TOWN OF LENOX
PLANNING BOARD
6 Walker Street│ Lenox │Massachusetts │01240
Minutes
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
6:00 PM
In Attendance: Mark Smith (MS), Kate McNulty Vaughan (KMV), Tom Delasco (TD), Town Planner Gwen Miller (GM), Clarence Fanto (Berkshire Eagle)
Absent: Kameron Spaulding, Peggy Ammendola (w/ notification)
The Planning Board tabled the approval of minutes for a meeting when all members would be present.
- Recap of October 27 Land Use Open House
The Planning Board discussed some of the key areas of conversation at the Land Use Open House.
TD expressed the value of the limited area zoned industrially in Lenox, and how it is important to keep it available to industrial activity and use.
GM mentioned she had heard desire for more day to day services in the downtown center at the Economic Development station, and noted TD had suggested more businesses like Winstanley Partners to develop a consistent day time presence and sense of activity in the village center.
The board discussed other issues such as housing for employees of local businesses, and the use of art galleries, clothing and antique stores with a maximum of 4,000 square feet prohibited in the Commercial “C” district. KMV noted the thought behind that had been to encourage services such as hardware stores that would serve the day to day needs of residents.
The discussion concluded with GM noting that there would be future meetings with Judi Barrett, the consultant to talk about findings from the open houses and recommended zoning amendments.
- CPC Update: Stuart Saginor Presentation
Tom Delasco provided a summary of the presentation given by Stuart Saginor, Director of the Community Preservation Coalition, at the November 2 joint meeting of the Community Preservation Committee and the Board of Selectmen.
TD noted that time is very important: the CPC could use more time to vet projects. He noted that early involvement is important for all parties, and that Town of Lenox was not alone in having complex land deals such as the Undermountain Farm take a great deal of time and effort. He noted a public hearing was not necessary as part of public review, but was recommended by Stuart Saginor as a good way to update the CPC plan, which should be updated annually.
KMV recommended that there be better outreach to other boards and committees in the future, because Stuart is skilled at presenting the CPA and its complexities, and has a wealth of knowledge to share with CPA communities. KMV further noted that the Community Preservation Coalition offers beneficial webinars.
- Discussion of BRPC Age Friendly and Young Adult Surveys
This item was tabled to discuss at a future meeting with all members in attendance.
MS stated that he, KMV and GM had met prior to the meeting to talk about the work done to date on the sign bylaw effort, and that GM had provided some ideas about continuing the work and gathering input from the business community and Historic District Commission to create a draft bylaw acceptable to all different stakeholders.
GM mentioned conducting a visual preference survey just for signs to develop sign design standards.
MS talked about pounding pavement to get people involved in the past and not having great luck in drumming up attendance or input, which was a frustrating experience.
GM indicated that she, MS and KS have been working on revitalizing the concept of the Village Path introduced in the 2008 Village Center Improvement Plan.
The group went over the conceptual map provided by MS.
GM mentioned a pending application to the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative Technical Assistance grant program to accomplish survey work for the route.
A motion to adjourn was made at 7:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Gwen Miller, Town Planner
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