001
Motion to accept the minutes of September 12, 2001: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gerard LeBlanc
Vote: 3-0-1 (Gordon Coyle abstaining)
Minutes for the Meeting of September 19, 2001
Motion to accept the minutes of September 19, 2001: Gerard LeBlanc
Second: Joan DiLillo
Vote: 3-0-1 (Gordon Coyle abstaining)
III. APPOINTMENTS
7:35 p.m., Hudson Park Associates
Form A/ANR, Brook Street
Dennis Leary of Hudson Park Associates told the Board that the Form A/ANR was being requested to reconfigure lot lines on Brook Street and Audubon Lane. The accompanying Plan of Land by Keefe Associates of Pembroke, dated Oct. 11, 2001, showed the combination of Lot 2B with Lot 4-1A to give the owner of the parcel a larger back yard and the combination of Lot 4-1B with Lot 2A. The total combined area of Lots 2B and 4-1 will be 40,000 square feet and the total combined area for Lots 4-1B and 2A will be 43,581 square feet.
Motion to approve the Form A/ANR for Brook Street and Audubon Lane as presented: Gerard LeBlanc
Second: Joan DiLillo
Vote: 4-0
IV. TOWN PLANNER’S REPORT
Master Plan Committee
Town Planner Noreen O’Toole said that she will contact Carol Thomas of Thomas Planning Associates for a progress report.
Hanson Trails Committee
Ms. O’Toole said that on October 30, she, Conservation Agent David Gould, and Trails Committee Chairman Philip Clemons will be meeting with a representative of Lite Control to discuss the possible gift of 40 acres of land to the town. She said that she recently did a site inspection. She said there are piles of tires as well as trailers filled with tires on the abutting town-owned property. She said that she already has the plan. All that is needed now, she said, is a deed and a conveyance tool.
Zoning Bylaw Committee
Ms. O’Toole said that no meetings of the Zoning Bylaw Committee are scheduled at the present time.
Old Colony Planning Council Transportation Committee
Ms. O’Toole said the next meeting of the Old Colony Planning Transportation Committee is scheduled for November 15. She told the Board Highway Surveyor Richard Harris had come into the office seeking her assistance in obtaining a Storm Water Management Permit for the town.
Vision 2020
Ms. O’Toole said no Vision 2020 meetings have been scheduled.
Other Matters - Subdivision Site Inspections
Pleasant Meadows
Ms. O’Toole said the roadway has final pavement down. The roadway dimensions vary from 12 to 16 inches, she said, and the cape cod berm is 24 inches instead of the 18 inches required. There is some breaking up of the sidewalk in the cul-de-sac area, she said.
Meadowbrook Estates
Ms. O’Toole said that roadway cleanup is required in this subdivision. No sidewalks have been installed. There is much work remaining to be done.
Catherine Road
Ms. O’Toole said the roadway and sidewalks have stabilized well. The bounds are in place. Some work is still outstanding. She referred the Board to an October 19, 2001 letter from the Board’s review engineer, Land Planning, Inc. of Hanson slated for review later in the meeting.
Alden Way
Ms. O’Toole said that the bounds are in the sidewalk area with spikes. She said that she had spoken to the developer’s engineer regarding installing bounds in back of the sidewalk. She said she had also spoken to one of the developers who advised her that the utility company has been notified and five street lights should be installed within the next few weeks. She noted that the basin in the subdivision are too steep.
Audubon Estates
Ms. O’Toole said that the roadway and sidewalk binder has been installed.
Washington West Meadows
Ms. O’Toole reported that the catch basins have been installed and the rebuilding of the basin has been completed. She said that the road indentation in front of the Gatley’s house has been repaired. There is uneven pavement coming into the subdivision which will be repaved, she said.
Anne Marie Lane
Ms. O’Toole said the office had received a draft of a proposed easement for a pedestrian walkway through the subdivision to town property. The draft has been forwarded to Town Counsel for review, she said.
Cranberry Estates
Ms. O’Toole said she has discussed the Conservation Commission’s request for improvements to the detention basin in the subdivision with the developer’s engineer and a resolution is being worked out.
V. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion to go into executive session with Attorney Patricia Cantor of Kopelman & Paige, Town Counsel, under Exception No. 3 of the Open Meeting Law, to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the governmental body and to conduct collective bargaining sessions: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gerard LeBlanc
Roll Call Vote: Philip Lindquist, Aye
Gerard LeBlanc, Aye
Joan DiLillo, Aye
Gordon Coyle, Aye
Chairman Lindquist announced that the executive session was being held to discuss litigation strategy relative to Goscon, Inc. v. Philip Lindquist, et. al., that the Board would be returning to open session, and that no votes would be taken. Also in attendance at the executive session was Michael Perrault of P.M.P. Associates of East Bridgewater, the Board’s review engineer on the project.
See Separate Minutes
VI. APPOINTMENT
Robert Gosselin, Goscon Inc. of Kingston
Rick Grady of Grady Consulting of Kingston
Attorney Lawrence Winokur of Plymouth
Irene Litchfield of 1248 Whitman Street
Attorney David Delaney of Plymouth
Goscon, Inc. v. Philip R. Lindquist, et al.
Land Court, Misc. No. 275140
Lawrence Winokur, attorney for Goscon, Inc., told the Board that his client requested the waiver of Section 6.5.3 of the Hanson Planning Board Rules and Regulations because without it he will be unable to go forward with his plans for the 1248 and 1258 Whitman Street subdivision approved by the Board at its Sept. 12, 2001 meeting. The waiver is needed, he said, to prevent Lot 1 from becoming more nonconforming. The owner of the existing house on Lot 1, he noted, has resided there for many years. He said that his client believed the Planning Board would be making its decision at its regularly scheduled September 19, 2001 meeting. Instead the decision was made on September 12, 2001 The Board’s decision to approve the
subdivision without the waiver was appealed as a protective measure, Attorney Winokur explained, to prevent the 20-day appeal period from expiring. A meeting with the Planning Board was requested, he said, to ask for reconsideration if the Board’s decision not to grant the waiver was inadvertent. He noted that a waiver of Section 6.5.3 was granted for the abutting Rye Hill subdivision. He also cited Cranberry Estates off Indian Head Street and Country Lane off Brook Street as examples of subdivisions that were not required to adhere to Section 6.5.3.
Rick Grady of Grady Consulting told the Board that the required roundings at Whitman Street can be provided within the paved way with an easement over Lot 1 for the sidewalk. Attorney Winokur noted that the approved subdivision plan maintains the frontage on Whitman Street for Irene Litchfield’s house that is shown on a Form A plan previously approved by the board which subdivided her lot from that of a family member. The current subdivision plan would redefine those lot lines.
Town Planner Noreen O’Toole asked Attorney Winokur to explain the easement over the corner of Lot 1 and how the easement would work when the town came in to take over the roadway. He replied that an easement would be drafted for review by Town Counsel that would go to the owner and his successors. She then asked what would happen if someone got hurt on that easement and was told that the owner would be liable until the town did a taking and then the town would become responsible as it is on any town way. Developer Robert Gosselin said that the easement for the sidewalk would be no different than easements for drainage for which the town also becomes responsible after a taking.
Ms. O’Toole questioned Rick Grady about the proximity of the radius to the driveway on the lot on the other side of the subdivision roadway and he replied that the radius would intersect with the abutter’s driveway. Ms.Toole noted that although the frontage on Whitman Street has not changed the configuration of Lot 1 has changed three times during the subdivision review process. The only nonconformity, Attorney Winokur noted, is the existing frontage which has not changed.
When asked for his comments, the Board’s review engineer, Michael Perrault, said that the town would not physically own the land under the easement when it accepts the roadway. The liability, he said, would still be on the property owner. By creating an easement, he said, the developer is creating a layout the town cannot accept. The developer disagreed with his opinion. Attorney Cantor said that the issue of whether the town could take the road with an easement would have to researched.
In conclusion, Mr. Grady said that all of the roadway construction can be done within the 40 foot strip which was created in 1953 by the Litchfields before the zoning in the area was changed with the intention that it would ultimately be used as a subdivision road. Goscon would be able to do all the construction it needs to do without rounding back these street lines, he said, which is why there is a good argument for waiving the requirement. The developer thought the rounding would be a good idea, he said, because it would allow the extension of the sidewalk out to Whitman Street which currently has no sidewalk.
