MEETING MINUTES
June 11, 2015
Economic Development Office, Old Saybrook Town Hall
7:00 pm
CALL TO ORDER
Chair called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Carol Conklin, David Cole, John DeCristoforo, James Keating, Matthew Pugliese, Elizabeth Swenson
Members Absent: Bruce Greenfield
Staff Present:
Susan W. Beckman, Economic Development Director
Chris Costa, Zoning Enforcement Officer
Attorney Eliza Heins
PUBLIC QUESTION & COMMENT
C. Conklin - Welcomed to new ED Commissioner Matt Pugliese
C. Conklin had a call about maintaining Main Street and she will fill him after the meeting.
REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Approval of Minutes: May 14, 2015 and May 19, 2015 Meetings
MOTION: To approve the minutes of the May 14, 2015 EDC Meeting. MADE: by D. Cole. SECONDED: by J. Keating. VOTED IN FAVOR: D. Cole, C. Conklin, J. DeCristoforo, J. Keating, M. Pugliese OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: M. Pugliese; APPROVED 4-0-0
MOTION: To approve the minutes of the May 19, 2015 EDC Meeting. MADE: by J. Keating. SECONDED: by D. Cole. VOTED IN FAVOR: D. Cole, C. Conklin, J. DeCristoforo, J. Keating, M. Pugliese OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: M. Pugliese; APPROVED 4-0-0
B. Correspondence & Announcements
a. A thank you note was received via email from the Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce for becoming a sponsor of the Arts & Crafts Festival.
b. A thank you note was received from the Acton Library for the contribution made by individual members in Nancy Greenfield’s memory.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Mariner’s Way Zoning
C. Costa and E. Heins presented a draft of potential new zoning regulations for Mariner’s Way for review and editing. E Heins explained the annotations on the drafts. E. Heins explained the use of a Special Standards for Specific Uses added to Section 53. It serves as a glossary of special uses that can be applied to Mariner’s Way and possibly other areas of town.
Question – C. Conklin asked if the draft updated to June 8, 2015 is a public document. E. Heins and C. Costa replied yes and it will be available for review.
E. Heins went through the draft of Section 53 – Special Standards for Specific Uses that covers Food Trucks and a Marine Recreation Marketplace. Food trucks will not be allowed to bring their own seating. The Commission reviewed recommended changes to Section 53 by D. Royston. The Commission decided to retain the wording proposed for Section 53 by E. Heins.
Elizabeth Swenson joined the meeting at 7:15pm.
E. Heins presented Section 57 – Mariner’s Way (MW) Zone which will be an overlay zone in Mariner’s Way allowing for the uses listed. The Purpose explains what the zone attempts to accomplish according to the Mariner’s Way Plan as accepted into the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development.
The Commission had considered making all uses in the MW Zone overlay a Special Exception. The recommendation is to allow smaller buildings under 10,000sf not to be Special Exception. The Commission agreed it would be supportive of small businesses. The Commission agreed that anything in a building over 10,000sf will automatically be a Special Exception.
Discussion continued regarding the requirement for retail to include 10% marine or recreation goods. The question was asked whether increasing the percentage will improve the possibility of attracting a Cabellas or Bass Pro type of marine/recreation retail store. The Commission decided to use 20% as the threshold to increase the possibility that retail will fit in the theme of Mariner’s Way.
Discussion continued regarding the inclusion of lumber and building materials and whether it fits the theme of Mariner’s Way. The Commission decided to leave the text as drafted with lumber and building materials.
E. Heins and C. Costa talked with D. Royston at length about Prohibiting a spectator’s sports facility for professional sports. The prohibition was clarified as a regulation intended to allow an amateur sports facility and special uses periodically but not a professional sports facility such as a minor league sports franchise. The Commission decided to leave the text as drafted.
A question was asked about hospital or sanitarium and veterinary hospital fitting into the theme of Mariner’s Way. The Commission decided to remove those uses from the MW overlay because they are allowed in the underlying zones.
E. Heins introduced the MW Zone Standards. Most are already allowed in the underlying zones. MW Zone setbacks are structured to keep smaller, shorter buildings along Boston Post Rd and taller, larger buildings further from Boston Post Rd. This solves the challenge of uniformity that is required in existing standards (to maintain uniformity with the north side of Boston Post Rd) while allowing for larger buildings within the zone. The setbacks are appropriate for an auto-oriented zone and the 40ft setback fulfills the expectations of maintaining Mariner’s Way as an auto-oriented zone and the uniformity issue. The Commission decided to leave the text as drafted with the minimum 40 ft and max. 50 ft setback for smaller, shorter buildings.
Discussion continued about the 300ft setback for taller, larger buildings. After reviewing it on the map, the Commission decided to leave the text as drafted with a 300 ft setback.
The rest of the Standards were reviewed and left as drafted.
E. Heins reviewed Sections 62 and 68 that ensure parking is behind the buildings. She will look at existing parking regulations again to be sure shared parking is encouraged.
C. Costa reviewed the map and the various petitions that are going to be proposed as follows: The Mariner’s Way Plan proposed making map changes to add an overlay Mariner’s Way Zone, increase the coverage of the B-3 Zones (allowing both residential and small business) at both ends of Mariner’s Way and adding the Pedestrian Node at Ferry Point.
The tentatively scheduled meeting for June 16 is canceled. At the next regular meeting July 9, the Commission will review the draft text with the changes and discuss a public outreach plan to gather input from residents, business and property owners.
B. Spirit of Old Saybrook Award – C. Conklin updated the Commission on planning for the event. The event will be Thursday, June 25 at 7pm at Pasbeshauke Pavilion at Saybrook Point Park.
C. EDC Vacancy
The Commission discussed the open positions and the two candidates interviewed. The Commission decided to close the search and recommend to the Board of Selectman the two candidates be appointment to the Economic Development Commission.
MOTION: To approve making a recommendation that the Board of Selectman appoint Joseph Arcari to fill the Regular member position and Sandra Roberts to fill the alternate member position on the Economic Development Commission. MADE: by D. Cole. SECONDED: by J. DeCristoforo. VOTED IN FAVOR: D. Cole, C. Conklin, J. DeCristoforo, J. Keating, M. Pugliese, E. Swenson OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: None; APPROVED 6-0-0
J. Keating will write a letter thanking D. Shearer, S. Beckman will write letters thanking the other retired commissioners. S. Beckman will print out certificates and have the First Selectman sign them for each retired commissioner.
NEW BUSINESS
- Maintaining Main Street – S. Beckman shared with the Commission the discussion she had with Mike Hoinsky and Ed Lombardi about their interest in keeping Main Street a vibrant, walkable area for retail stores, shopping, coffee shops and restaurants. She suggested inviting both gentleman to an EDC meeting to share their concerns and discuss how the EDC can support the effort to keep Main Street a charming destination as outlined in the Economic Development section of the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development. The Commissioners agreed and decided to invite them to the September EDC meeting.
B. EDC Intern
S. Beckman asked the Commission to consider using some of the EDC budget to pay the intern from last fall for finishing her projects this summer. The Commission tabled the discussion until July.
PUBLIC QUESTION & COMMENT - none
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: To adjourn the meeting at 9:05p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Economic Development Commission on July 9, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at 302 Main Street, Town Hall, EDC Office, First Floor; MADE: by D. Cole. SECONDED: by J. DeCristoforo. VOTED IN FAVOR: D. Cole, C. Conklin, J. DeCristoforo, J. Keating, M. Pugliese, E. Swenson. OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: None; APPROVED 6-0-0
Respectfully,
Susan W. Beckman
Economic Development Director
Acting Recording Clerk
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