May 8th 2008
Planning Board Minutes
Meeting to order: 7:05 P.M
Meeting adjourned: 9:00 P.M.
Members Present: Cindy Hoogs, co-chair; Brian Puntin, co-chair; Stephen Rose; Larry Klein; Alan Salomon
Public Present: Jessica, representing Kelly, Granger and Parsons. Also present was Selectman Wayne Burkhart.
· Jessica from Kelly, Granger and Parsons presented the board with a plan on behalf of Sara Hudson on Tyringham Road. The land is being divided to create multiple lots. An acre of the property is a no building zone given to Berkshire Natural Resources. The lots meet minimum frontage and acreage. It does not qualify as a subdivision. Brian made a motion to pass the plan and Larry seconded it. The plan was unanimously passed.
· At the recent town meeting it was decided to table the new driveway bylaw that was introduced as a special article on the town warrant for a special town meeting. Selectman Burkhart stated that no meeting or issues were expected to be coming up so he suggested that the board consider scheduling one. Cindy recommended that the board wait until the fall. The board was concerned with the fact that they had no idea that the bylaw would be tabled. A lot of work went into the process of amending the current bylaws to make the new one and present it on the town warrant.
· Cindy suggested redoing the accessory dwelling bylaws and having a special meeting including that with the new common driveway bylaw.
· Selectman Burkhart wondered if there were setback standards for the driveway bylaws. Was there any way to prevent someone from putting a driveway right at the property line?
· A special permit application was received for the seven arts condominiums on Lake View Drive. The project would consist of expanding one of the existing structures from a two bedroom to a three bedroom. The attorney for this project was unable to attend the meeting and requested that he attend the May 22nd meeting to present the project appropriately. The board agreed that this would be fine.
· The board opened the mail
· Alan stated that he felt the board needed to make a decision on what to do about the development of a Master Plan. Larry wondered if the board needed to know the state guidelines prior to any development.
· Alan received two proposals from Berkshire Regional Planning. One of them was for $13,000 and the other was for $30,000. The lesser amount requires the board to do the majority of the work. The higher quote allows for Berkshire Regional Planning to do the work.
· Sara Isaacs from Berkshire Regional Planning email Alan last week wanting to know what plan of action the board intended to take.
· Is it worth the time and money to make a Master plan? What are the benefits of it? Another point that was made was that if the state was going to mandate changes why spend the money if the plan the board makes now won’t be Grandfathered. The plan would ultimately need to be redone.
· Selectman Burkhart suggested that some select board members were of the train of thought that the planning board needed to do it a little at a time and get it done.
· The Planning board suggested that the make a presentation to the Select board and see if they would feel it appropriate to spend the money on making a master plan.
· Alan is going to touch base with Berkshire Regional planning to see where the state is at in the process of regulating Master Plans.
· Selectman Burkhart inquired what the boards thoughts were about the wireless communication bylaw. Cindy mentioned that no one has come to the planning board requesting that the board adds a site. The board needs someone to step forward and say that a tower could be put on their property. The bylaw currently states that a cell tower can only be on Mt. Wilcox which is state land.
· Larry informed the board that there was a new law that stated by 2010 every town in the U.S. had to be able to dial 911 from a cell phone. In other words the town needed to have cell reception by 2010.
· Meeting minutes from February 28th were approved as written. Meeting minutes from April 10th were approved contingent on one specific correction being made.
Submitted by:
Bridget Krans
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