Town of Lenox
Planning Board
Minutes
July 25, 2006
Land Use Meeting Room
Members present: Chair Kim Flynn, Steve Sample, Kate McNulty-Vaughan, Pam Mackie, Joe Kellogg
Also in attendance was Joellyn Warren of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.
6:30 p.m. Reorganization-Planning Board and review of minutes.
Minutes:
June 26, 2006. Pam made a motion to approve the minutes and Kate seconded. The Board approved 4-0. Joe abstained as he was not a member of the Board at that time.
June 12, 2006. Steve asked that these minutes not be approved until he has had time to review. (Kim will make copies and bring to the next meeting.)
May 22, 2006. It was determined that these minutes had been signed by Steve at the June 12, 2006 meeting.
July 11, 2006 There was not a meeting on this date.
Reorganization:
Chair-Steve made a motion to appoint Kim as Chair and Joe seconded the motion. The Board voted 5-0.
Vice Chair-Pam made a motion to appoint Steve as Vice Chair and Joe seconded the motion. The Board voted 5-0.
Member to serve on the Historic District Commission-Joe made a motion to appoint Kate and Pam seconded the motion. The Board voted 5-0.
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission-Kate made a motion to appoint Joe as the delegate and Steve seconded the motion. The Board voted 5-0.
(On July 26, 2006 the appointment of Joe Kellogg as the delegate was formally submitted to Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.)
It was decided to wait to appoint the alternate until conversing with Lois Lenehan who is the current alternate.
(Peggy was advised on July 26, 2006 that Lois will not serve as the alternate.)
Growth Management Committee-Joe nominated Pam and Steve seconded. The Board voted 5-0.
Form A for Tim and Kathleen Face, 25 East St., Map 4 Parcel 22. (The applicants failed to appear, therefore there was no action taken.)
Tim called on July 27, 2006 to apologize to the Board for failure to come to the meeting. It was an oversight. This has been rescheduled to August 8, 2006 at 6:30 p.m.)
6:45 p.m. Saratoga Associates to discuss preliminary plans for parcel known as Hashim property.
Joe Pofit, Sandy Zimmerman, and Britt Bassenger presented their plans for Brushwood Farms and an additional piece of property which involves approximately 158 acres. The company is Saratoga Associates of Saratoga Springs, NY and their business is developing communities. The purpose of this informal meeting with the Planning Board is to obtain early input from the Board regarding the proposal.
Mr. Bassinger presented site boundaries and sketches of their proposal. They have spoken with the Town Manager and feel that their plans meet the Lenox Gateway Development Plan for mixed use. At the front of the development there would be a 120 room hotel, restaurant, shops/offices, condominiums, clubhouse, walk-able streets etc. Forty thousand square feet of retail is being considered with apartments proposed for the second story. Sixty percent of the 158 acres would be open space. Up to 160 homes are proposed.
Behind this mixed use area is a section in the middle with a residential component.
In the very rear, the third part of the development, the proposal is for large single family homes on approximately 1 acre lots designed for character and safety. The street would be a boulevard. The building height in the development would be 2 stories, but the developers may want to come up to ? grade to accommodate garages in the residences. The idea would be to drive into the garage and access the living area via elevators.
Because the parcels cross three different zoning districts and is in the Overlay District, it is suggested that there be a coordinated review; the applicants would have to go through individual permits.
Board members offered several comments and indicated support for the mixed use concept of the proposal, including the preservation of open space, but cited their concerns for water and sewer, height of the buildings situated on the ridge and the size of the project. They also expressed the need for affordable housing. The developers were referred to the Department of Public Works to discuss their project.
Other Business:
Members of the Board discussed public notices received from abutting towns. It was requested that Peggy call Jorja Marsden of Stockbridge to request any information available regarding the proposed Kripalu expansion. (July 27, 2006, Jorja left message that the files/plans were too large to copy and asked that interested parties go to Stockbridge to view.)
ZBA petitions:
McTeigue/Wessel: The PB will not hear.
Kirby: The PB will not hear.
Decker: The PB will hear on August 22, 2006.
Greylock: The PB will not hear.
Memorandum of Agreement, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission: This contract was signed by Kim Flynn. The effective date is July 1, 2006. Contract returned to Town Manager’s office July 27, 2006.
Springlawn Mansion:
Reviewed the following:
Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Inc. letter April 24, 2006
Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Inc. letter July 6, 2006
Ware & Goodman, Attorneys at Law letter March 17, 2006
Kim turned the meeting over to Steve and left as she had a prior commitment.
7:30 p.m. Open Space Plan update, and to approve the open space plan map. Joellyn made this presentation. It had been thought that this had to be updated by the end of this week to be eligible for a self help grant, but the Select Board decided to not go forward this year as they did not feel that they were ready. This gives more time to plan, and the hope to get this OSP updated this Fall.
The Conservation Commission wants to go over some goals and objectives with Joellyn and Kim.
Joellyn provided two handouts for the Board to review. They are:
Five-Year Action Plan
Goals and Objectives
She asked the Board to review and decide what is relevant or not, completed or not or any suggestion additions. This would then be discussed at the August 22, 2006 meeting with Joellyn.
Joellyn also presented an Open Space Action Map identifying linkages to other parcels of land.
Joellyn also brought a Biomap that was developed in 2003 by BRPC to chart the biological resources and their support habitat. It shows current protected land. The objective of the Open Plan is to not have fragmented open space.
The Scenic Mountain Act for Lenox was approved in the 1980’s. At this time the
Conservation Commission is reviewing the Town of Richmond’s act and will determine how to construct regulations for Lenox.
Kate made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m. and Joe seconded the motion. The Board voted 4-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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