Town of Lenox
Planning Board
April 28, 2015
Landuse Meeting Room
Public Hearing
Members present: Chair Kameron Spaulding, (KS); Mark S. Smith, (MS); Tom Delasco, (TD);
Kate McNulty-Vaughan, (KMV)
Absent with notification: Linda Messana (LM)
Staff present: Chris Ketchen, Town Manager; Gwen Miller, Land Use Director/Town Planner, (GM); Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, (PA)
Also present were the following: Drew Davis, Attorney Jeff Lynch, Attorney David Naseman, Mary Jo Piretti, Clarence Fanto of the Berkshire Eagle, and Stephanie Salvini of iBerkshires.
Proposed Village Center Parking Overlay District Zoning Bylaw Amendment
Posted March 20, 2015 and noticed in the Berkshire Eagle on April 8th and April 14th.
The public hearing for this amendment was held on April 21, 2015 and the purpose of this meeting was to finalize the document before the Annual Town Meeting on May 7th. A new draft, which is dated April 27, 2015, addresses the concerns expressed at the public hearing and subsequent discussions with Town Counsel and other “stake holders” in the District. Copies of the new draft were provided and GM explained that the changes were indicated in color, blue and red. (The reason for the different colors is that the document was being edited on different computers; blue changes were done on a lap top computer and the red changes were done on the work computer.)
The main change in this document is a result of discussion at the public hearing whereby questions were raised regarding the legality of allowing the Building Commissioner and Town Planner to make decisions in determining new parking standards. It was felt that the amendment as written did not offer any clear or objective standard as to how the decision would be made.
GM detailed the changes in this current draft including the list of criteria that staff would use to base their decision. She said that many communities in Massachusetts have eliminated their minimum parking standards. Reference was made to Parking Management Best Practices. If a property owner did not agree with the staff’s decision, they could appeal to the Zoning Board. The ZBA’s decision would be based on the same determining criteria as used by the Building commission and Land Use Director/Planner.
It was noted that other changes made in this document were to the previous language.
The Board reviewed the latest document and discussed it at length. Additionally there was further review and subsequent increase of the overlay boundaries. GM will re-draw the map.
Mr. Naseman made suggestions for further minor changes. Mr. Davis had questions relating to the process and wanted it simplified. It was explained to Mr. Davis that if one wanted to make a change of less than 25%, no additional permitting would be required. He was referred to the Dimensional Requirements of the Zoning Bylaw.
GM noted that she counted the parking spaces in the District area and determined that there are 842 parking spaces, which include a combination of public and private off street parking and off –street parking spaces. This figure also includes approximately 40 which are planned to be added this summer
A final version of the map and a new draft to correct grammatical errors will be made available at the next Board meeting to be held on May 5th at 6:00 PM.
GM asked the Board to send to her any further changes by 9:00 AM on Monday, May 4th.
The Board discussed the best approach when introducing the bylaw at the Annual Town Meeting. KS will make the presentation.
Approve Minutes:
April 14, 2015-MS made a motion to approve the minutes as written. TD seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 3-0-1. KMV abstained as she was not present at that meeting.
April 21, 2015-KMV made a motion to approve the minutes as written. MS seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 4-0.
TD made a motion to accept LM’s resignation with regret which was received this afternoon. MS seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 4-0.
TD nominated MS to fill the position as the representative to the HDC formerly held by LM. MS accepted the nomination to serve until June 30, 2015. There were no objections.
MS made a motion to adjourn and TD seconded the nomination. The Board voted to adjourn at
7:32 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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