HANSON PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of the Meeting of
January 21, 2004
I. CALL TO ORDER - 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Philip Lindquist, Chairman
David Nagle, Clerk
Joan DiLillo, Member (Arrived at 7:35 p.m.)
Gordon Coyle, Member
Absent: Gerard LeBlanc, Vice Chairman
Others Present: Town Planner Noreen O’Toole
Administrative Assistant Barbara Ferguson
II. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES
Acceptance of the Minutes of the Meeting of January 7, 2004
Motion to Accept the Minutes of the Meeting of January 7, 2004: David Nagle Second: Gordon Coyle
Vote: 4-0
Acceptance of the Minutes of the StoneBridge Commons Continued Public Hearing of January 7, 2004
Motion to Accept the Minutes of the StoneBridge Commons Continued Public Hearing of January 7, 2004: David Nagle
Second: Joan DiLillo
Vote: 4-0
Release of the Minutes of the Executive Session of January 8, 2003.
Motion to Release the Minutes of the Executive Session of January 8 2003: David Nagle
Second: Gordon Coyle
Vote: 4-0
III. TOWN PLANNER’S REPORT
Master Plan Committee
Town Planner Noreen O’Toole told the Board that she and Administrative Assistant Barbara Ferguson went to Boston on January 20, 2004 to meet with Carol Thomas of Thomas Planning Services, the consultant on the Master Plan. She said that the Open Space chapter had been reduced as requested. She said that the project is coming together and Mrs. Thomas will be sending the office copies of the most recent versions of each component. She said that she and Chairman Philip Lindquist will be meeting with an architect to discuss South Hanson in conjunction with Executive Order 418. A January 14, 2004 letter from Carol Thomas indicates that Hanson’s 418 plan is approximately 11 percent complete.
Hanson Trails Committee
Ms. O’Toole said that there was nothing new to report on the Hanson Trails Committee.
Zoning Bylaw Committee
Ms. O’Toole told the Board that the Zoning Bylaw Committee would be meeting on Monday, January 26, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. to review potential articles for the May annual or special town meeting.
Old Colony Planning Council Joint Transportation Committee
Ms. O’Toole told the Board that the Old Colony Planning Council Joint Transportation Committee would be meeting on February 12, 2004 at noon.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
Memo from Acting Executive Secretary Meredith Scozzari
Potential Meeting Conflict - Summer Concert Series
The Board noted a January 13, 2004 memo from Acting Executive Secretary Meredith Scozzari advising of four Wednesday night summer concerts on the Town Hall Green expressing the hope that early notice would eliminate traffic and parking problems.
Memo from Acting Executive Secretary Meredith Scozzari
Annual Town Meeting Warrant
The Board noted a January 15, 2004 memo from Acting Executive Secretary Meredith Scozzari advising that the warrant for the May 3, 2004 annual town meeting will close on Tuesday, February 24, 2004.
Letter from Old Colony Planning Council
Chairman Philip Lindquist read a January 14, 2004 letter from the Old Colony Planning Council advising of the receipt of a grant to develop a regional, multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan with 15 individual community annexes. Chairman Lindquist is listed as the contact person for Hanson.
Sign Certificate of Action
Brookside Estates
Board members read the Certificate of Action prepared for Brookside Estates and requested two changes. Under Special Conditions No. 2 the words “and laid out for construction according to the drawings and specifications” was added. The second sentence under Special Condition No. 2 was changed to Special Condition No. 3 and then No. 3 became No. 4. Board members then signed the certificate which will be filed with the Town Clerk on Thursday.
V. OLD BUSINESS
Zoning Board Hearing
Comment on Proposed Wind Turbine
Whitman-Hanson Regional High School
Application of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, represented by John G. Crowe Associates Inc., for a special permit and site plan approval to allow the construction of a wind turbine to be used solely for educational purposes and located in such a manner as to reduce the length in which cable would need to be run from the school. The proposed wind turbine is to be built in the location of the proposed small detention basin located at the northeast portion of the site, farthest distance from any residential homes. The wind turbine tower will be a pole approximately 130 feet tall. This pole will be a monopole with no guy wires, and the base will be approximately 30” in diameter. The pole base will be attached to a concrete footing
approximately 15 ft. x 15 ft. The turbine will have three blades that will be 12 ft. long at 600 Franklin Street, Map 86, Lot 2 and Map 94, Lot 6, Hanson Assessors Map.
COMMENT: Board members had concerns with the visual impact of the turbine and its proximity to the school building and also whether there would be any noise associated with its operation.
Arbor House - Hanson Gardens
Request for Clarification of Existing Special Permits
Town Planner Noreen O’Toole advised the Board that she and Chairman Lindquist had met on January 19, 2004 with Selectmen Peter Jones and Mark Gallivan for a two-hour communication session on the Arbor House and Hanson Gardens projects proposed for the former Plymouth County Hospital site. At the session, she said, it was clarified for the two selectmen exactly what the Planning Board was looking for under the conditions of its special permits. The topics of discussion, Chairman Lindquist said, included the need for the submission of a parking plan, the requirements for phased construction, the need for a construction schedule and the reasons for seeking a bond to insure completion of the Board’s infrastructure requirements.
Board members agreed at the end of the discussion that a letter should be sent to Baran Partners’s attorney, Kenneth Hoffman, with a copy to the Board of Selectmen, outlining the Board’s positions on to the issues raised at previous Board meetings relative to some of the conditions of the special permits for the two projects. A license is being prepared by Town Counsel granting permission to pass over town-owned land to access the project, Chairman Lindquist said. Still outstanding, he said, is the issue of sewerage. Board members noted a January 7, 2004 letter from the Department of Environmental Protection advising the Board of Health not to act on any applications to approve construction at the site under Title 5 until an open commonality issue is
resolved.
VI. APPOINTMENTS
StoneBridge Commons
Continued Public Hearing
(See Separate Minutes)
South Shore Housing
Pleasant Street
The Board met with Steve Dubuque, Gerri Bain and Joan Maney of South Shore Housing to discuss proposed Chapter 40B housing on a 8.2 acre parcel on Pleasant Street the agency has owned for 14 years. Thirty to forty units of family housing were previously approved for the site by the Board of Appeals but the agency was unable to secure financing, Mr. Dubuque said.
Due to wetlands and aquifer protection issues, the current project can only have 32 bedrooms. The proposal calls for 20 units of family rental housing comprised of 12, one-bedroom units and 8, two-bedroom units. The rent for the one-bedroom units will start and $600 and the rent for the two-bedroom units at $800. Ten percent of the units, Mr. Dubuque said have to be affordable to persons whose income is no higher than 30 percent of the area median income. Potential tenants will have to undergo an intensive screening process, he said, with local preference granted whenever possible.
The units will be housed in four attached buildings with a driveway. From the street, Mr. Dubuque said, it will look like there is only one single family home on the lot. The cluster construction, he said, will leave most of the acreage undeveloped. Successful percolation tests, he said, have been performed at the site. Before filing with the Board of Appeals, Mr. Dubuque said, he will be meeting informally with other town boards to present the proposal for their review.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT - 9:15 P.M.
Motion to Adjourn: Joan DiLillo
Second: David Nagle
Vote: 4-0
| 
