Town of Lenox
Planning Board Minutes
Land Use Meeting Room
October 13, 2015
Present: Kameron Spaulding (KS); Mark Smith (MS); Tom Delasco (TD)
Absent with notification: Kate McNulty Vaughan (KMV); Ken Fowler (KF)
Staff present: Town Planner Gwen Miller (GM); Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, (PA)
The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM.
Approval of Minutes:
August 25, 2015-(Tabled at the 09292015 meeting.) MS made a motion to approve the minutes. TD seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 3-0.
September 29, 2015 MS made a motion to approve the minutes. TD seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 3-0.
Recap of October 6 Land Use Open House-Discussion ensued regarding the first of the two open houses that have been for the purposes of getting input from residents clarifying the zoning bylaw. It was felt that there was some good ideas expressed by the approximately 20-30 participants. The results have been forwarded to Judi Barrett of RKG Associates, Inc. who is the consultant hired by the Town to work on this project. ~ The next open house will be on October 27th and Ms. Barrett will be making a presentation at that time. It is expected that in this process of re-working the bylaw there will be two different parts. The first will focus on typos,
cleaning up the use table to match the rest of the bylaw, contradictions, etc., and the second part will be dealing more with policy changes. GM noted that comments made by participants suggested that they would like to see new and different uses both downtown and on Route 7, so policy changes would provide more flexibility for businesses. The plan is that the first part and perhaps one or two additions relating to policy would be ready for the Annual Town Meeting in May and that the other would be presented at a later special town meeting.
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Discussion of BRPC Age Friendly and Young Adult Surveys-Tabled until the next meeting to permit more time for review and for KMV to participate in the discussion.
Sign Bylaw Update-There were no new updates. KS commented that signs will be addressed in Ms. Barrett’s report to the Board. KS explained that Building Commissioner Don Fitzgerald has concerns about the contradictions regarding signage and wants this to be addressed.
Correspondence:
Willow Hill Solar Project –The Board has received an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) regarding the proposal for a solar array to be located at the former Schweitzer Mauduit landfill which is located in the towns of Lee and Lenox. Tighe and Bond represent Energy Management Inc. who is planning to develop a large scale ground mounted solar project at that location. A small portion would be in Lenox. Since this property is located in the R15 zone the proponents have filed with the ZBA a request for a Variance, but other than that the installation does comply with all of the requirements of Lenox’s solar bylaw. (GM advised the Board that the Attorney General gave final approval of the new solar bylaw on September 28th.) The ZBA hearing is scheduled for October 28th. Because the site is within the Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) it has triggered a MEPA review. The Board reviewed and discussed the plan. The ENF will be published in the Environmental
Monitor and after notification there is a timeline for any member of the public to comment on the project.
Other-Notices and Decisions from abutting communities were reviewed.
Old Business: MS noted that there had been some discussion at the open house last week about a pathway through the business district. This subject has been discussed in the past and he suggested that the Board revisit this idea. In the past some business owners were not in favor, but since then businesses and landowners have changed. It was agreed to schedule this on a future agenda.
TD made a motion to adjourn. MS seconded the motion and the Board voted 3-0 to adjourn at 6:47 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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