Meeting Minutes
Planning Board
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Newbury Town Hall
Members Present: Kathleen Pearson, Chair; Linda McCamic; John O’Connell; David Powell; John Weis; George Morse (Associate Member)
Staff Present: Martha Taylor, Town Planner
Kathleen Pearson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
A. Meeting Minutes:
Motion: A motion was made by D. Powell and seconded by L. McCamic to approve the minutes of January 16, 2013 as amended. The motion passed unanimously.
B. ANR -- 28 Main Street, Byfield:
Richard Johnson of 28 Main Street appeared before the Board to request endorsement of an ANR plan showing division of his parcel into two lots, one buildable lot with the existing house and accessory buildings and one unbuildable lot to be turned over to the Essex County Greenbelt Association.
Motion: A motion was made by J. Weis and seconded by J. O’Connell to endorse as Approval Not Required the “Plan of Land located in Newbury, MA Prepared for Richard S. Johnson and Edith P. Johnson, 28 Main Street, Newbury, MA” by Christiansen & Sergi, Inc., dated December 1, 2012. The motion passed unanimously.
C. 10 Kent Way, Byfield:
M. Taylor presented a request from Larry Jones, owner of property at 10 Kent Way, to change the zoning of his parcel from Commercial Highway A to Agricultural-Residential. The parcel currently contains a two-family residence with accessory buildings; residential use is grandfathered. After some discussion, the Board members concluded that it would not be appropriate to take this parcel out of the Commercial Highway A District, given the Town’s goal to encourage commercial development.
D. Caldwell Farm Trail:
D. Powell reported that he and Doug Packer met with representatives from Adelynrood regarding a walking trail through the Caldwell Farm subdivision. Adelynrood was very receptive to the idea of a trail connecting to the trails on their property. The Town will continue to pursue development of the trail.
E. Proposed Zoning Amendments for the Annual Town Meeting:
1. Boundary Changes: The Board reviewed proposed boundary changes for the Business and Light Industrial District (BLI), the Commercial Highway District at Pearson Plaza on Central Street, and the Byfield Village Business District. The Board made no changes to the proposed new boundaries for the Byfield Village Business District and the Commercial Highway (Pearson Plaza) Districts. The Board agreed to recommend removing parcels R36-0-11, R36-0-12, R36-0-13, and R36-0-28 from the Business & Light Industrial District.
Motion: A motion was made by J. Weis and seconded by J. O’Connell to recommend removing parcels R36-0-11, R36-0-12, R36-0-13, and R36-0-28 from the Business & Light Industrial District as discussed. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board set a date of March 2, 2013, 10:00 a.m. to noon, for a public workshop to get input from property owners who may be affected by the proposed boundary changes. M. Taylor will mail an invitation to all affected property owners.
2. Use Regulations: The Board agreed that no use changes will be proposed for the Residential-Limited Business (R-LB) District and that the Commercial Highway District will not be divided into separate districts at this time.
3. Accessory Apartment By-Law: The Board discussed the requirements for accessory apartments in detached structures and agreed to recommend reduction of the minimum lot size to 40,000 s.f. in cases where an apartment is proposed to be built in an accessory structure in existence at the date of adoption of the by-law. The minimum lot size will remain 60,000 s.f. for accessory apartments built in detached structures constructed after that date.
4. Ground-Mounted Solar Installations: A subcommittee was formed to develop a revised draft of the proposed solar installation by-law for consideration by the full Board.
F. Open Space Residential Development (OSRD) Rules and Regulations:
To confirm for the record, M. Taylor requested that the Board vote to adopt the current version of the OSRD Rules and Regulations, dated March 9, 2010.
Motion: A motion was made by J. O’Connell and seconded by J. Weis to adopt the Open Space Residential Development Rules and Regulations dated March 9, 2010, pursuant to the public hearing held March 24, 2010. The motion passed unanimously.
On a motion made by D. Powell and seconded by L. McCamic, the meeting was adjourned at 10:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Martha Taylor
Town Planner
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