OLD LYME PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
MARCH 8, 2012
PRESENT WERE: Chairman Harold Thompson, Vice Chairman Robert McCarthy, Steven Ross, and Alternate Don Willis seated for Chris Kerr. Also present were: Attorney Ed Cassella and Tom Metcalf, Consulting Engineer.
REGULAR MEETING
ZONING REFERRAL – PETITION TO AMEND THE ZONING REGULATIONS: SECTION 8.6 LOTS ON NARROW STREETS.
Attorney Cassella asked if anyone knew why the Zoning Commission was going away from the definition of “Street”. Cassella stated the regulation calls for basically taking out the word “street” and inserting “town road or state highway” so obviously it must have significance and was curious as to why. Metcalf stated the zoning regulations do not define “road”, but they define street “as any town or state highway, excepted limited access State or Interstate highways; 2) any public or private street shown on a subdivision plan approved by the Old Lyme Planning Commission and filed in the Land Records of the Town of Old Lyme, which approval has not lapsed in accordance with Conn.Gen. Stats.” Cassella stated they are taking away
private streets from the narrow streets.
Steve Ross made a motion to correspond with the Zoning Commission pointing out that our interpretation of their proposed text eliminates private roads or streets and ask if that is the intention and secondly the commission would suggest that if they are changing the wording to town road they add the definition and street be used at the end to make it consistent. Robert McCarthy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO BUILDING ON UNACCEPTED ROADS ORDINANCE (SECT. 25-5 OF TOWN CODE)
Thompson stated when the commission last discussed this issue they had some concerns. Metcalf stated he didn’t feel this amendment would be of benefit to some of the existing situations in town because of safety issues. Attorney Cassella stated he felt the reason for this ordinance was to allow the property owners to make that case and potentially make the improvements that would make it better. He further stated there can be different conditions other than safety that may not be able to meet such as insurance, associations so the commission will still have the opportunity to advise on safety but it does give the Board of Selectmen the broader ability to waive other conditions.
Ross stated in his opinion he felt the amendment was a move in the right direction. He stated there are not that many situations but the ones that do exist can be dealt with on an individual basis.
Harold Thompson made a motion that the commission was in favor of the proposed amendment to “Building on Unaccepted Roads” ordinance Section 25-5 of the Town Code. Steve Ross seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
VILLAGE ESTATES
Thompson stated that as everyone is aware the subdivision regulations state that after a 5 year period if the subdivision is not completed the commission has the responsibility and the authority to call the bond to complete any of the remaining and outstanding work.
Thompson stated the low bid was approximately $3,000 more than what the commission currently has in the bond amount. Thompson stated the Selectmen have asked the commission to review the plans to see if there is something that can be altered or changed to make up the monetary difference. Thompson also noted that a letter dated February 13, 2012 was sent out to the Village Lane Homeowners asking them to make up the difference in the bond amount being held by the Town of Old Lyme versus the cost of improvements.
Thompson asked Metcalf to review the items and determine if there was a possibility of modifying the work. Metcalf discussed several options that could be possibly modified on the punch list that needs to be completed. Metcalf stated that when the plan was approved there was a white picket fence to be placed along the property line to separate the Moore property from the drainage basin. He noted this has not been completed and informed the commission that a contractor submitted a bid for just the fence with a unit price of $33.00 a foot for the fence which is approximately 300 feet long so that is about $9,000.00. Metcalf stated the commission could consider a less expensive fence.
Ross suggested the abutting property owners be approached to see if they even want a fence. He further stated the town could also go back to the low bidder and ask if he would consider doing the work for $3,000.00 less. Metcalf stated we can also look at the punch list of items and see if anything can be eliminated or modified. He stated one of the items in the bid was cleaning of the drainage systems and he said that might be something that we omit for now and when the town accepts the road the cleaning would then get budgeted into the town wide cleaning. He further stated he did not think there was an immediate need to clean out the drainage system. Metcalf also noted that there is some shrubbery to the south which encumbers the sight line and he noted that the State Department of
Transportation has signed off and suggested that the Public Works Department could possibly remove the shrubbery. Ross questioned whether that shrubbery had already been removed. Metcalf agreed to have a look at the area.
Thompson stated that since Metcalf is most familiar with what needs to be done and had reviewed all the bids he asked if he would be willing to negotiate with the low bidder on some of the options discussed. Selectmen Nosal stated she could only speak for herself but she thought it made perfect sense for Mr. Metcalf to do that.
Cassella stated that the town is on the hook for the improvements and needs the bond money to do that. He stated to the extent that a fence is an improvement he felt all efforts should be made to do the fence. He stated the fence was on the plan when it was approved and when the property owners purchased their properties. Metcalf stated he was sure a different type of fence could be done cheaper and noted in the regulations there is a provision for field changes in Section 3.16.1. The commission reviewed and discussed this Section in the Subdivision Regulations.
Harold Thompson made a motion to make a recommendation to Selectwoman Reemsnyder that Tom Metcalf be authorized to negotiate with both B & L Construction and the adjacent property owners to reduce or modify the scope of the work and to possibly modify the fence. Steve Ross seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
DISCUSSION OF SECTION 5.5.7 AND OTHER PROPOSED REVISIONS TO THE SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS
Thompson noted that an additional issue came up when reviewing the snow plow regulation. He stated also included in that regulation it states that the town will not be responsible for trash pick up on private roads. Thompson stated currently trash pick up is being done in the beach communities by a private contractor not the town therefore the town is not liable for any damages that might occur during the pick up process. He further stated that Commission Member, Chris Kerr was concerned about changing the regulation because what if the towns decides sometime down the road to provide trash collection service themselves and then we have an ordinance that gets us into a bind.
Cassella stated that liability is one piece but cost is obviously the other piece. He said it states that private streets will have an association which undertakes to do snow plowing and refuse collection at no cost to the town. He therefore said if the town chose to do collecting on these private streets it would be in direct conflict to this regulation. Ross also noted that this included recycling. Thompson also noted from a sanitation standpoint it was in the town’s best interest to pick up trash so it does not become a problem in some areas.
Discussion ensued and the commission agreed to table this issue until the April meeting.
Metcalf also raised the issue that if an accident did occur he felt the town would also be responsible as well as the sub-contractor. Ross stated he felt the liability issue of trash pick up was far less significant than snow removal.
READING AND APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 9, 2012 SPECIAL MEETING/WORKSHOP MINUTES.
Steve Ross made a motion to waive the reading and approve the minutes as submitted. Robert McCarthy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Groves
Land Use Administrator
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