Minutes of Meeting— September 26, 2006
The Hudson Planning Board met at the Town Hall, 78 Main Street, Hudson, Massachusetts.
At 7:30 p.m., Chairman Robert D’Amelio called the meeting to order.
Present: Tom Collins, Robert D’Amelio, Rodney Frias, Dirk Underwood
Planner’s Report
Hammond Hills
The Board is in receipt of a request for bond amount from PV Davis for Hammond Hill Estates. The DPW has provided an amount of $154,139.00.
Rodney Frias, seconded by Dirk Underwood, made a motion to set the bond for Hammond Hill Estates at $154,139.00.
Vote: 3-0-1, with Tom Collins abstaining
Quinn Estates
Present was: Paul Giannetti, Atty. at Law
Dave Quinn
Atty. Giannetti has provided a letter to the Board asking the Board to consider amending conditions #17 & 18 of the Definitive Approval for Quinn Estates. The specific conditions are:
The house on Lot #2 must be equipped with a fire suppression sprinkler system.
The roadway and infrastructure must be constructed to Town standards existing at the time of sale prior to the sale of any lots to persons not blood related to the Applicant.
Mr. Quinn does not want to sprinkle the proposed new house because it is supposed to be a log cabin style house and it will not be aesthetically pleasing. There is also a concern that it will be financially infeasible. Also the Applicant is concerned that he does not want to have to commit to building the road to a standard unknown. He is asking the Board to consider requiring the road to be constructed to today’s standards.
Mr. D’Amelio reviewed the process with the Applicant noting that the appeal period for the approval has passed and no appeal was filed. He stated that condition #17 was based on a recommendation from the fire chief at the time. He would be hesitant to amend the condition after the fact. Mr. D’Amelio also noted that he doesn’t see the road standards changing drastically.
Atty. Giannetti said that when his client read the conditions of approval originally he did not understand the process. He also noted that the Fire Chief was supposed to send correspondence regarding his thoughts on amending the conditions. The Board indicated that they had not received anything yet.
Atty. Giannetti compared Quinn Estates with Redco Road. He stated that Redco only has to be built to the standards at the time of approval. Mr. D’Amelio argued that Redco did some work in the right of way including the whole base. The Board waived all road construction for Quinn to try and maintain the farm.
The Board would like to see comments from the Fire Chief, but are still hesitant to approve an amendment.
Mr. Quinn stated to the Board that he is inexperienced in development and did realize he could have questioned the Board.
The Board will address this issue at its meeting on October 17, 2006 at 7:30 pm.
256 Washington Street, Walgreen’s – Site Plan Review
Present was: Paul Giannetti, Atty. at Law
John Stewart, The Richmond Company
Josh Reinke & William Goebel, Bohler Engineering
Dan Mills, MDM
Al Wells, SEA Consultants
Mr. D’Amelio noted that Mr. Frias was not present at the last hearing and Mr. Parente is not here this evening. He asked Mr. Giannetti if he was comfortable proceeding with Mr. Frias as a voting member. The previous hearing had little information and Mr. Frias did not miss much discussion.
Mr. Goebel reviewed SEA’s comment letter and Bohler’s responses. There are about four issues that Bohler would like the Board to comment on before addressing them. First the minimum parking space required is 9 x 20 and that is what they have proposed. SEA noted that 10 x 20 is preferred. Mr. Goebel stated that due to the 30-foot drive aisles and the topography of the lot 10 x 20 would be difficult to fit on the site. The applicant is requesting to maintain the parking spaces at 9 x 20.
Mr. D’Amelio asked about the LED sign. He was told that it would be a lighted sign to advertise specials. It will be non-blinking and non-flashing.
The next issue related to Technology Drive. SEA had some concerns with the queuing at the Tech Dr. entrance and how it would effect the parking spaces in that location. Mr. Goebel stated that 3 cars could queue before the parking spaces are effected. Mr. Goebel stated that they exceed the parking requirement by one by proposing 72 spaces. He noted that Walgreen’s typically only need about 60 spaces. He does not feel the back parking spaces will be used frequently as they are the least desirable spaces on the lot. If it becomes an issue the spaces could be designated as employee spaces.
SEA also had a question about two-way traffic along the south side of the building parallel to the drive through. Mr. Goebel noted that is a convenience for customers. It would only really be a factor if the southern parcel were developed. The Board decided to table this issue for now.
Another issue addressed by SEA is the drainage at the Washington Street driveway location. Mr. Goebel noted that 1800 square feet of driveway will drain into the road and the rest will be handle by the catch basins on site. Mr. Wells noted a concern because he is unsure where the street drainage goes to or what the condition of the infrastructure is. It was noted that any pooling at the driveway would be the responsibility of the developer.
There was a discussion about loading and unloading. The loading docks are proposed for the rear of the building. They will accommodate box trucks only. Mr. Goebel will delineate the location and confirm that the turn radius is OK.
Mr. Mills reviewed the traffic study and counts. The estimated number of trips generated was obtained from the ITE trip generation manual. He noted that the peak times are 7:00am-9:00am and 4:00pm-6:00pm. The ITE manual states that 50% of traffic for a pharmacy is pass by traffic.
SEA had two main concerns including the impact to the queuing at the 99 Restaurant and the site distance for the driveways. Mr. Mills noted that the 99 Restaurant entrance is at a level of service D currently. He indicated that the future MassHighway project would likely correct the problems.
There was a discussion about turning movements and the intersection in general. The Board asked if the Washington Street entrance can be moved closer to the southern lot line. They were told that the engineer has tried to align the
driveway with the existing drive to the 99 Restaurant. The Board discussed doing it’s own traffic counts. Mr. Wells indicated that he would ask the traffic engineer about new counts.
Charles Rio, 259 Washington Street, stated that he thinks someone other than MDM should do the traffic counts. He was concerned that because the developer is paying for the report the numbers might be skewed. He also noted a concern about truck noise in the morning.
Marty Libby, 1 Lower Road, expressed concern that the traffic counts are off. He noted that his business has been there for many years and they count the daily traffic. He sees about 300 cars per day.
Nancy Girard, 263 Washington Street, asked when the study and counts were done. Mr. Mills said that the counts were done in March and the study in June. He also noted that the counts were inflated by 6%. Mrs. Girard also noted that the peak evening hours in this location usually end after 7:00 pm. She also asked if more driveways would be proposed when other tenants are established. Atty. Giannetti said that the tenants would determine those needs.
Mrs. Girard asked if the traffic counts took into consideration the possibility of directional signs on the highway and the additional traffic that would cause. She was told yes.
Tuck Walsh, 17 Brenton Wood Drive, submitted a newspaper article to the Planning Board regarding traffic issues.
Mr. Frias stated that he thinks a second traffic count is needed. The developer agreed to a second count to be done by the Board’s consultant.
Rodney Frias, seconded by Tom Collins, made a motion to continue the public hearing for 256 Washington Street until October 17, 2006 at 7:45 p.m.
Vote: 4-0-0, Unanimous
Minutes
Bob D’Amelio, seconded by Tom Collins moved to approve the minutes of September 5, 2006 as amended.
Vote: 4-0-0, Unanimous
Adjournment
Robert D’Amelio, seconded by Tom Collins, moved to adjourn at 9:30 pm.
Vote: 4-0-0, Unanimous
Cc: Town Clerk
Department of Public Works
Jeff Wood, Building Commissioner
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