Town of Lenox
Planning Board
March 11, 2014
Landuse Meeting Room
Members present: Chair Kate McNulty-Vaughan, KMV; Mark S. Smith, MS; Kameron Spaulding, KS
Staff present: Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, PA
Also present was Selectman Channing Gibson.
It was announced that Gary Schiff resigned from the Planning Board.
Approval Not Required Plans Subdivision Plans -There were none. KMV asked PA to advise her when anything comes in to let her know.
Discuss Legal Notice for Zoning Amendments-
Item 1 – Amend Section 5.2.4 Signs in All Districts by adding the following:
7. All Historic Building Markers approved by the Historical Commission. Markers for public buildings must also be approved by the Board of Selectmen and Markers within the Historic District must also be approved by the Historic District Commission.
KS attended the HDC meeting of March 4, 2014 as the Planning Board representative. He reported that the Commission discussed this bylaw amendment and he said the HDC is divided on the last part of the proposed amendment regarding “Markers within the Historic District must be approved by the HDC.” KS thinks the Board should leave the language as it is. Some Commissioners have indicated they will come to the Public Hearing and to oppose, and if the wording is changed at that time, this amendment can be amended by a Board member the floor.
Item 2 – Amend Section 3.3.5 Nonconforming Single and Two Family Residential Structures by deleting the term “habitable floor area” and replacing it with “gross floor area”. MS will speak to the Building Commissioner to get his input. KMV asked MS to also ask the Building Commissioner about 7.6.2. If habitable is a good idea it was agreed to have a definition, but that matter will be taken up at some time in the future. For purposes of the warrant, this proposal is only including Section 3.3.5. PA did a word search of the Zoning Bylaw for the word “habitable” and found five references under “habitable floor area”. If the Building Commissioner has issues, the Board can pull
this proposed amendment for the time being.
Item 3 –Add the following Footnote (8) to Section 4.1.1 Table of Dimensional Requirements: “(8) Flag poles of a height not to exceed 35 feet are permitted and shall be exempt from the setback requirements of this Section.” Discussion ensued. PA did a word search for “flagpole”, “flag pole” and there were none found. The consensus was to pull this one.
Item 4 – Amend Section 5.1.8 Parking Design Standards by removing the following sentence: “The following standards shall apply to all parking facilities.” The following sentence shall be added in its place: “The following standards shall apply to all parking facilities except one and two family dwellings.” Discussion ensued and it was decided to change to this:
Amend Section 5.1.8 Parking Design Standards by removing the following sentence: “The following standards shall apply to all parking facilities.” The following sentence shall be added in its place: “The following standards shall apply to all parking areas except those for one and two family dwellings.”
Item 5 – Amend Section 8.2.4 Special Permit and Site Plan Approval Required by amending the first sentence to read as follows: “A Mixed Use Development requires a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals in compliance with this section and also requires site plan approval by the Planning Board as described in Section 9.5 of this Bylaw.” The consensus was to pull this one as it is agreed that this is much more complicated. KS said the reference to the “requires site plan approval by the Planning Board” requires the Board to look at Section 9.5 to be sure that section refers to the Planning Board.
Item 6 – Amend the Zoning Map to show that the property located on Pittsfield Road identified as Lenox Assessors Map 27 – Lot 51 is zoned C-1A. KMV explained that at an Annual Town Meeting this lot was zoned as C-1A, but the map was never corrected.
Board Recommendation to Town Boards and Commissions-There were none.
Reviewed Correspondence from Abutting Communities & BRPC
Approve Minutes-February 25, 2014-KS made a motion to approve the minutes with corrections. MS seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 3-0.
Open Session (for Topics not reasonably anticipated 48 hours in advance)
Recommendations to town boards-KMV asked the members to think about a protocol for how the Board communicates with the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Town Planner-There was discussion relative to filling the position of Town Planner that will be vacated by Mary Albertson on March 27th. CG said that the Town needs to find someone to do minutes, possibly a Senior Tax Work-Off resident for the Affordable Housing Committee and Community.
Discussion regarding Berkshire Creative-The Board briefly discussed that the state has designated Berkshire Creative a partner in a new network that is using a regional approach to accelerate the economic growth of creative industries across the state. The local organization is now part of the Massachusetts Creative Economy Network, an initiative that the Patrick Administration established in 2012.
KS made a motion to adjourn and MS seconded the motion. The Board voted to agree and the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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