In conclusion, Attorney Winokur argued that the waiver request would have no negative impact on the town and was consistent to prior decisions of the Board. It would also, he said, prevent Mrs. Litchfield from having to leave the home she has occupied for over 50 years.
The Board then decided to return to executive session to consider the information presented.
VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion to go back into executive session under Exception No. 3 of the Open Meeting Law, to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargain or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the governmental body and to conduct collective bargaining sessions: Gerard LeBlanc
Second: Joan DiLillo
Roll Call Vote: Philip Lindquist, Aye
Gerard LeBlanc, Aye
Joan DiLillo, Aye
Gordon Coyle, Aye
Chairman Lindquist announced that the executive session was being held to discuss litigation strategy relative to Goscon, Inc. v. Philip Lindquist, et. al., that the Board would be returning to open session, and that a vote would be taken.
See Separate Minutes
When the Board came back into open session, Chairman Philip Lindquist announced that a 4-0 vote had been taken not to settle the case and not to agree to change the Board’s decision not to grant the requested waiver.
VIII. APPOINTMENTS
John Delano & Associates
Form A/ANR, Main Street
The Board reviewed a Plan of Land dated September 18, 2001 prepared for Richelle Realty Trust which divides property owned by Richelle Realty Trust on Main Street consisting of 3.969 acres into two parcels with 30,723 square feet of the original parcel to be conveyed and combined with an abutting parcel owned by Charles Realty Trust.
Motion to approve the Form A/ANR as presented: Gerard LeBlanc
Second: Gordon Coyle
Vote: 4-0
C. W. Garvey Co., Inc.
Form A/ANR, West Street
The Board reviewed a Plan of Land dated October 22, 2001 prepared by C.W. Garvey Co., Inc. of Whitman for Lawrence and Margaret Mishou.
Motion to approve the Form A/ANR as presented: Gerard LeBlanc
Second: Gordon Coyle
Vote: 4-0
VIII . NEW BUSINESS
Land Planning, Inc.
Catherine Road Review
The Board reviewed an October 19, 2001 letter from Land Planning, Inc., review engineer for the Catherine Road subdivision which states that the location of utilities must be indicated on the as-built plans and outlines 11 other items that have yet to be completed by the developer.
Sitec, Inc.
Request for Extension of Time
Colonial Heights
The Board reviewed a request from SITEC of New Bedford requesting an extension for the completion of the roadways in the Colonial Heights subdivision to May 15, 2002. The completion date set by the Board at its June 20, 2001 meeting was November 2, 2001.
Motion to deny the request for an extension: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gerard LeBlanc
Vote: 4-0
November Meeting Dates Due to Thanksgiving Holiday
Motion to meet on November 14, 2001: Joan DiLillo
Second: Gerard LeBlanc
Vote: 4-0
IX. OLD BUSINESS
Conservation Commission
Quitclaim Deed, Hanson County Road Associates
The Board noted a copy of a registered quitclaim deed giving 54.5 acres of land owned by Hanson County Road Associates to the Town of Hanson for conservation purposes.
Letter from General Bylaw Committee
Following a review of a September 8, 2001 letter from the General Bylaw Committee relative to its desire to see General Bylaws Article 2-17, Sections 6-9 incorporated into the town Zoning Bylaws, the Board asked Administrative Assistant Barbara Ferguson to forward a copy to the Zoning Bylaw Committee.
X. ZONING HEARINGS
Application of Charles Flynn to amend the special permit to allow a home occupation with an office in a garage for the sale of used vehicles to area localities plus one vehicle for sale on premises to comply with Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles regulations, 178 Reed Street, Hanson Assessors Map 33, Lot 21.
Comment: No Comment
Application of John & Lucy Coutts for site plan approval and a special permit to allow the operation of a men’s barber shop at 309 Main Street, Hanson Assessors Map 40, Lot 45.
Comment: Inadequate Information for Comment
XI. ADJOURNMENT - 10:25 p.m.
Motion to Adjourn: Gerard LeBlanc
Second: Joan DiLillo
Vote: 4-0
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