Town of Lenox
Planning Board
March 28, 2017
Landuse Meeting Room
Members present: Chair Kameron Spaulding, (KS); Tom Delasco, (TD); Kate McNulty-Vaughan, (KMV); Pam Kueber, (PK)
Members absent with notification: Deborah Rimmler, (DR)
Staff present: Gwen Miller, Land Use Director/Town Planner, (GM); Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, (PA)
Also present were: Selectmen Channing Gibson and Ken Fowler, Clarence Fanto, Berkshire Eagle; Jim Biancolo; and David Carpenter; Lenox Dale residents, Jan and Tom Durfee and Kay Oft.
The meeting was called to order at 6:04 PM.
Informational Session
Proposed Amendments to the Lenox Zoning Bylaw and to
Zoning District Boundaries in Lenox Dale
Documents presented for this meeting:
- Proposed Zoning Bylaw Amendments-Annual Town Meeting 2017
- Add New Subsection to the End of 7.1 (Jim Biancolo)
The Bylaw changes include the following: Exempting use change and renovation from parking requirements in the Commercial “C” district; removing requirements from definitions and creating new special regulation sections of the Zoning Bylaw; making corrections to text for consistency; enumerating the Table of Uses; Removing Footnotes from the Table of Dimensional Requirements and creating a new section; expanding the Commercial ‘C’ district only in the Lenox Dale neighborhood to create greater conformity; shifting the Industrial “I” boundary to create greater conformity; and expanding the Residential “R-15” zoning district only in the Lenox Dale neighborhood to create greater conformity.
KS gave a brief overview of the three main items that the Board has decided to bring to the Annual Town Meeting in May. The first item deals with 10 pages of proposed housekeeping changes, with the only substantive change being the number of stories in a building in the C-3A and C-1A zones. It was agreed that Mr. Biancolo will work on clarifying this latest draft and provide to GM who will then review with KS.
The second item relates to the Lenox Dale zoning district boundary amendments. Of note is the inclusion of the property formerly known as Lenox Dale Service Station in the Commercial Zone “C” Zone and the extension of the Industrial “I” Zone across Mill Street and shift it across Crystal Street. The R15 zone is extended to make more residential lots conforming. A map of these changes was provided and reviewed. TD pointed out that on the map at the southern end of Lenox Dale, the triangle between the river, Mill Street and the town border was made “I” Zone and the intent was to extend the “I” Zone across Mill St., bordering Willow Lane to the river. From Willow Lane south down to Mill Street, those properties would remain in the R15 Zone. It is now proposed that the land that is the
driveway going into the gravel pit will be in the “I” Zone. Presently it is in the R15 Zone.
The third item is a proposal to add a new subsection to the end of Section 7.1, Parking and Loading requirements. This applies to Commercial “C” Zone. KS explained that this provides exemptions to promote adaptive re-use of existing buildings and structures.
The meeting was opened for questions and discussion.
Mr. Gibson asked how this parking bylaw amendment differed from the previous proposal of a few years back. KS responded that the former covered a larger area, which was commercial and the Historic District, and consisted of multiple pages. This, he said, accomplishes the same in a limited area and is much clearer. He concluded that work remains to be done in the whole parking and loading section, but that will come in the fall or at the Annual Town Meeting in 2018.
Mr. Biancolo asked about the text having words shown bold and italicized. The Board had decided that the approach would be to do so whenever a defined word was used. It was explained, that within the bylaw, there is a section for definitions, and the Board had decided that moving forward, when amending the bylaw, when a defined word was within the text, it would be in bold and italicized. Mr. Biancolo suggested that this not be done until the entire bylaw is updated. He feels that it distracts from the text. KS responded that this sets the template for going forward and the idea is to bring attention to the reader that this is a defined term that applies to the bylaw. The Board took this under advisement.
Mr. Durfee asked about the Niagara Mill and if its zoning would change. KS said that under the proposed amendment to zoning in Lenox Dale, it would remain industrial. Mr. Durfee also asked how difficult it would be if someone wanted to put something in the mill that was not industrial. KS responded that one would have to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals and that certain projects would be difficult. KS suggested that there be continued discussion on reviewing the Use Table with the Niagara mill in mind. KS added that the proposed changes for Lenox Dale are not as aggressive as the Board had hoped, but that it is a step in the right direction.
GM provided to Mr. Durfee a copy of the use table at the request of KS. KS suggested that Mr. Durfee review and make notes of changes that he would like to see. KS told Mr. Durfee that the week after the town meeting the Board will resume working on amendments to propose in the fall or the following spring.
PK made a motion to adjourn the meeting and TD seconded the motion. The Board agreed to adjourn at 7:10 PM.
A Public Hearing will be held in the Selectmen’s meeting room on April 11th at 6:00 p.m. It there is a large crowd, it will be held in the auditorium.
Approve minutes: March 21, 2017 The minutes were tabled.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
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