Planning Board Minutes Thursday December 8, 2011
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m.
Members present: Larry Klein, Alan Salamon, Barry Karson, and Maggie Leonard.
Public present: John Campetti from Foresight Engineering and his client Janet Cathcart.
Cathcart and Campetti presented the board with a form A for Cathcart’s property located on the southerly side of Route 23 heading east, just past the turnoff to Chestnut Hill Rd. in Monterey, MA. Cathcart proposes to divide her 10.79 acre property into Lot 1 with 8.20 acres, which she will retain, and Parcel A of 2.59 acres which she is conveying to The Monterey Preservation Land Trust. Parcel A has insufficient frontage, 96.97’, to be a building lot and language on the plan states “Parcel A is not a separate building lot.” Cathcart’s remaining Lot 1 exceeds zoning minimums with regard to lot size (8.2 acres) and frontage (353.72’). The board reviewed the plan and voted unanimously to accept the plan and a check for $40.00 was received.
The board read the minutes from the November 15 Public Workshop Meeting and the regular meeting of the Planning Board on November 22, 2011. The minutes from November 15th were approved without amendment; and the minutes from November 22nd were approved without amendment.
The board discussed the Telecommunications bylaw with regard to changing the recommended maximum size of the compound of the cell tower. Recent applications from cell tower companies have demonstrated to the board that the 25’ radius specified in the bylaws is inadequate to meeting industry needs. Larry Klein noted that different carriers seem to have different size requirements. Klein suggested that we use wording that will allow structures for safekeeping of electrical equipment, and not specify a size. Karson disagreed stating “I think more control than that is necessary. I see these things all the time driving to NYC and I see compounds that are not so huge, and they still have several buildings.” Klein said, “We should research other town’s telecommunications bylaws and see how they handle it.” Alan suggested wording such as “Communications shelters shall be of size and design customarily used in the industry.” Karson reminded everyone that “Five or six buildings and a 12’
high fence and a cell tower; that’s a huge structure” indicating the need for oversight.
The board reviewed an email from ZBA member Bob Lazzarini stating that the compound on chestnut Hill Rd is to be 2500’ and the compound for 31 Main Rd. is to be 5625’. The board talked about having a maximum allowable square footage. Both Barry Karson and Alan Salamon were not comfortable with leaving the decisions up to the industry and supported having specific guidelines in the bylaw.
Also regarding the telecommunications bylaw the board discussed the monopole vs. mono-pine regulation in the bylaw. The ZBA voted against the mono-pines that the bylaw specifies, and chose uncamouflaged towers instead. The board thought that the language in the bylaw was sufficiently general not to require a change in the wording.
Klein state the he would like to delete the requirement that cell tower applications have information about towers within 8 miles of Monterey. Klein said that this requirement is onerous and outmoded since a cell tower 8 miles away has no bearing on cell service at any given location. Karson said it’s not that hard for the industry to get those figures, they are easily available online, and that he feels like it would unnecessarily muddy the waters and let’s not. Salamon concurring said, “Let’s just leave it.”
The board continued to review the Zoning Bylaw revision, now broadening their scope from the telecommunications bylaw to other aspects of the zoning bylaw, specifically the Use Tables. Leonard reported that Mike Banner, a local jewelry designer, had contacted her after the recent Public Workshop Meeting to request that the board review the use tables specifically with regard to where manufacturing is allowed and not allowed. Banner noted that the State of Massachusetts classifies his business as manufacturing, and that in the bylaw revision manufacturing is not allowed in the Ag-Res or the Lakeshore district. Leonard added that many people in Monterey may share the same classification, i.e. the furniture maker Peter Murkett, Wendy Jenssen a basket maker, and Ellen Grenadier, a potter, among many others. The use tables make a distinction
between Light Manufacturing and Manufacturing and the board needs to take the distinction into consideration and decide what will work best both for the town and for local craftsmen.
Regarding the zoning bylaw revisions, Section 9.0 Administration and Procedures, Salamon questioned why the section about the ZBA (9.2) cites the state statute and section 9.3 about the Planning Board does not.
The board reviewed the most recent information from Mark Bobrowski regarding various definitions for the word structure, including the Massachusetts Building Code.
Salamon stated that this would be his last meeting until April, and the board wished him a wonderful winter in FLA. Karson said that he would be able to attend one meeting per month for the months of Jan., Feb., March and April, as follows:
January 2nd meeting
February 2nd meeting
March 1st meeting
April 2nd meeting
Respectfully Submitted,
Maggie Leonard/Chair /Monterey Planning Board
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