Town of Lenox
Planning Board
November 27, 2007
Land Use Meeting Room
Members present: Chair Kim Reopell Flynn, KRF; Steve Sample, SS; Pam Mackie, PM; Kate McNulty-Vaughn, KM-V and Joe Kellogg, JK
Staff present: Mary Albertson, Town Planner, MA; Peggy Ammendola, PA, Land Use Clerk
Also present was Joellyn Warren, Community Development Coordinator with Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.
6:00 PM Minutes/Other Business
· October 23, 2007: KM-V made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. SS seconded the motion. The Board voted to approve 5-0.
· November 20, 2007: JK made a motion to approve as amended. SS seconded the motion. The Board voted to approve 5-0.
· August 14, 2007: KM-V stated she will email to PA.
JK noted that in last week’s edition of the Berkshire Record there were inaccuracies regarding the November 20, 2007 Planning Board’s Buccaneer public hearing. KRF noted that a Berkshire Record reporter was in attendance and asked if the matter should be brought up with him, but JK stated he would contact Tony Prisendorf of the Berkshire Record to discuss.
KM-V left the meeting at this time.
6:30 PM Informal, CVS
Making the presentation was Attorney Emil George; Jane Boyd of CVS; Jeffrey LeBeau, Project Engineer with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.; and Courtney Galyan of Gershman Brown Associates, Inc.
CVS has an existing pharmacy at the Lenox Center on Pittsfield Road. They wish to expand the size of the store and add a drive-up for their customers and they are unable to work out an arrangement to do so with the owners of the Lenox Center shopping plaza. Concept plans for a store to be located at Frank Vahle’s property, current location of Five Chairs restaurant and a car wash, were presented. The property is located in the C1A and C3A zones. A pharmacy is permitted in the C1A zone, but not in the C3A zone.
CVS was advised that a drive up is not allowed under the Zoning Bylaw even though the Board acknowledges that drive ups have operated at Burger King Restaurant, the Legacy Banks and the Lenox National Banks. KRF stated the Board needs to delve into this further as this has come up before in other informal discussions with CVS.
JK feels that the parking that has been proposed, in this discussion as well as in a previous discussion when CVS asked the Board for feedback on a proposed CVS at the existing Knight’s Inn property, is too much. He also suggested that the proponents research DarkSky.com and subscribe to their standards when considering exterior lighting.
It was conceded that there are obstacles to the project at this location, zoning in particular, and also the fact that drive-ups are not allowed. It was suggested that the proponents start a process now to take their proposal to expand the C1A zone to the Annual Town Meeting in May 2008. The proponents will consider.
PA left the meeting at 7:15 PM following the CVS discussion and MA took minutes for the remainder of the meeting.
The remainder of the meeting was dedicated to the Zoning Project and the Board’s input into priorities for the Community Preservation Committee. Joellyn Warren offered input on the organization of the zoning project as well as information on “McMansion” zoning. It was agreed the members would review the zoning bylaw draft document and offer written comments by December 11, 2007. The next meeting with Mark Bobrowski is December 20 at 5:30 PM.
It was agreed that open space is the Planning Board’s priority for Community Preservation Act funding.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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